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RD
March 15th, 2006, 12:59 am
I started picking up formal piano lessons agian, and my teacher wants me to memorise scales... So im having a lot of trouble remembering where to do a sharp or what ever in which scale and what to do in a harmonic and minor and XD.. So if someone could help me with things like where to play a sharp in harmonic and minor scales and things, I would be very greatfull.

tanonev
March 15th, 2006, 01:51 am
Hmm...time is the only answer :P But here's some things you can do:
C Major is all white keys, no black keys. Play it a LOT, so that you get used to the "Major" sound. That way, once you play a different major scale, you can tell whether or not it "sounds" right, since all major scales sound more or less the same, just starting at different pitches.
Ditto with A natural minor.

It also might help to see the distance between notes in a scale.
Major scale:
C(W)D(W)E(H)F(W)G(W)A(W)B(H)C
where a (W) denotes a whole step (that is, there's a key between the two keys you play), and a (H) denotes a half step (the two keys are right next to each other). ALL major keys follow the WWH WWWH pattern.
Natural minor scale:
A(W)B(H)C(W)D(W)E(H)F(W)G(W)A
WH WWH WW
Notice that a natural minor scale has exactly the same notes as a major scale starting on the sixth note of that major scale.
Also, a natural minor scale differs from a major scale starting with the same note in that the 3rd, 6th, and 7th notes are a half step lower.
A harmonic minor scale is a natural minor scale, except that you raise the 7th note by a half step, back to where it would be in the major scale (so if it's flat in the natural minor, it's normal in the harmonic minor, and if it's normal in the natural minor, it's sharp in the harmonic minor).
For a melodic minor scale, when going up, you play ONLY the 3rd note a half step lower than in the major (in other words, take natural minor, then raise the 6th and 7th notes up a half step). When you go down, you play it EXACTLY the same as a natural minor.

Milchh
March 15th, 2006, 01:59 am
Memorize the "5-Finger" patterns. And just think about the visual memorization of the scales, not the notational or other types. Remember what you see what is being played, it helps a lot. Photographic Memory can help more than... memory.

Eddy
March 15th, 2006, 02:12 am
Well, there is one thing I've found that helps me remember scales. Just take the C major scale and then see how many 5ths the key is up from it. For every fifth, add a sharp. If you find that it isn't anywhere near traveling through 5ths, then try going up by fourths instead. For every fourth you go up, add a flat. For some examples:

Bb major: C --> F --> Bb (two 4ths up from C so two flats)

E major: C --> G --> D --> A --> E (four 5ths up from C so four sharps)

To tell where the sharps are on a scale, start with F and add a sharp. Then go to the note a 5th above and add a sharp if there are still more. For flats, start with B and go up by 4ths, adding flats along the way as needed. For example:

Bb major: Add flats to B (which already has one) and E (which is a fourth above) or Bb C D Eb F G A Bb

E major: Add sharps to F, C (5th above F), G (5th above C), and D (5th above G) or E F# G# A B C# D# E

tanonev
March 15th, 2006, 04:02 am
Memorize the "5-Finger" patterns. And just think about the visual memorization of the scales, not the notational or other types. Remember what you see what is being played, it helps a lot. Photographic Memory can help more than... memory.

(1) Photographic memory is a gift, not a reasonably developable skill. And the implicit boasting in this is...well, let's not get into that...
(2) In the end, music is about how it sounds, not about how it looks. So it's vital to learn music aurally, even more so than visually.

EDIT: Music stores also sell handy little flash cards or "circle of fifths" wheels, if you find those kinds of things helpful.

Milchh
March 16th, 2006, 11:47 am
I don't know how I was boasting, but anyway..

True, music IS how it sounds as well. :lol:

BombomCloud
March 16th, 2006, 02:49 pm
The C scales is easy, the rest of the scales is a bit harder with left hand.

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