Episode 6 is about how minor scales can be identified aurally and visually.
Episode 6 is about how minor scales can be identified aurally and visually.
Discover the magic formula for a natural minor scale (1:05) harmonic minor (1:41) and melodic minor (2:02). Learn what to look for in notation to determine the mode (2:35). Practice listening and identifying with four examples of all modes discussed in this episode (5:19).
Question of the day: What are two ways you can label a minor scale with solfege syllables? (7:08)
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Hi and welcome to the APsolute Recap: Music Theory Edition. Today’s episode will recap Minor Scales
Lets Zoom out:
We’re in Unit #2 - Music Fundamentals
Topics 2.1 and 2.2
Our Big idea is pitch.
To maximize your understanding of minor scales, we will zoom in on the three types of minor scales: natural, harmonic and melodic.
Just like with major scales, y ou can identify minor scales by looking at interval sizes, scale degrees and key signatures.
Lets Zoom in:
As we reviewed in the previous episode, traditional Western music uses pitches that are classified into half and whole steps. The magic formula for a natural minor scale stepwise is: Whole half whole whole half whole whole. The scale degrees of natural minor will be labeled tonic, supertonic, mediant, subdominant, dominant, submediant, subtonic, and tonic again. Notice that subtonic replaces the name leading tone that we saw in major scales. Leading tone in the name itself implies that your ear wants that note to lead into the tonic. Since subtonic is a whole step away from the tonic in natural minor, our ears are not quite so insistent.
Harmonic minor has a raised seventh note to create a leading tone, which often can make harmonizing the music easier. With harmonic minor, the major dominant chord can be used, sol ti re, but in natural minor without the leading tone it would be sol te re.
Melodic minor takes the sixth and the seventh tones down a half step, making the only difference between the minor and major scale the third note. Traditionally, melodic minor is used in ascending melodies, and natural minor is used to descend.
In harmonic and melodic minor, we can return to naming the scale degrees also used with major scales: tonic, supertonic, mediant, subdominant, dominant, submediant, leading tone and tonic again.
Get comfortable with how the scales look and sound before studying them in music where notes are rearranged in melodies.
If you are looking at notation you should look at the key signature for the whole piece, the first note and the last note to discover if you are in a major or minor scale. I will use the same example as I had for major scales, but show you how it could easily switch to minor with a few different details. If the key signature throughout the music has two sharps, I know that it may be either D major or B minor. If I see the first and last note is B, D, or F#, also known as the tonic chord for B minor, then I can assume this piece of music is in B minor. This also means that the tonic would be labeled as B instead of D, even though their key signatures are the same. B minor and D major are classified as relative keys, whereas D major and D minor are parallel keys and have different key signatures.
How do you practice minor scales? My advice to you will be no different than how to practice major scales. Find your cat and sing and play scales for it. You should also analyze, read, write and audiate scales in various forms of music. If you are singing with solfege, you should practice the Curwen hand signs to help make multiple connections in your brain with the kinesthetic movements and visual aid.
As I have said before, you will not have to have perfect pitch for the exam, but you will need pretty good pitch. Meaning, in the aural section of the exam you will need to be able to hear a shift in mode from minor to major, but you will not need to identify specific letter names.
Here are four examples of all modes discussed in this episode. Your options will be the three minor scales and the major scale. You may decide to decode each example aurally with solfege, or simply identify each mode by name. If you are choosing to write them down, C is the tonic for each example.
Number 1 (do re me fa sol le te do, do te le sol fa me re do)
Number 2 (do re me fa sol la ti do, do te le sol fa me re do)
Number 3 (do re mi fa sol la ti do, do ti la sol fa mi re do)
Number 4 (do re me fa sol le ti do, do ti le sol fa me re do)
Here are the answers: Number 1 was a natural minor scale, number 2 was a melodic minor scale, number 3 was a major scale, and number 4 was a harmonic minor scale.
To recap……
There are three types of minor scales. In relation to majo r scales, the natural minor scale has the 3rd, 6th and 7th note lowered a half step. Harmonic scales have the 3rd and 6th lowered, and melodic has the 3rd lowered in ascending melodies.
There are relative keys that share the same key signature but have a different tonic, and there are parallel keys that have different key signatures but the same tonic.
Coming up next on the Apsolute RecAP Music Theory Edition: Circle of F ifths
Today’s Question of the day is about natural minor scales.
Question: What are two ways you can label a natural minor scale with solfege syllables?