Thoery---scales+1

If a sound tickles your ear, you may be hearing a mode.

Have you ever listened to a piece of music and thought it sounded strange to your ear? You were probably hearing modes, which are scales that were used over a thousand years ago! Modes are scales. Some modes sound familiar to our ear while others sound very strange. Here is a picture of the C Major scale. It has eight tones, each tone moving higher than the last.



Modes (scales) are patterns of notes that move by half-steps (2 notes next to one another on the piano) and whole-steps (2 notes separated by a note on the piano).



Can you identify half-steps and whole-steps on this keyboard? Whole step is also a TONE, half step is also a Semitone. Can you figure out how many semitone (half steps) are in an octave?


 * Major and Minor Scales **
 * Major scale is the most popular scales we use in composition. **
 * The interval pattern of a major scale is: **
 * Tone, Tone, Semitone,Tone, Tone, Tone, semitone **


 * the examples given below show this pattern **

Scale Degrees

In music we discuss the seven steps of diatonic scales in two different ways. Sometimes we reference the scale steps with numbers

In this C major scale, for instance, scale degree 4 is an F. The 8th scale degree is the same note name as the 1st scale degree.

Secondly, each scale degree also has a unique name, one that will be often applied to harmonies built on the scale degree. Before we introduce all the scale degrees in the order they appear in the diatonic scale, let’s first explain how the scale degrees are related.



The last two scale degrees, 2 and 7 are arranged around the tonic. The “supertonic” is above the tonic on the second scale degree. The “leading tone” is an important scale step that leads to the tonic both melodically and harmonically. You will learn more about this important scale step in your later studies.

Here are the names of the scale degrees on the C major scale:



**Use Solfe Method to sing major scales**
 * [[image:http://www.kodaly.org.au/images/stories/majorscale.gif width="649" height="69"]]

To sing a major scale, we start from "Do", the Tonic note in any major scales is always "do" this is called "movable do"

Try to sing the scales above use Solfe.

Now we have an example to explain what is "movable do"

Here is the song we know since kindergarten "row row row, row your boat"

This one is in G major, a major scale starts from the note G instead of C. The tonic note is G, so G is "do", can you work out all solfe names in this song?

Now have a look at this song in a new key, D major, a scale starts from note D. So which note is "do"? you can sing the tune in solfe again, starts from Do, does the tune change?