~ Alfred Binet (French psychologist, 1st to quantify intelligence, 1857-1911) A song has a few rights the same as ordinary citizens… if it happens to feel like flying where humans cannot fly… to scale mountains that are not there, who shall stop it?
~ Charles Ives (US Composer, 1874-1954) ________________________ Want to learn more about the best ways to practice? Get an e-mail with a discount code when The Practice of Practice is published (June, 2014). To learn more about the book, check out a sample from The Practice of Practice. Not much time to write in the coming weeks as I wrap up my comprehensive exam questions for the PhD. Then it’s on to craft and execute a study of my own on practice. So, in the spirit of doing two things at once, I’m including links to a series of lessons in which I explain the major scale, all its modes, relative minor, Major and minor pentatonics, and the related blues scale. I posted it to help trumpet players learn the fingering of their scales, but the concepts can help anyone and getting the sound of each scale into your memory is essential. I’ll post notification of other types of scales like the harmonic and melodic minors, diminished scales and other symmetrical scales, as well as more exotic scales, like the Insen, a Japanese scale. Each major scale contains 6 other modes. Each mode uses the exact same notes as the Major scale, but each starts on a different note. This changes the series of whole and half steps that make up a major scale (which, btw, is wwhwwwh), and gives each mode a different “feel.” Each mode is associated with a particular chord, sometimes more than one. But we’ll keep it simple. Below is the list of scales/modes in C Major. The chord symbol for oft-used modes is included :
- C Ionian/Major (I): used in C, CM7, Cmaj7, Cmaj9
- D Dorian (ii): Dmin7, D-7, Dm7, etc.
- E Phrygian (iii): Emin, Em, E-, E-7 , etc.
- F Lydian (IV)
- G Mixolydian (V): G7, G9, etc.
- A Aeolian/natural minor (vi): Am, Amin, A-, Amin7, A-7, etc.
- B Locrian (vii)
Here is a link to a vid with examples for the key of Bb