Music Theory for Organists: What Is Major and Minor Scale?
Many organists play organ pieces without ever thinking about how the piece is put together, what is the compositional materials used in the piece etc.
These are advanced questions, of course and everything must start very simple at the beginning.
In this article, I will explain, what is a major and minor scale, the foundations of every tonal organ composition.
The major scale consists of 7 notes (the 8th being a repetition of the first 1 octave higher) and the distances between the notes are as follows: Whole step, whole step, half step, whole step, whole step, whole step and half step.
Let's take an example of the scale which consists of white keys only, C major scale.
For example, the notes of the C major scale are: C, D, E, F, G, A, B, (and C - repetition).
The minor scale also consists of 7 notes but the distances between the notes are a little different: Whole step, half step, whole step, whole step, half step, whole step, and whole step.
The scale of A minor also consists of white keys only.
That's why it is called a relative key of C major.
For example, the notes of the A minor scale are: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, (and A - repetition).
Does it make sense so far? If so, let's proceed further: the note of the scale can also be called a scale degree, meaning that there are 7 scale degrees in a scale: in C major: C(1), D (2), E (3), F (4), G (5), A (6), B (7) and C (8 or 1).
In A minor: A (1), B (2), C (3), D (4), E (5), F (6), G (7) and A (8 or 1).
Play now the two scales C major and A minor on your keyboard.
Listen in particularly how the 1st, 3rd, 5th scale degrees sound.
They sound very stable.
This is because they comprise a Tonic chord (C, E, G in C major) or (A, C, E in A minor).
2, 4, 6, 7 are unstable and they lead to the closest stable degrees.
By the way, the 1st scale degree of A minor is located just 3 scale steps lower than C major.
Is it easy to understand so far? Practice playing C Major and A minor scales for a few times.
After you are fluent with these scales, you can start constructing similar scales in other keys as well.
These are advanced questions, of course and everything must start very simple at the beginning.
In this article, I will explain, what is a major and minor scale, the foundations of every tonal organ composition.
The major scale consists of 7 notes (the 8th being a repetition of the first 1 octave higher) and the distances between the notes are as follows: Whole step, whole step, half step, whole step, whole step, whole step and half step.
Let's take an example of the scale which consists of white keys only, C major scale.
For example, the notes of the C major scale are: C, D, E, F, G, A, B, (and C - repetition).
The minor scale also consists of 7 notes but the distances between the notes are a little different: Whole step, half step, whole step, whole step, half step, whole step, and whole step.
The scale of A minor also consists of white keys only.
That's why it is called a relative key of C major.
For example, the notes of the A minor scale are: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, (and A - repetition).
Does it make sense so far? If so, let's proceed further: the note of the scale can also be called a scale degree, meaning that there are 7 scale degrees in a scale: in C major: C(1), D (2), E (3), F (4), G (5), A (6), B (7) and C (8 or 1).
In A minor: A (1), B (2), C (3), D (4), E (5), F (6), G (7) and A (8 or 1).
Play now the two scales C major and A minor on your keyboard.
Listen in particularly how the 1st, 3rd, 5th scale degrees sound.
They sound very stable.
This is because they comprise a Tonic chord (C, E, G in C major) or (A, C, E in A minor).
2, 4, 6, 7 are unstable and they lead to the closest stable degrees.
By the way, the 1st scale degree of A minor is located just 3 scale steps lower than C major.
Is it easy to understand so far? Practice playing C Major and A minor scales for a few times.
After you are fluent with these scales, you can start constructing similar scales in other keys as well.
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