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E B F C G D A E B F C G D A E B F C G D A E B Fx Cx
So, we know how to call the notes, but what is this all good for? As I have said, a major scale can be formed by taking one fifth below to tonal center (by tonal center I mean the base note of the scale, i.e. C in C major) and five fifths above it. So what happens if we start with G as our tonal center? By looking at the line above, you see that one fifth below it is C, five fifths above it are the notes D A E B F. Put together, the G major scale consists of C G D A E B F Similarly, if we start with, say, A, we obtain D A E B F C G Now, if I tell you to tell me the notes of A major, you shouldnt hesitate; just look at the line and read seven notes starting with the one on the left of A: D A E B F C G This itself may be quite useful, but we still did not get to the real purpose, namely that chord progressions are determined by their relative position to the tonal center in the line of
fifths. For example, C F G is what would traditionally be called the I IV V progression (or tonic, subdominant, dominant, and this is the most common progression in western classical music). Notice that F is on the left of C, G on the right. The same pattern applies to any other key; for example, in the key of G the same progression would be G C D (by the same I mean it would sound completely the same, just a little higher or lower). In the key of A? The same! One left, one right, or A D E (just look at the line; the segment above suffices). What about the I vi ii V I progression (also one of the most common chord progressions)? In C major, this is C Am Dm G C (m denotes that the chord is minor, since the chords at the vi and ii degrees of a major scale are minor). By looking at the line you can see that at first you actually jump three letters to the right and then return stepwise back to C. This has to be the same in all keys, so in G, this leads to G Em Am D G (Remember, you start with G in the line and jump three times to the right and then return letterwise back). In A: A Fm Bm E A Cool, we know how to find these chord progressions in any key when we look at the line of fifths. The problem is Usually when we play theres no line of fifths to look at. How to solve this problem? Rename the notes.
7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
or aligned with the previous line:
D A E B F C G D A E B F C G D 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
C = 2 in the new notation. What are the notes of C major?
3 2 1 0 1 2 3
And what about, say, B = 3 major? 2345678 Naming notes of any key becomes trivial. But in fact, it is not the notes in a key what matters, the important thing is what is their function. Every note is determined its relative position to the tonal center. I shall denote this position by +n or n, for example, 1 is +1 of 0, 5 is +2 of 3, 3 is 1 of 2 and so on. The tonal center itself will be denoted by +0. What does it mean in terms of chord progressions? For example, the progression I IV V can be written as +0 1 +1. In 0-major this means 0 1 1, in 3 major this means 3 2 4, in 7 major this means 7 6 8 etc. Minor chords and other types of chords can be indicated using m or another traditional symbols. For example, we can write +0 +3m +2m +17 +0 for the usual I vi ii V7 I progression. The point is that once you learn how to play chords using this naming system on your instrument, you know how to play any chord progression in any key. For example if you know how to play chords 10 major, 9 major, and so on, 10 minor, 9 minor and so on, on the piano (its actually quite simple; it took me only one evening to learn how to play chords from 10 to 10 (both major and
minor) on piano instantly (although I am a guitarist and I hadnt known the fingerings until that evening; if you are a pianist, you just have to remember where are the notes in this naming system)). For example, just after one evening of training with no previous knowledge, I was able to play the I vi ii V progression (i.e. +0 +3m +2m +1) in all keys, because its trivial. Want to start in 2 major (E major)? Just play the chords 2 5 4 3 2 (or more precisely 2 5m 4m 3 2). In 4 major (F major)? Play 4 7 6 5 4. In 6 major (A major)? Play 6 3 4 5 6. How long would it take take to you to learn these progressions using the traditional letters? Just compare:
2 5 4 3 2 4 7 6 5 4 6 3 4 5 6 E C F B E F D G C F A F B E A
If you dont already remember them, the letters appear completely random. This is exactly the reason why many musicians are able to play well in one key and are completely lost in another key. Using numbers theres nothing to remember. Everyone can count to ten.
2 0 2 3 1 1 3 2
This isnt really harder than to learn A B C D E F G A or C D E F G A B C.
example D = 0 double diminished scale would be 0 2 3 1 6 4 9 7 (D E F G A B C D). Notice that the letter D appears twice, but no such irregularity occurs in numbers. We also havent discussed the minor scale until now, but it is also quite simply. By looking at the A minor scale, we can see that a minor scale is created by taking four fifths below the tonal center and two above, so, for example, G = 1 minor scale is 5 4 3 2 1 0 1 (i.e. E B F C G D A). Harmonic and melodic minor are exactly what is denoted in the traditional notation. For example, A melodic minor is A natural minor (i.e. 3 2 1 0 1 2 3) with F = 3 and G = 1 raised to F = 4 and G = 6, that is, the whole scale is 2 0 1 2 3 4 6. You can see that this scale has gaps; it doesnt contain 1 and 5. The effect of these gaps is that this scale is not stable, it tends to return to the A natural minor scale.