Major and minor scales are built similarly. The differences between the two are:
- The position of the 3rd and 6th notes.
- The location of the scale’s intervals.
- Their contrasting “moods.”
Major and minor scales are variations of the diatonic scale, which is a musical scale built with intervals of 5 whole steps and 2 half steps. The diatonic pattern is as follows:
Chapter 2: Major and Minor Scales and Keys 39 Section 2.7 MA J O R A N D NA T U R A L MI N O R SC A L E S F O R PI A N O Right hand fingerings above, left hand fingerings below; thumbs are 1; enharmonic keys are listed only once. 13 rows Piano scales chart. Here you see an overview of some of the most common scales: Major.
Major Scale
whole - whole - half - whole - whole - whole - half
C major scale:
C -whole- D -whole- E -half- F -whole- G -whole- A -whole- B -half- C
Minor Scale
whole - half - whole - whole - half - whole - whole
A minor scale:
A -whole- B -half- C -whole- D -whole- E -half- F -whole- G -whole- A
Notice how the two half steps are always separated by either two or three whole steps; this system of intervals is the diatonic pattern. What makes a scale major or minor depends on which notes these half steps affect. Compare pictures #1 and #2, above:
- In major scales, half steps appear after the 3rd and 7th notes.
- In minor scales, half steps follow the 2nd and 5th notes.
Major and Minor Thirds
Due to the placement of these half step intervals, the third is the first note to reveal a scale’s major or minor status. In the diatonic pattern, the third is either major or minor:
Major Third: The third note in a major scale, two whole steps (four half steps) above the tonic (or very first note).
● In the C major scale, E is four half steps above C, so the major third is E.
Minor Third: 1.5 steps (three half steps) above the tonic.
● In the C minor scale, E flat is three half steps above C, so the minor third is Eb.
The Moods of Major and Minor
Major and minor are often described in terms of feelings or mood. The ear tends to perceive major and minor as having contrasting personalities; a contrast that is most obvious when the two are played back to back.
- Major is perceived as more happy and positive.
- Minor is perceived as more somber and melancholy.
Try It: Play a C major scale on your piano, and follow it with a C minor scale; observe the change in mood once the third note is struck. For scale help, view the C minor scale highlighted on the piano keyboard, or read the notation.
![Major Piano Scales Pdf Major Piano Scales Pdf](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/c4/21/1b/c4211bce01e11f50c84cfbc68968ee66.jpg)
The C minor scale consists of:
C -whole- D -half- Eb -whole- F -whole- G -half- Ab -whole- Bb -whole- C
You need to understand something right away to be a piano or keyboard player: Minor scales are no less important or smaller in size than major scales. They just have an unfortunate name. Minor scales come in a few varieties.
Like major scales, minor scales have eight notes, with the top and bottom (tonic) notes having the same name. But minor scales have their own, unique scale patterns: the natural minor, harmonic minor, and melodic minor patterns.
Each of the eight notes in a minor scale has a name:
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1st note: Tonic
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2nd note: Supertonic
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3rd note: Mediant
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4th note: Subdominant
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5th note: Dominant
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6th note: Submediant
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7th note: Subtonic
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8th note: Tonic
In the harmonic and melodic minor scales, the 7th degree is called the leading tone.
Natural minor scales
The natural minor scale uses the following ascending stepwise pattern:
Whole-Half-Whole-Whole-Half-Whole-Whole (or WHWWHWW)
Sure, it may look similar to the major scale pattern, but make no mistake, this slight rearrangement of half and whole steps makes all the difference in the world. The best way to understand the difference is to play and listen to a major and a minor scale side by side. Here is the C major scale, followed immediately by the C minor scale.
Hear the difference? Try something else: Play this melody, where the notes of a C minor scale are plugged into the same rhythms as the original “Joy to the World.” Notice the difference in the sound.
You can play a minor scale on only the white keys, too — just start with A instead of C. Apply the same scale pattern to the tonic note A, and you get the A natural minor scale. (That’s because A is the relative minor of C.)
But apply the same pattern to other tonic notes and you encounter some minor scales with sharps (like E minor) and some with flats (like D minor).
The notes from minor scales make great, memorable melodies, too.
Harmonic minor scales
The harmonic minor scale differs from the natural minor scale by only one half step, but in making that slight change, you achieve a scale with a whole new sound. For example, to play the A harmonic minor scale, follow these steps:
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Start out playing the A natural minor scale.
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When you get to the seventh note, G, raise it one half step to G sharp.
This change makes the distance from the sixth to the seventh scale degree one and a half steps and gives the harmonic minor scale its unique sound.
The complete pattern for an ascending harmonic minor scale is this:
![Minor piano scales pdf Minor piano scales pdf](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/f3/43/ac/f343aca4bf821ae4bda751a0e00db8b8.gif)
Whole-Half-Whole-Whole-Half-1½-Half (WHWWH1½-H)
Play and compare the natural minor scale with the harmonic minor scale next to it. Sounds rather exotic, doesn’t it? You’ll encounter this scale in lots of classical piano music.
Melodic minor scales
Another variation on the minor scale is the melodic minor scale, which is notable (forgive the pun) because it has a different pattern depending on whether you’re going up the scale or coming down. That’s right — a chameleon-like scale that ascends one way and descends another. This flexibility is useful when you want the scale to sound, you guessed it, melodic.
Try playing the A melodic minor scale, and you’ll hear that the scale sounds pleasingly melodic going both up and down.
Notice that the sixth and seventh degrees of the scale are raised a half step when ascending and are lowered a half step when descending. You probably recognized that the descending scale is identical to the natural minor scale, so only the ascending pattern is really new:
Whole-Half-Whole-Whole-Whole-Whole-Half (or WHWWWWH)
Composers sometimes combine scales for a song’s melody just to spice things up a bit.
Trying minor scale exercises
Get some practice with the C natural, harmonic, and melodic minor scales by playing the following exercises. You can use these as a warm-up along with the C major scale exercise.