What are scales? Major scale vs minor scales
You can watch this lesson in the video below, or read at your ease under the video.
What are scales? How can you hear the difference between a major scale and a minor scale?
What are scales?
Let’s start with the first question: what are scales?
A scale is a set of notes (usually 7 different notes) that you can play in ascending order, descending order or in any other order.
You can define a certain scale by the intervals between its consisting notes.
As you will see later, the scale determines the mood of the music.
The difference between a major scale and a minor scale
As I said before, a scale sets the mood of the music. Below, you can listen to the C major scale played in ascending order over a C major chord.
And now, here below, listen to the C (natural) minor scale played in ascending order over a C minor chord.
Did you hear the difference? The major sound is much happier, the minor sound is more sad, tragic or melancholic.
Notice that both scales start on a (low) C and end on a (high) C and consist of 7 different notes (you hear a sequence of 8 notes, but the C is played as the first and lowest note and as the last and highest note, so twice). So the only difference between both scales are the intervals between their consisting notes.
I hope you liked this mini-lesson about the difference between major and minor harmony. Please tell us what you think of this lesson by leaving a comment below.
