Steps And 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.

A half step, abbreviated H, is the vertical distance or interval between two adjacent notes in the chromatic scale. For instance, the intervals between C and C#/Db, E and F, or A and A#/Bb are all half steps:

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A whole step is simply two half steps. For example, it is a half step from C to C#, and another half step from C# to D, so it is a whole step from C to D:

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A scale is an ascending or descending sequence of notes, generally one in which all adjacent notes are either a half or whole step apart. Each scale is characterized by the pattern of half and whole steps that comprise it. For instance, the scale known as the dorian mode corresponds to the ascending pattern WHWWWHW. Starting on C, this scale looks like this:

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Although scales are usually described in terms of the ascending pattern, they can be played descending as well:

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Like any scale, the Dorian mode can be played starting on any note by following its characteristic pattern of steps from that note. For instance, here is a dorian mode starting E:

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The note on which a scale starts is called the root of that scale. Thus, the root of the E dorian scale is E. Since there are twelve notes in the chromatic scale, there are twelve different notes on which to start any given scale. Thus, besides C and E, there are ten other dorian modes.

Most scales contain seven notes within an octave and are spelled using each of the letters A, B, C, D, E, F, and G exactly once. For example, the third note in the C dorian mode above was spelled Eb rather than D# since D was already used as the second note. Most scales repeat after one octave. Usually, the scale is written out with the last note borrowed from the next octave. For example, above, the C dorian mode was written with a C as both the first and last notes. The different notes in a scale are called degrees. The root is the first degree, the note above it the second degree, and so forth.

Copyright 2000 Outside Shore Music
Authored by Marc Sabatella

Steps And Scales