Lesson 3
Scales/
Major scales

Practice Drills
scale building
ID major keys
WriteKeysig
PDF Drills L3

Assignments

Creative
Project

 

 

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Summary Table: Lesson 3

scale

A collection of pitches placed in ascending or descending order

diatonic
scale

A seven-note scale using 5 whole steps and 2 half steps

modes

Different arrangements of the whole and half steps in the diatonic scale

Ionian
(major)

C to C on white keys of piano

Dorian

D to D on white keys of piano

Phrygian

E to E on white keys of piano

Lydian

F to F on white keys of piano

Mixolydian

G to G on white keys of piano

Aeolian
(minor)

A to A on white keys of piano

Locrian

B to B on white keys of piano

chromatic
scale

A twelve-note scale made of half steps

whole-tone
scale

A six-note scale made of whole steps

pentatonic
scale

A five-note scale usually containing two skips of 1 1/2 steps and 3 whole steps

octatonic
scale

An eight-note scale altering whole and half steps

synthetic
scale

A "created" scale consisting of any number of pitches ordered in any nontraditional way

twelve-tone
row

Twelve tones of chromatic scale ordered by the composer

major
scale
A diatonic scale with half steps between 3-4 and 7-8
key
signature
A symbol designating specific pitches of a scale
enharmonic
keys
C#/Db
F#/Gb
B/Cb
tonality A relationship among the pitches in a composition in which one pitch is central or more important than the others
tonic Scale degree 1
supertonic Scale degree 2
mediant Scale degree 3
subdominant Scale degree 4
dominant Scale degree 5
submediant Scale degree 6
leading tone

Scale degree 7 (1/2 step below tonic)

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