AXEMAN2415
Guitar Weenie
USA
740 Posts |  Posted - 05 Dec 2005 : 12:26:06 
| Building Blocks: Scales Part II
Let us review about the Chromatic scale: Essentialy, the chromatic scale is every tone in the 12 tone system of western
harmony.You begin on any note (in our previous example, it was'E'on the low 6th string, open note.), and move up, or down,
the tones in "half-step", or 1 fret, intervals.For example, if you were to begin at the low 'E', 6th string, open note,
picked the next note on the 6th string, first fret (an 'F'),then picked the 6th string,second fret (or'F#/Gb'), that would
Be considered ascending chromatically.It is simply moving in any direction using 'half-steps' as your interval.You can be-
gin on any note, and move up or down in half-steps, and you would be playing "chromatically."
The question is, why is this important to know? Well, for one thing, it is the basic building block of understanding how
scales are constructed. Second, it helps in visualizing the fretboard in a linear fashion, or up and down a string.And third,
it helps make certain musical references easier to understand.Think of it as learning the letters of the alphabet,and you
will see what I mean.
Now, let's add a little bit of labeling to the mix.We are going to give our notes some interval names.This will help in
identifying the notes and thier functions in different applications.First we know that we have twelve tones to work with.
We will number them 1 through 12.(We will start with 'E', for simplicity's sake.)
Ex.1:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
E F F# G G# A A# B C C# D D#
Gb Ab Bb Db Eb
(Note a few "rules"; 1)# means "Sharp", while b means "Flat";
2)Notice that some notes are the same, but labeled different
names, i.e., F# and Gb are the same tone. This is called being "enharmonic".
In other words, F#is 'enharmonic' to Gb, or F# is the same as Gb.Using the name
of a note or it's enharmonic equivalent, depends upon they key. or how easy it
is to read the scale, or how it fits in a chord.We will review this later.
3)There is, for the purpose of this discussion, no such thing as "B#" or "Cb"
or "E#" or "Fb". So one must remember that there is no sharps or flats between
the notes "B" and "C", and the notes "E" and "F". There ARE theoretical exceptions
to rules 2&3, and we will probably run into them in future columns, but for right
now, these rules are golden.)
Now, let us expand our twelve tones with actual interval names. We are going to replace our numbers, 1 thru 12, with
"interval names." Thus;
Ex.2:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
E F F# G G# A A# B C C# D D#
(interval name) Root b2 M2 b3 M3 P4 b5 P5 b6 M6 b7 M7
(Intervalsynonymns) 1 b9 9 #9 10 11 #11 - #5 13 - -
#4
(Note that the "interval synonymns" are simply interval names that are the same as the ones given first.An example would
be; 'F' is the "b2" of 'E', or also the "b9" of 'E', depending on where it sits in the octave.That will be explained
later.)
(Also note that "b",as in "b2",means "minor 2nd" not "flat 2". You could substitute "b" for an "m", as in "m2".This is not
really important, but it will help in defining certain terms and standardizing our discussions down the road.)
Since a "Chromatic scale" is basically all of the notes of the twelve tone system of music,played in half-step intervals,
Why learn different keys? Because all of the scales are derived or extracted from this simple idea. Before we begin that
process, I am going to make a chart of all of the chromatic scales in all keys.
Ex.3: The Chromatic scale in all keys. Note the word "Oct" means octave".
b9 9 #9 11 #11 b6 13
1 b2 M2 b3 M3 P4 b5 P5 #5 M6 b7 M7 oct
Key of C C c#/Db D D#/Eb E F F#/Gb G G#/Ab A A#/Bb B C
G G G#/Ab A A#/Bb B C C#/Db D D#/Eb E F F# G
D D D#/Eb E F F# G G#/Ab A A#/Bb B C C# D
A A A#/Bb B C C# D D#/Eb E F F# G G# A
E E F F# G G# A A#/Bb B C C# D D# E
B B C C# D D# E F F# G G# A A# B
C#/Db C#/Db D D#/Eb E E#/F F#/Gb G G#/Ab A A#/Bb B B#/C C#/Db
F#/Gb F#/Gb G G#/Ab A A#/Bb B C C#/Db D D#/Eb E E#/F F#/Gb
Ab Ab A Bb B C Db D Eb E F Gb G Ab
Eb Eb E F Gb G Ab A Bb B C Db D Eb
Bb Bb B C Db D Eb E F Gb G Ab A Bb
F F Gb G Ab A Bb B C Db D Eb E F
If you will notice, there are places where I only placed flats instead of sharps, or vice versa, rather than place both,
for the sake of space and clarity.
Study the chart, and see if you can identify the intervals in different keys.We will begin extracting the scales from this
material in the next couple of columns.We will also get to more fretboard applications. |
"C'mon Dave, Gimme a break!" |
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