Highest and minor steps explained step by step
All the bigger scales follow the same formula of tones and semitones, and the smaller ones have three versions. Learn how to build them from any note.
A scale is a number of tiered notes from a main note, the tonic, to its octave, following a fixed pattern of distances. The bigger scale follows the formula tone, tone, semitone, tone, tone, tone, semitone (T-T-S-T-T-T-S) and the natural minor, tone, semitone, tone, tone, semitone, tone, tone (T-S-T-T-S-T-T)
With these two formulas you can build up the scale of any note and when you understand why the smaller scale has three versions, natural, harmonic and melodic, many pieces and chord progressions will start to make sense.
To sum up
- The semitone, also called half tone, is the smallest distance between two notes and a tone are two semitones.
- Highscale: T-T-S-T-T-T-S. Do Higher does not have alterations.
- Natural minor scale: T-S-T-T-S-T-T. The minor shares the notes of Do mayor: they are relative.
- The lower harmonic level goes up seventh degree and the melodic level goes up 6th and 7th as they ascend.
- On a scale every letter appears once: that's why Fa mayor takes Si por and not La por.
Tono and semitone: the two measures you need
The semitone That's the smallest distance between two notes in Western music. At piano is the passing from one key to the next, be it black or white, and at guitar, from one strand to the next. Also called half tone (yes, from that come the name of A medio tono). tone That's two semitones.
- Do to Do: a semitone. Do to Rees: a tone.
- Between Me and Fa and between Si and Do, there's only one semitone: at the piano there's no black key between them.
- Among the other neighboring natural notes (Doc.re, Re.Mi, Fat.Sol, Sol.La, La.i) there's a tone.
If you want to deepen how the distance between notes are measured, read [what's a musical interval]](/blog/que-es-un-intervalo-musical).
The bigger scale and its formula
| Grade | Note | Distance to the following |
|---|---|---|
| I | Do | Tono |
| II | Re | Tono |
| III | Mi | Semitono |
| IV | Fa | Tono |
| V | Sol | Tono |
| VI | La | Tono |
| VII | Si | Semitono |
| VIII (I) | Do | — |
Do mayor is the only bigger scale that goes complete onto the white keys. If you start with another note, you will have to alter some to maintain the formula.
How to build any bigger scale
- He writes his seven letters in order from the tone and does not repeat or leap at anything. To Sun: Sun, La, Si, Do, Ree, Mi, Fa, Sol.
- Check every distance against T-T-S-T-T-T-S formula.
- Where it does not match, it intersects with) or) without changing his letter. In Sun, from Me to Fa there's a semitone but the formula wants a tone: Fa passes to Fa) and from Fa to Sol remains the final semitone.
- Check the result by playing it: if it sounds as "do-re-mi-ti-tippppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppp@@
| Scale | Notes | Alteraciones |
|---|---|---|
| C major | Do re Mi Fa Sol La Si Do | None |
| G major | La Si Do re Mi Fa | Fa♯ |
| D major | Ree Mi Fa ÀSol La Si Do Àre | Fa ∞, Do ∞ |
| F major | Fa Sol La Si Do re Mi Fa | Si♭ |
See Fa Major: from The A If there's a tone and the formula asks for a semitone. You could think about The A, but then you would have two notes "The" and none "If." That's why we write If ": every letter appears once.
The degrees of the scale and their names
| Grade | Name | Why does it matter? |
|---|---|---|
| I | Tnica | The note of rest, and give name to the scale |
| II | Supertonic | Just above the tone |
| III | Mediante | Define if the scale is more or less |
| IV | Subdominante | Base of one of the three main chords |
| V | Dominante | Generates tension that asks to get back to the tone |
| VI | Exceeding or subpassing | The relative minor starting point |
| VII | Sensitive (to a semitone of the tonic) or subtonic (to a tone) | The sensitive "push" to the tone |
The lower natural scale and relative tones
The formula of the natural minor is T-S-T-T-T-T-T. applying to La, she doesn't require alterations: La, Si, Do, Ree, Mi, Fa, Sol, La. They are exactly the notes of Do mayor, starting from his 6th grade. That's why they say that The minor is the relative minor of Do mayor: share notes and armor but have different tonic and different character.
- To find the relative minor of a bigger scale, lower three semitones from its tonic: from the bigger Sun you get to My minor (Mi Fa MiguSol La Si Do re Mi).
- Do not confuse relative with Parallel: Do minor is the parallel of Do mayor, because it has the same tonic. Do minor natural is Do Ree Mi ÀFa Sol La ÀSi Do.
- Compared with its largest parallel, the natural minor has lower grades III, VI and VII.
It's a useful guide to his ear but not a rule: there's festive music and more melancholy songs.
Natural minor, harmonic and melodic: the differences
| Scale | Notes | Formula | What changes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Natural minor | La Si Do re Mi Fa Sol La | T-S-T-T-S-T-T | That's his base. |
| Minor harmonic | La Si Do re Mi Fa Sol | T-S-T-T-S-1½T-S | Reg's up seventh. |
| Melodic minor (up) | The Si Do re Mi Fa | T-S-T-T-T-T-S | The 6th and 7th rise |
| Melodic minor (down, classical) | The Sun Fa Mi re Do Si La | The same as natural | Go back to the natural |
Why there's the least harmonic
At the natural minor, the seventh degree (Sun) is at a tone of the tone and does not "push" at it. When uploading to Sol, the sensitive and chord about the fifth degree goes from My minor to My major (Mi-Sol) - and with far more force resolves at The minor. It's the Mi major of the Lam-Re- Mi progression that's used in boleros and so many Latin American songs - you can play with the [guitar's basic chords]](/blog/acordes-basicos-de-guitarra-para-principiantes)A half and a half leap remains as a secondary effect between Fa and Sol and gives them a highly recognizable color.
Why there's a minor melodic
To smooth that leap while singing or playing melodic, the minor melodic also goes up to 6th grade as they ascend. At descend, classical tradition goes back to natural, because we no longer have to have sensible. The same version goes up and down in jazz.
How to practice scales without getting bored
- It builds on Do, Sun, Ree and Fa paper and its relative minor. To write the scales sets the formula rather than memorize them.
- Touch them at the piano. To Do Major, the usual digitation of his right hand rising up is 1-2-3-3-3-4-5 and his left, 5-4-3-3-3-3-2-1.
- Put the [methonomer]](/herramientas/metronomo) at 60: first a note by pulse, then two. Check for matching notes in volume and duration.
- Sing the scales with the name of the notes. Singing trains his ear far more than just playing.
- He's been following La's 3 minor and listening to what's changing with each of them.
- Following the order of [circle of quintas]](/blog/circulo-de-quintas-explicado) to get added with a new change at a time.
[Music Theory Classes]](/clases/teoria-musical) or [piano]](/clases/piano), the teacher connects each scale with actual pieces, which is what makes them stay in memory.
Frequently asked questions
How many bigger scales are there?
There are 12 bigger scales with different sounds, one for each note from the octave. as some can be written in two forms, for example Fa) Major and Sun) Major, the theory includes 15 names of bigger tones.
What's a pentatonic scale?
It's a five-note scale. The major pentatonic removes the 4th and 7th grades from the largest scale (Do ReMi Sol La) and the minor pentatonic removes the second and 6th grades from the natural minor (La Do Ree Mi Sol). It's widely used to improvise rock, blues and popular music.
What's the difference between scale and tone?
The scale is an ordered list of notes. The tone is the whole system that's organized around a tonic: its notes, its chords and the function of each. To say that a song is "at The Minor" speaks about tone.
Why do you say semitone and not half tone?
They are synonyms. "Semitono" is the term most used in theory and in books and "half tone" is more common as they speak, especially among popular musicians.