Let’s expand our musical minds and ears by comparing a dozen definitive scales that represent a broad cross section of almost every style of music you can imagine–classical, pop, rock, jazz, blues, boogie woogie, ragtime, country, reggae, world music, and more…
Read, play, and sing the Solfege syllables for each scale. In doing so we are going to tune up our ears, internalize the unique sound-feeling of each note, and connect the way we think about the music with the way we hear and feel the music. This is not interval training, but Solfege training. It’s ok if you hear the intervals between each note, but your task is to hear and feel the unique sound-feeling of each note with respect to the key center Do. Make sure to do this slowly enough for the unique sound-feeling of each Solfege syllable to make a meaningful impression on your mind’s ear. Let’s go!
C Major Scale
Play and sing the Solfege syllables going up…
Play and sing the Solfege syllables going down…
C Natural Minor Scale
The Natural Minor Scale is widely used in modal music and also provides the key signature for tonal minor music…
Play and sing the Solfege syllables going up…
Play and sing the Solfege syllables going down…
Notes…
- Note: Me is the defining note that makes this scale sound and feel minor.
- Compare the Natural Minor Scale to the Major Scale and notice that Mi becomes Me, La becomes Le, and Ti becomes Te. Also notice that Mi and Me both start with the letter M, La and Le both start with the letter L, and Ti and Te both start with the letter T. This is no coincidence–as it makes perfect musical sense to think of and hear Me as “Mi flat” (the minor version of Mi), Le as “La flat” (the minor version of La), and Te as “Ti flat” Ti (the minor version of Ti).
- Play and sing the Major “penta-scale” (Do-Re-Mi-Fa-So) and the Minor “penta-scale” (Do-Re-Me-Fa-So) side by side. Be sure to sustain each note long enough for the “bright” sound/feeling of Mi and the “dark” sound/feeling of Me to really sink in. Notice how these notes dramatically define the sound, feeling, and character of their respective scales.
- The name “natural” is purely an artifact of historical musical convention. The common practice is to use the notes in the “Natural Minor” to define the key signature in tonal music. There is nothing “un-natural” about other minor scales.
C Melodic Minor Scale
The Melodic Minor Scale is unique among scales because some of the notes change depending on whether you are going up or down the scale…
Play and sing the Solfege syllables going up…
Play and sing the Solfege syllables going down…
Notice that all the minor scales share the exact same five notes Do-Re-Me-Fa-So!
C Harmonic Minor Scale
The Harmonic Minor Scale is one of many existence proofs that scales are not made up of half steps and whole steps…
Play and sing the Solfege syllables going up…
Play and sing the Solfege syllables going down…
C Mixolydian Scale
The Mixolydian Scale is widely used in folk, pop, rock, bluegrass, country, and modal jazz. Think of the Mixolydian Scale as the major version of the Dorian Scale.
Play and sing the Solfege syllables going up…
Play and sing the Solfege syllables going down…
C Dorian Scale
The Dorian Scale has a primitive, minor, sometimes jazzy quality that is widely used in pop, rock, folk, and modal jazz. Think of the Dorian Scale as the minor version of the Mixolydian Scale.
Play and sing the Solfege syllables going up…
Play and sing the Solfege syllables going down…
C Major Pentatonic Scale
As the name suggests, the Major Pentatonic Scale has five notes and a major quality–and is yet another existence proof that scales are not made up of “half-steps” and “whole-steps”.
Play and sing the Solfege syllables going up…
Play and sing the Solfege syllables going down…
Notice that the Major Pentatonic Scale is a subset of the Major Scale–with the two most harmonically active tones (Fa and Ti) removed!
C Minor Pentatonic Scale
As the name suggests, the Minor Pentatonic Scale has five notes and a minor sound. The simple, primitive quality of the Minor Pentatonic Scale makes it very useful in folk, rock, and blues.
Play and sing the Solfege syllables going up…
Play and sing the Solfege syllables going down…
C Minor Blues Scale
The Minor Blues Scale is the blues scale that most people are familiar with, so much so that it usually just called the Blues Scale…
Play and sing the Solfege syllables going up…
Play and sing the Solfege syllables going down…
Notice that the Minor Blues Scale is just the Minor Pentatonic Scale with the addition of one note: Fi.
C Major Blues Scale
The Major Blues Scale is the lesser-known cousin of the minor blues scale. Sometimes called the Jazz Blues Scale, it has a more majorish, jazzier quality than the Minor Blues Scale…
Play and sing the Solfege syllables going up…
Play and sing the Solfege syllables going down…
Notice that the Major Blues Scale is the Major Pentatonic Scale with an added blue note: Me.
C Middle Eastern Scale
An exotic-sounding scale that is the basis for the joyous Jewish folk song “Hava Nagila”…
Play and sing the Solfege syllables going up…
Play and sing the Solfege syllables going down…
C Japanese Scale
Enjoy this utterly simple, but deliciously distinctive scale from the Land of the Rising Sun…
Play and sing the Solfege syllables going up…
Play and sing the Solfege syllables going down…