Reversely, working your way backwards through the alphabet will descend the scale in pitch. When moving through the notes of a scale in alphabetical order, you’re ascending in pitch.Notice when we reach the end of the alphabet, we start over with the note A.Okay, let’s pause and make some observations: Major scales, minor scales, and modes have either a half step (H) or a whole step (W) between each note. In a C major scale, we have:Įach type of scale has a different interval pattern. We’ll keep sticking with the note C as our example for now. Each note of a scale represents a degree, aka the order in which the notes appear in the scale as they relate to the root note. A scale can be based off of any note – just choose your root note and proceed in alphabetical order.įor example, any sort of A scale would start on the note A:Īny sort of C scale would start on the note C: The root note is the first note in a scale. Scales don’t contain all twelve notes in our western music system (besides the chromatic scale) – in a major scale, for example, only seven out of twelve notes are present, and in the context of a song it establishes which notes are pleasing to the ear and which ones are not. So in a C major scale we have “C” as the root note and “major” as the scale type. Looking back at the definition of a scale above, there are two main components to a scale: the notes and the intervals between them that determine the scale type. The majority (if not all) music we listen to is based off of a key signature, which is derived from some sort of scale. What is it? What does it sound like? What does it look like? Find out with this guide to the major scale for the bass guitar.īefore we get into the major scale, let’s define what a scale is in general.Ī scale is a sequence of notes with a distinct pattern of intervals between each note. Greetings, bassists! A few months ago we began exploring some basic music theory concepts that we’ll use to dive into the next key area:
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