How’d you do with those scales?
Before laying out all the answers, let’s look at the last pair of keys in each group: F#, C#, Gb, and Cb, starting with F#. First here’s the chromatic scale, one octave F# to F#:
(F#/Gb) G (G#/Ab) A (A#/Bb) B C (C#/Db) D (D#/Eb) E F (F#/Gb)
Now you count your whole steps and half steps, right? WWHWWWH:
(F#/Gb) G (G#/Ab) A (A#/Bb) B C (C#/Db) D (D#/Eb) E F (F#/Gb)
It’s a sharp key, obviously, so, F#, G#, A#, B…. so far so good… C#, D#…F? Something’s fishy here. Every note appears once only… it has to be alphabetical…the next note has to be an “E-something!” I’d like to think this is where a light bulb went off for you:
“A sharp sign raises a note by one half step.”
Even though it went unmentioned before, that counts for E’s too. So…
F# G# A# B C# D# E# F#
Same thing with flats.
Gb-major has the exact same notes as F#-major, but it goes from Gb to Gb and you’re using flats instead of sharps.
(F#/Gb) G (G#/Ab) A (A#/Bb) B?? C (C#/Db) D (D#/Eb) E F (F#/Gb)
Write that “B” as a Cb!
Gb Ab Bb Cb Db Eb F Gb
Although, thankfully, you don’t end up in those four keys all that often, it does happen. Sometimes in a key like Gb someone will think they’re making life easier by expressing a Cb as B. I no ewe may think that’s easier, but when you don’t sea things the whey you’re used two, it can actually make reading and memorizing harder. Like any spelling, it’s a matter of clear communication.
So now why no key of D#? You can count WWHWWWH from D# right?
(D#/Eb) E F (F#/Gb) G (G#/Ab) A (A#/Bb) B C (C#/Db) D (D#/Eb)
So it’s a sharp key, and now you’re hip to E#, so…
D# E#…
NOW what? The next note has to be “F-something.” But how do you express the G-note you’ve landed on as an “F-something?” Well, this does come up, mostly in minor keys, and they use a “double-sharp” sign. You won’t see one in your jazz journey, I can pretty much guarantee it! And if you were to end up with double-sharps in a scale, it doesn’t count as a scale anyone will actually use. That's why there aren't as many major scales as chromatic notes.
There are also double-flats, but again, don’t worry about it unless you take up playing Chopin and Liszt.
Here finally are al the scales in the order I gave them to you.
C D E F G A B C
G A B C D E F# G - one sharp
D E F# G A B C# D - two sharps
A B C# D E F# G# A - three sharps…get it?
E F# G# A B C# D# E
B C# D# E F# G# A# B
F# G# A# B C# D# E# F#
C# D# E# F# G# A# B# C#
F G A Bb C D E F - one flat
Bb C D Eb F G A Bb - two flats
Eb F G Ab Bb C D Eb -yadayada
Ab Bb C Db Eb F G Ab
Db Eb F Gb Ab Bb C Db
Gb Ab Bb Cb Db Eb F Gb
Cb Db Eb Fb Gb Ab Bb Cb
And now it’s on to INTERVALS.
I hope you'll bear with me here, but I already wrote about this stuff in a book for electric bass players. So rather than write the whole thing over again, (ugh...) I'll just reproduce parts of pages, and add banjo-centric examples as we go. Lazy slug? YOU be the judge! :o)
You know what an octave is I'm sure; the distance between your open 4th string D and the open 1st. Also the distance on any string between open and the 12th fret. Primes are a little bit silly, but it's something you can file under "impress your friends." Basically if you play, say, a C, then repeat it, you have "traveled" the distance of a "prime."
...so none of this has anything to do specifically with your banjo yet. Read on...
9ths, 11ths, and 13ths are chords you'll run across - frequently! - in your jazz journey. If the interval of a ninth is an octave plus a second why do we call a 9th chord "a ninth chord" and not just "a second chord?" We'll get to that, there's a very good reason.
The question is always "OK, why do they call one a 'major interval 'and another is 'perfect'?" Apparently that's the reason. To someone back in the day, having two notes be in each other's major scale made it a perfect interval. So C - G, a perfect fifth, each one is in the other's major scale. Which you already know. C - E on the other hand: E is in the key of C, C is not in the key of E. Not perfect, but major. OK, whatever.
Now don't forget that these intervals are ascending: the fifth C - G means you are going up from C. If you go from C down to G, you have descended the distance of a fourth.
Please notice that every interval from the root (do) of a major scale is a perfect or major interval. here they are on the banjo, going up the 2nd string from C:
Try the major and perfect intervals on the banjo.
For minor intervals, move the top (second) note of each M interval pair down one fret. Pay particular attention to minor thirds, which are probably already a big part of your musical soundscape! And besides...
A Quick Digression into MINOR SCALES
The thing that makes a minor scale a minor scale is the third note, or degree, of the scale, which is a minor third, 3 half steps above the root, instead of a M3. So while a C-major scale starts with C-D-E..., a C-minor scale will go C-D-Eb... We'll go into these in more detail later, they're not as hard as they're made out to be! Now back to intervals.
You will see a lot of augmented 4ths and 5ths - A4, A5. Move the top note of each pair of P intervals up one fret to make them augmented. We also call these "sharp (or raised) 4's" and "sharp (or raised) 5's," Lower the P4's and 5's for diminished (or flatted/lowered) intervals - d4 and d5.
Now a list of all the intervals, up to an octave. The only one I left out is that pesky prime. But if you must know, C - Db is a minor second, C - C# is an augmented prime.
The thing about theory is, if you know a few things really well, you can easily figure out the rest. So if you Mem. O. Rize. M2, M3, P4, P5, M6, M7, and their distances in half steps (2,4,5,7,9,11), getting all these other ones - minor, augmolished, dimented - that's just a matter of a half step more or less than the ones you already know. It's just arithmetic!
Let's try a few.
m2 from C# =
M2 from B =
m3 from G =
m3 from A =
m3 from Eb =
M3 from E =
P4 from F =
A4 from C =
d5 from C =
P5 from C =
P5 from D =
P5 from E =
P5 from F =
P5 from G =
P5 from A =
P5 from Bb =
P5 from B =
A5 from Db =
M6 from F# =
m7 from Ab =
M7 from B =
Answers next theory post, when we get into chord construction. See ya.
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