Piano Scales

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PIANO SCALES

On this free piano lesson on piano scales, we will be using the key of C in our examples. Transpose all of these scales in twelve tonal centers (twelve keys).

C MAJOR SCALE

Notice that a major piano scale has 5 whole steps (C to D, D to E, F to G, G to A, and A to B) and 2 half steps (E to F or 3 to 4 and B to C or 7 to 1 or Root). This is the characteristic of every major chord in music. Take time to study the major scale and transpose into 12 keys using this formula:

WS - WS - HS - WS - WS - WS - HS

wherein:
WS - whole step
HS - half step

TECHNICAL TERMS FOR THE DEGREES OF THE MAJOR SCALE

DEGREE OF SCALE	TECHNICAL TERM
8	tonic
7	leading tone
6	submediant
5	dominant
4	subdominant
3	mediant
2	supertonic
1	tonic

MINOR SCALE (key of C)

There are three types of minor scale - the harmonic, melodic and the natural minor.

HARMONIC MINOR

C D Eb F G Ab B C

MELODIC MINOR

C D Eb F G A B C (ascending), C Bb Ab G F Eb D C (descending)

NATURAL MINOR

C D Eb F G Ab Bb C

MODES OF THE C MAJOR SCALE

CHORD	SYMBOL	MODE	NOTES	FORMULA
I	CMaj7	Ionian	C To C	1 2 3 4 5 6 7
II	Dm7	Dorian	D To D	1 2 b3 4 5 6 b7
III	Em7	Phrygian	E To E	1 b2 b3 4 5 b6 b7
IV	FMaj7#11	Lydian	F To F	1 2 3 #4 5 6 7
V	G7	Mixolydian	G To G	1 2 3 4 5 6 b7
VI	Am7	Aeolean	A To A	1 2 b3 4 5 b6 b7
VII	Bm7b5	Locrian	B To B	1 b2 b3 4 b5 b6 b7

MODES OF THE C MAJOR SCALE WITH C AS THE ROOT

MODE	RELATIVE MAJOR	ALTERED TONES
C Ionian	C Major	none
C Dorian	Bb Major	b3, b7
C Phrygian	Ab Major	b2, b3, b6, b7
C Lydian	G Major	#4
C Mixolydian	F Major	b7
C Aeolean	Eb Major	b3, b6, b7
C Locrian	Db Major	b2, b3, b5, b6, b7

OTHER PIANO SCALES:
Here are the other piano scales (from Jamey Aebersold):

CHORD SYMBOL	SCALE NAME	W.S. & H.S. FORMULA	SCALE IN KEY OF C
C	Major	W W H W W W H	C D E F G A B C
C7	Dominant 7th	W W H W W H W	C D E F G A Bb C
Cm7	Minor	W H W W W H W	C D Eb F G A Bb C
Cm7b5	Half diminished (locrian)	H W W H W W W	C Db Eb F Gb Ab Bb C
Cdim7	Diminished	W H W H W H W H	C D Eb F Gb Ab A B C

MAJOR SCALE CHOICES

CMaj#4	Lydian	W W W H W W H	C D E F# G A B C
CMaj	Bebop Scale	W W H W H H W H	C D E F G G# A B C
CMajb6	Harmonic Major	W W H W H -3 H	C D E F G Ab B C
CMaj#5,#4	Lydian Augmented	W W W W H W H	C D E F# G# A B C
C	Augmented	-3 H -3 H -3 H	C D# E G Ab B C
C	6th Mode of Harmonic Minor	-3 H W H W W H	C D# E F# G A B C
C	Diminished (H-W)	H W H W H W H W	C Db D# E F# G A Bb C
C	Blues Scale	-3 W H H -3 W	C Eb F F# G Bb C
C	Major Pentatonic	W W -3 W -3	C D E G A C

DOMINANT 7TH SCALE CHOICES

C7	Bebop Scale	W W H W W H H H	C D E F G A Bb B C
C7b9	Spanish or Jewish	H -3 H W H W W	C Db E F G Ab Bb C
C7#4	Lydian Dominant	W W W H W H W	C D E F# G A Bb C
C7b6	Hindu	W W H W H W W	C D E F G Ab Bb C
C7+(#5,#4)	Whole Tone (6 tone scale)	W W W W W W	C D E F# G# Bb C
C7b9(#9,#4)	Diminished (begin with HS	H W H W H W H W	C Db D# E F# G A Bb C
C7#9(b9,#4,#5)	Diminished Whole Tone	H W H W W W W	C Db D# E F# G# Bb C C
C7	Blues Scale	-3 W H H -3 W	C Eb F F# G Bb C
C7	Major Pentatonic	W W -3 W -3	C D E G A C

DOMINANT 7TH SUSPENDED 4TH SCALE CHOICES

C7sus4	Dom 7th scale	W -3 W W H W	C D F G A Bb C
C7sus4	Maj pentatonic built on b7	W W -3 W -3	Bb C D F G Bb
C7sus4	Bebop scale	W W H W W H H W	C D E F G A Bb B C

MINOR SCALE CHOICES

Cm7	Minor (dorian)	W H W W W H W	C D Eb F G A Bb C
Cm7	Bebop Scale	W H H H W W H W	C D Eb E F G A Bb C
Cm7+Maj7	Melodic minor (ascending)	W H W W W W H	C D Eb F G A B C
Cm7	Bebop minor	W H W W H H W H	C D Eb F G G# A B C
Cm7	Blues scale	-3 W H H -3 W	C Eb F F# G Bb C
Cm7	Minor Pentatonic	-3 W W -3 W	C Eb F G Bb C
Cm7(b6,Maj7)	Harmonic Minor	W H W W H -3 H	C D Eb F G Ab B C
Cm7	Diminished (begin w/ W.S.)	H W H W W W W	C D Eb F F# G# A B C
Cm7	Phrygian	H W W W H W W	C Db Eb F G Ab Bb C
Cm or Cm b6	Natural Minor	W H W W H W W	C D Eb F G Ab Bb C

HALF DIMINISHED SCALE CHOICES

Cm7b5	Half Diminished (locrian)	H W W H W W W	C Db Eb F Gb Ab Bb C
Cm7b5 (#2)	Half Dim #2 (locrian #2)	W H W H W W W	C D Eb F Gb Ab Bb C
Cm7b5	Bebop Scale	H W W H H H W W	C Db Eb F Gb G Ab Bb C

DIMINISHED SCALE CHOICES

Cdim

Diminished (8 tone scale)

W H W H W H W H

C D Eb F Gb Ab A B C

WS - whole step
HS - half step
-3 - three half steps

CHROMATIC SCALE - sequence of notes each step moving half step at a time (C,C#/Db,D,D#/Eb,E,F,F#/Gb,G,G#/Ab,A,A#/Bb,B then C again an octave (eight notes) higher than the first C, and the cycle keeps repeating. We can write the sequence formula as: H H H H H H H etc., to represent the interval between the notes.