7/24/2023 0 Comments Change name practica musica– and the shape of each note tells the rhythm.įor now we’ll use only one note shape, the The vertical position of a note identifies the pitch – a higher position means a higher pitch It is based on the idea of writing note symbols on a group of horizontal lines that represent the scale. Staff notation has evolved over the last thousand years to a form that is very efficient for tonal music. Since the word “scale” comes from the Latin word for “ladder” you could visualize the scale steps as unequal rungs on a ladder, as shown at right. Scales are identified by their beginning note, so our scale beginning on C is the C major scale. Likewise, if the bottom third of a triad contains 4 half steps, the chord is major.Īnd it is one of the most common scales in Western music. If the third contains three half steps, the scale is minor. In a scale, if the third formed between the first note and the third note of a scale contains 4 half steps, the scale is major. The major form of the interval is one half step larger than its minor form. Seconds, thirds, sixths and sevenths can be either major or minor. This scale form is calledĪ term used to describe the quality of an interval, scale or chord. If you play only the white keys from the note C, the pattern of steps is as follows: W W H W W W H. You could say that a scale is a pattern of steps for filling in the space of an octave. If you begin with any piano key and play the keys in order to the next octave, you’ll have played aĭepending on where you begin, the scale will have a different sequence of whole steps and half steps. This should make your task of learning music seem much easier: a piano may have fifty-two white keys, but they are just the same seven pitch classes repeated in different octaves. The keyboard's white keys really include only seven pitch classes, and all the others are octaves of those seven. The white keys of the piano keyboard include only seven pitch classes. All the Cs or Fs on the keyboard share the same pitch class. The set of pitches that differ only in octave. Of each other, such as the Fs or the Gs, have the same A note that’s an octave lower, has half as many vibrations per second than another note of the same pitch class. A note that’s an octave higher, has twice as many vibrations per second than another note of the same pitch class. All Cs on the keyboard are octaves of each other. The interval between two notes having the same pitch class, e.g. The octave of any note sounds like a higher or lower version of the same pitch, so we give it the same letter name. From any starting point, the pattern will begin again at the eighth note, which is an octave away from where you started (octo = eight). You can see in Figure 1 that the white keys of the piano form a pattern of seven letters, A through G, in alphabetical order. The best way to explain these is to let you hear them. As you have probably noticed, there is no black key between white keys a half step apart, since a half step is the smallest step possible on a piano. The piano’s white keys contain two half steps: E-F and B-C, highlighted on the keyboard below. A white key to an adjacent black key is always a half step, but not all white keys are a whole step apart. The major scale is made up of 5 whole steps and 2 half steps in this order:Ī half step is the smallest distance between two keys on the piano a whole step is equal to two half steps. The whole step (or whole tone) is an interval equal to two half steps, e.g. In Western music, the half step is the smallest interval used in any scale. Two half steps make a whole step and there are twelve half steps in an octave. The smallest possible distance between two pitches on the piano, e.g. The small and large steps that form our most familiar scales are called the Standard pitch notation and the white keys of a piano keyboard both evolved to represent the pattern of large and small steps contained in the notes A, B, C, D, E, F, G. There are various types of scales, each of which follows its own pattern. Other scale forms used in Western music include the whole tone scale, the pentatonic scale and the octatonic scale.Ī set of pitches arranged in a pattern of small and large musical steps. The minor scale has three forms: natural, harmonic and melodic. Scales are identified by their beginning note, so a scale beginning on C is either a C major or C minor scale depending on the pattern of whole steps and half steps used. If you begin on the note A the pattern changes to: This scale form is called major, and it’s one of the predominate scales in Western music. If you begin playing the piano’s white keys from the note C, the pattern of steps is as follows: To understand pitch notation it will help to understand the concept of theĪ pattern of steps for filling in the space of an octave (from the Latin word for “ladder”).
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