We denote these by placing a caret ^ above the scale degree number. The most common way to communicate pitches of the scale is to use scale degree numbers. In order to reference the interval pattern rather than the actual pitches, we use scale degrees. For example, the first “Happy Birthday” example on the previous page is written in G major, but there are eleven other keys in which we could write that melody. When discussing scales, it is helpful to have a way to refer to pitches that does not reference the particular key. (The necessity of this seemingly redundant pattern is discussed below under “Why we need three minor scales”.) The ascending melodic minor intervallic pattern is: The descending melodic minor intervallic pattern is identical to a descending natural minor scale. Melodic minor scales have both an ascending and descending form. Harmonic minor scales have an intervallic pattern of: Natural minor scales have an intervallic pattern of: (W = whole-step, H = half-step, A = augmented 2nd) Major scales have an intervallic pattern of:
Chromatic vs diatonic series#
This creates a series of 2nds, and it is the alternation of major 2nds (whole-steps) and minor 2nds (half-steps) that create our scale. All seven letters can be used once, and no letter can be used more than once. In diatonic music, each scale has seven pitches. Scale - a condensed ordering of all seven pitches in a diatonic pitch collection where all intervals are either minor 2nds or major 2nds.Diatonic music - tonal music that uses all seven letter names only once and follows a specific order of intervals.Tonal music - music organized around a central pitch.has a specific order of intervals that create a scale.The term diatonic can have a variety of meanings depending on context, but for this course, we will be using this term to refer to music that: It is these intervallic relationships that create pitch collections, and if that pitch collection has certain properties, it can be further categorized.įor the majority of this course, we will be discussing diatonic music which is a subset of tonal music.
Once we have chosen a central pitch around which we build a tonality, every pitch in the tonality can be summarized by its relationship to that pitch. Tonal music is organized around a central tone called the tonic. For this course, we will be studying tonal music, because tonal describes the organizational method of this music. If we accept that music is “organized sound”, then the method used to organize it will define any style of composition. It also provides a great launching point for discussing pitch collections and scales. This is possibly the most succinct explanation that differentiates music from sound and/or noise.
To begin our discussion, I asked for definitions of music. Lesson 2b - Scales and Scale Degrees - Diatonic, Pentatonic, and Chromatic Class discussion
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