The Major scale
All western music comes from a mother scale called the major
scale (It has a couple of other names too, the 'diatonic
scale' and the 'Ionian Mode'). It is NOT a sequence of notes,
rather it's a sequence
of seven intervals
spanning
an
octave.
We already
know
that there
are 12
intervals of one semi-tone in an octave, and that 7 does not
go into twelve, so the scale must be uneven.
Here's how it looks
against the chromatic scale.
The formula for the major scale is:
tone tone semitone, tone tone tone semitone
If you remember nothing else, remember
this formula.
To simplify things from now on, I'll use
the C scale for all my examples, only because it is made up of
all the natural notes (no sharps or flats), and it makes it clearer
to see what's going on. But always remember that a major scale
is always the same formula no matter which of the 12 you start
from. Below is a simple representation of the scale starting
at C.
Click here to listen to it
This uneven scale is the blueprint for all western music. From
it comes everything, including all the other scales. It repeats
through the octaves also, so you can imagine them tagged end to
end. Refined over the centuries, mostly through the
physics of vibrating strings, the order of intervals should be
committed to memory (even if you don't know why yet): "Tone
tone semitone, tone tone tone semitone".
Scales are not yet music. They do allow for melody, which certainly
is music, but more structure is needed for the kind of music we
love to listen to. Chords are the main structures and I've dedicated
a whole section to them,
so...
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