Major And Minor Scales

This is a preview of the educational program A Jazz Improvisation Almanac which is under development for the Outside Shore Music Online School. Feel free to browse this preview and learn what you can from it. For a more completed product, though, check out the original freely browsable jazz textbook, A Jazz Improvisation Primer.

The most important scale in Western music is the major scale, which consists of the ascending pattern WWHWWWH. The simplest example is the C major scale:

[EXAMPLE]

This same pattern can be applied to any root. For example, here is a Bb major scale:

[EXAMPLE]

The major scale is the basis of Western harmony, as is explained further in other chapters. It is no coincidence that the white keys on a piano, from any C to the next higher C, form a major scale; most woodwind instruments are similarly constructed to make the C major scale the easiest and most natural to play. As was mentioned in the section on transposition, different versions of instruments like the trumpet and clarinet were created to allow musicians to play in other keys as easily as in C major. Still, anyone learning to play an instrument is generally expected to be able to play all the major scales fluently, as much of Western music - including classical and jazz - makes use of these scales. If you wish to practice this scale, you may want to check out the section on the major scale in the chapter on jazz scales to see and hear the major scale in all twelve keys.

The one other scale that is commonly used in classical harmony is the minor scale. There are actually three different forms of the minor scale: the pure or natural minor, the harmonic minor, and the melodic minor. Only the first of these will be discussed in this section; the others will be discussed later in the chapter.

The intervals for a pure minor scale are WHWWHWW. This scale can also be thought of as the scale obtained by taking the notes of a major scale starting with the sixth degree. For example, if one takes the notes of the C major scale but starts the scale on A, one obtains the A minor scale:

[EXAMPLE]

The A minor scale is therefore said to be the relative minor of C major, and C major is said to be the relative major of A minor. Similarly, F minor is the relative minor of Ab major, and vice versa:

[EXAMPLE]

If you wish to practice the minor scale, you may want to check out the corresponding section in the chapter on jazz scales.

The minor scale is often considered to have a sad sound to it, as compared to the major scale which is generally considered to be happy. Whether or not you make this particular association, you should become familiar with the sounds of the major and minor scales and be able to hear the difference between them. The sections on these scales in the chapter on jazz scales can be used to help train your ear in this regard.

In classical training, the major and minor scales may be the only scales you are expected to learn well. In jazz, these but a fraction of the many different scales that you may be expected to know. Still, the major scale remains the most important scale for many styles of jazz, since it is the basis for much of how we hear harmony. Again, this will be explained in greater detail later.

Copyright 2000 Outside Shore Music
Authored by Marc Sabatella

Major And Minor Scales