Major Scales

Introduction to the Scales

Have you ever wondered why the music we listen to sounds differently than music from other parts of the globe? Let’s listen to two excerpts of music from other countries. Why do they sound different to us?

The first piece is from the Baka people in Africa:

The second piece is Balinese and from Indonesia:

The reason our music sounds differently is because our music is based on Western scales and that Western music tends to use a set of instruments that are different than instruments from other cultures. You can do a search for Gamelan (Indonesian instruments) or traditional Chinese instruments to view and hear the differences from Western instruments. In this module, we will study half and whole steps that are responsible for fabricating Western scales.

Module Lessons Preview

In this module, we will study the following topics:

Half and Whole Steps

Chromatic Scales and Major Scales

Major Key Signatures and Circle of Fifths

Other Scales

IMAGES CREATED BY GAVS OR OPENSOURCE