Table of Contents

Part 1: A Few Basics
Chapter 1: A Short History of This Book	Chapter 2: Glossary
Chapter 3: How to Use This Book
Part 2: All Kinds of Scales
Chapter 4: Basic Rules for Scale Construction	Chapter 5: Basic Pattern Scales
Chapter 6: Major Scale	Chapter 7: Minor Scale
Chapter 8: The Modal System	Chapter 9: Chord Construction Kit, and Kinds of Chords
Chapter 10: Of Chords and Scales	Chapter 11: Variations of the Major and Minor Scales
Chapter 12: The Pentatonic Scale	Chapter 13: Scales by Style
Chapter 14: Exotic Scales	Chapter 15: And What About Non-Western Systems?
Part 3: Beyond Scales
Chapter 16: Introduction to Part Three	Chapter 17: Of Dots and Lines... No, I Don't Mean Morse-code
Chapter 18: Progressions and Harmonization	Chapter 19: Basic Improvisation Techniques
Appendixes
Appendix A: Questions and Answers	Appendix B: Clefs and Key Signatures
Appendix C: Blank Circles	Appendix D: Cut-out Rings

Chapter 1: A Short History of This Book

This book is all about scales (as you can probably tell byreading its title, and, since you are reading this, I will go sofar as to assume that either you are at least slightly curiousabout the subject, or a teacher told you to read this).

To begin with, I want to point out that this book starts fromabsolute zero, even if it gets to a fairly advanced level. On theother hand, if you are already somewhat familiar with the subject,you are still likely to find some additional information here, notto mention a fresh, and hopefully more enjoyable andunderstandable, perspective.

Unlike most people, I use a visual approach to theunderstanding of scales ( those music thingies, not the ones youare likely to encounter on a fish). This system is designed tohelp you understand them, quite literally, with a singleglance.

It all started in a fairly simple way: I was trying to figureout an exotic scale, minding my own business, working out itsstructure (if you

don't have a clue as to what I'm talking about don't panic,I'll explain it later), when, as I was trying to visualize it, Ifound a way to express it that was both unbelievably simple, andapplicable to any scale, regardless of its origin (whether or notthat scale happened to be based on the octave, as it is understoodin Western music). It seemed to be a very practical system, and Ihad never seen something like it used in a book (although I mustconfess that I haven't read every music book ever written). Themore I thought about it, the more I liked it as a generalsystem.

I was already using this particular approach, and I hadconfirmed how effective it could be, when it was pointed out to methat, unfortunately, one of the main problems confronting mostmusic students is the highly effective anti-theory vaccine we findin most text books, and other such materials (if you have studiedmusic before, you probably know what I mean). Luckily this is nota hopeless situation. Even if tradition dictates that one mustenjoy the study of music, and especially theory, in spite ofteachers, I still believe that it can be made into an enjoyableexperience (no, I don't think that, given a choice, going to thedentist for root canal is necessarily a less painful option).

I was finally persuaded to turn this system into a book when Itried to explain something about a scale to someone very dear tome, who, whenever I mention anything having to do with music,gives me the same look she would give me if I were speaking to herin Chinese (those of you who speak Chinese, please substitute foranother language). To my surprise, when I explained it this way, Ifinally got her to understand what I meant.

But getting back to the subject of scales, it is very importantto get to know them, since they are, together with rhythm, themost basic building blocks of music. In other words, we won't getvery far hating them and turning a lovely shade of green wheneverthey are mentioned in our presence. The first problem we mustovercome is the fact that learning them has traditionally beenbased upon memorizing rules, intervals and structures (if you werelucky, otherwise you were merely presented with a considerablestack of staff paper).

The idea of resorting to memory doesn't sound so bad at first,but when you realize that, if we use the Diatonic Scale as anexample (C, D, E, F, G, A, B), with its twelve tones and its sevenmodes we have a grand total of 84 'different' combinations, I'msure you'll realize that you can think of a few other things you'drather do with your memory resources. And then you must keep inmind that the Diatonic scale is just a single scale among many, sothis number must be multiplied by the number of scales that youdeem to be necessary for your goals (a decision that must be basedon personal taste and preferences). As you can see the task itselfis formidable, but there is no reason to panic.

Our goal here will not be to memorize every conceivable scale,but rather to understand the basis of the theory governing scaleconstruction. Scales are really built by combining a mere handfulof different intervals, and the structure of any given scale issimply the result of adding those intervals together in aparticular order, and analyzing how they relate to oneanother.

In this book we will study some of the most important scales(as well as others that are less familiar), in order to discoverhow to apply those principles to any scale. We will also learnwhat the different modes are, and how to take advantage of them,as well as the basic principles of chord construction. We willalso see how do chords relate to scales, how do you deduce thechords that are to be found within the structure of a particularscale, and how to find a scale that fits a given chord. But themost important thing is that you will hopefully learn enough to beable to work with the scales, rather than against them.

Even though this book is very specific, it also starts fromzero, it does not include, nor does it require, any knowledge ofmusical notation (but, considering the importance of thisparticular aspect, a brief chapter on the subject is includedtoward the end). I would also like to point out that, since thisbook is aimed at all kinds of people, I do not focus on anyparticular instrument, but, if you play one, I strongly recommendthat you play each scale to hear how it sounds. After all, theoryfor the sake of theory is not really all that useful. It is atool, and it must be used as such. This is merely a book of scalesthat will hopefully guide you, and maybe even open a door or two,but in the end, you are the one who has to learn from it, tounderstand its contents and, finally, put them to some use. Nobook can learn for you.

I would also like to take this opportunity to point out thatthere are some chapters that are apparently very short (maybe onlya couple of pages long), but this can be deceiving, as some ofthem present quite a bit of information. Please take your time,since it is not a good idea to speed the construction processalong by cheating on the foundations. Remember, the goal here isto learn. There is no hurry, and the only real reward is a greaterunderstanding of the subject.

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Yes, I know that the glossary should be at the end, but since,as I have already stated, this book does not assume any previousknowledge, we will make a quick stop to clarify the meaning ofsome basic terms. Some of them will probably seem obvious, even tothe uninitiated, feel free to skip over the ones you are familiarwith. I would also like to point out that defining any given termin a few words is bound to be somewhat problematic, because italways leaves plenty of loose ends, so I want to warn you thatmost of these definitions are extremely simple, and will be, forthe most part, complemented later on. In fact some of these termshave a whole chapter devoted to them.

1.0) Note- Notes are to music what letters are to words. Thatis, they are the minimum identifiable sounds. Just like letters,notes have names, unfortunately, these have little or nothing todo with the sounds they represent. What I mean by this is that thename of F is just as similar to the sound it represents, as theshape of the character known as A is to the way in which wepronounce it.

1.1) The Names of the Notes- There are two main systems for naming the notes. One of them uses names, the other letters. The first system (the one using names) is used throughout most of the world. In it, the names of the notes are Do(Ut)-Re-Mi-Fa-Sol-La-Ti(Si). This system was created by Guido d'Arezzo (for the trivia question of the day, he was Italian and lived between 990 and 1050). The second system is used mostly in English and German speaking countries. This system is in fact older, and it uses letters rather than names to identify the different notes. It is connected to the previous system in the following way C=Do/Ut, D=Re, E=Mi, F=Fa, G=Sol, A=La, B(Ger. H)=Ti/Si. It is interesting to note that both systems present a couple of regional variations, such as the use of Ut instead of Do in France (OK, Ut was the original name for that particular note), or the use of H rather than B in Germany (a note of caution, in German, B=B). Later on it will become clear just why does the letter-based-system begin with C rather than A, but, for the time being, I'm afraid you will just have to trust me on this one.

2.0) Tonic- The tonic is the note that lends its name to theentire key. It is the note that sets the tone, if you will. Itcan, in fact, be any note, that is to say the octave can begin atany point, since it represents a convention that indicates how aparticular piece of music is to be written, played and so on. Thetonic is the starting point for the scale in which the music iswritten, regardless of what kind of scale is being used, be it AMajor or F Minor.

2.1) Octave- From the Latin word for eight, the octave represents the eighth note, and it has the same name as the tonic. The octave doubles the frequency of the tonic. To understand this, I'm afraid we will need to understand something about the nature of sound, so here it goes. Sound travels in waves, these waves are measured in Hertz (Hz.). Pitch is directly proportional to the number of Hertz (more Hertz, higher pitch). Now, combining what we have so far, we have that the octave doubles the number of Hertz of the tonic, so, using A as our example, we have that 110 Hz., 220 Hz., 440 Hz. and so on, all represent the sound we know as A, although obviously in its different octaves. For the record the human ear can perceive sounds with frequencies ranging approximately from 20 Hz. to 20 kHz. (20,000 Hz.), a range of approximately ten octaves, although, for the most part, only seven or eight of these are actually used to produce music.

3.0) Whole step/Half step (Tone/Semitone)- Steps and half stepsenable us to measure the distance between two notes. One of theeasiest ways to visualize them is through a piano keyboard. If,between two white keys, there is a black one, then those whitekeys are separated by a whole step (or whole tone), and the blackkey represents the half step (or semitone) between them. Ifbetween two white keys there is no black key, then the white keysthemselves are separated only by a half step. So, as we can see,the octave is made up of twelve half steps, or six wholesteps.

4.0) Sharp and Flat- As you can see in the previous figure, inaddition to the seven white keys representing the "natural" notes,there are also five black keys representing the half steps inbetween. These notes have their own names in connection to thosenotes closer to them, unfortunately this also means that they havetwo possible names each. Using C as our example, we find that thesound that is to be located a half step above it, is known as "Csharp", this is usually indicated in the following way:C,""is the symbol used to indicate that the note is sharp, andtherefore its pitch is half a step higher than the note used as areference. That same key, is also to be found a half step beforeD, and so it can also be known as "D flat" which is usuallyrepresented as "D",""is the symbol used to indicate that the note is flat, andtherefore its pitch is half a step lower than the note used as areference.

4.1) Enharmonic- Enharmonic is the word used to indicate that one note has really the same sound (or pitch) as another, as is precisely the case with C and D. Both names represent in fact the same note, which is two be found, in a keyboard, in the black key separating C and D. We have to keep in mind that, even though enharmonics represent the same sound it is very important to learn to give them their proper names, because, within a scale, an augmented second is not the same thing as a minor third, even though both intervals are enharmonics (seconds and thirds are explained later on). To further complicate matters, we may also encounter cases such as E, which, even though it is an enharmonic of F, sometimes we must stick with that E (the explanation for this will be found in later chapters, if you are curious about it, I'd suggest you look for it in the chapter dealing with the basic rules for scale construction).

4.2) Double Flat and Double Sharp- If things weren't complicated enough, sometimes a note can be modified by two flat or sharp signs, thus it sometimes becomes an enharmonic to more than one sound. For instance F, is an enharmonic not only to E but also to D. If it makes you feel better, it really sounds a lot more complex than it is. Once you understand the reasoning behind it, you will realize that it is fairly straight forward.

5.0) Scale- Here we are. Now if you look this word up in adictionary, you will find many definitions, ranging from fishes,to measurements, to mountain climbing, but here we will focus onlyon musical scales, that narrows it down. To keep it short, a scaleis nothing but an orderly sequence of notes (to be found within asingle octave, for the most part), which is used to create amelody, harmonize it or improvise over it. There are many kinds ofscales, but they can be divided, according to some basic traits,as follows:

5.1) Basic Pattern Scales- These scales are extremely simple, since they are built around a single pattern. It can be by half steps (Chromatic scale), whole steps (Whole Tone scale), or by combining both kinds of intervals regularly (whole step/half step, or half step/whole step). With the exception of the Chromatic scale, these are not frequently used.

5.2) Major Scales- There are plenty of scales that can be included in this group, since its name only means that, between the tonic and the third degree there are two whole steps, however, the name is usually reserved for the scale that is known as the Diatonic Major scale, which lies at the root of most Western music, or, when it is so stated, to one of its variations such as the Harmonic Major scale. All other scales beginning with a major third are usually considered as exotic scales.

5.3) Minor Scales- Just as with the major scales, there are numerous minor scales, since their name only means that, from the tonic to the third degree there is one and a half steps, but the name is usually reserved for the relative minor of the Diatonic Major scale, or a variation such as the Harmonic Minor scale, or the Melodic Minor scale (we will get to the relatives later, but I promise it has nothing to do with aunts and uncles). There is also a sub-group from these scales: that of the semi diminished (also known as half diminished), or even diminished, scales, these have a minor third and a diminished fifth.

5.4) Pentatonic Scales- Pentatonic scales have only five notes, or tones. They are fairly common, especially in Popular and Eastern music. They come in many forms, but the name is usually reserved for a five note scale that is derived from either the Major or the Minor scale. All other pentatonics are classed as, you guessed it, exotic scales.

5.5) Exotic Scales- We have encountered them often enough, so here we are with the exotic scales. The name is used to describe all of those scales that are foreign to traditional Western music, and more often than not, they present a nice riddle for traditional music theory.

5.6) Scales by Style- These scales have become so closely linked to a particular kind of music that they take its name, like the Blues scale, the Jazz scale or the Bop scale.

6.0) Degrees- The degree is the position of a particular notewithin the scale. Using our true and tried example of C Major, wehave that C is the tonic, D represents the second degree, E thethird, F the fourth, G the fifth, A the sixth, B the seventh, andC is the octave which, as you probably already noticed, has thesame name as the tonic.

6.1) The Names of the Degrees- Just as the notes may be referred to by either name or letter, so can the degrees be referred to by either number or name, so, just for the record, the names of the degrees are: for the first degree, tonic. For the second degree, the corresponding name is supertonic. For the third degree the name is mediant. For the fourth degree the name is subdominant. The fifth degree is the dominant. The sixth is the submediant, and finally the seventh is the seventh. Of these, the names that you are most likely to encounter are tonic (first) and dominant (fifth).

7.0) Interval- An interval is the distance between two notes asexpressed in steps and half steps. Unless otherwise specified, itis always ascending (that is from lower to higher pitch). It canbe expressed in two different forms.

7.1) Interval in Steps- Intervals can be defined in steps and half steps, for example, from E to A we have an interval of two and a half steps (you will understand why later on, but the figure of the keyboard may provide you with an answer).

7.2) Interval by Degrees- Just as an interval can be defined in terms of steps and half steps, it can also be defined in terms of degrees, by counting how many notes there are in between. Getting back to our previous example, we may say that the interval between E and A is a perfect fourth (between E and A there are four notes E-F-G-A, about the perfect bit, we'll get to it in a moment).

7.3) Kinds of Intervals- This one is going to sound complicated, but here we go. When we define an interval in terms of degrees, we can find several words used to describe it (such as a perfect fourth, as we saw in the previous example). These words are major, minor, perfect, augmented and diminished (we won't get into double augmented and double diminished, but they do exist).

These intervals relate to each other in the following way: if you reduce a major interval by a half step, you get a minor interval. If you reduce a minor interval by a half step you get a diminished interval. If you increase a major interval by a half step, it becomes augmented. By reducing a perfect interval by a half step you get a diminished interval. If you increase a perfect interval by a half step you get an augmented interval. In the Major and Minor scales both the fourth and fifth degrees are perfect, as are the tonic and the octave.

8.0) Structure- The structure of a scale is merely the way inwhich the different degrees relate to each other. Thisrelationship can be found in the way in which whole steps and halfsteps are combined, producing a specific sequence of intervalsbetween them, which in turn allows us to recognize the scale as awhole.

9.0) Mode- The different modes are really the same scale withdifferent starting points. In this system any "degree" can becomea tonic, for instance, D-E-F-G-A-B-C-D would be the second mode ofthe Major scale (though in the modal system each mode, includingthe first, has its own name, the Major scale is known as theIonian mode, the second mode is known as the Dorian mode). In eachone of the different modes we encounter a different distributionof steps and half steps even though we are not really changing asingle sound.

10.0) Chord- A chord is made up of three or more notes playedsimultaneously (or almost simultaneously, depending on theinstrument). It is usually constructed by piling up thirds (C-E-G,using the most traditional example, make up the chord, or triad,known as C major).

11.0) Rhythm- Rhythm itself has absolutely nothing to do withscales, yet, without it, we would have no music, since it isprobably the first element that allows us to identify the soundswe know as music as such. It breaks down time, and it is aroundthis basic division that all the sounds are organized.

12.0) Melody- Together with rhythm, melody represents the mainline around which the other elements, those that complement it,such as harmony, are incorporated.

13.0) Progressions- A progression is a series of chords thatharmonizes (accompanies) a melody. There are three main kinds ofprogressions. We will learn a little about them in this book, butthis is not a book about harmony. Anyway, these three types are:the progression by fifths, the diatonic progression and thechromatic progression.

14.0) Improvisation- The improvisation is a place within aparticular piece of music in which the musician has theopportunity to create something new right on the spot (or at leastthat is the idea), by following a known progression.

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