Scales
In grade 3, major, natural and harmonic minor scales and arpeggios need to be played hands together, ascending and descending. Pentatonic scales are right hand only. The melodic minor scale needs to be played hands separately, and the chromatic scale on A needs to be played hands together.
Melodic Minor:
The final type of minor scale is the melodic minor. In this scale, we play a normal natural minor scale but raise the 6th and 7th notes on the ascending line only. This means that on the way down, we play a natural minor
Chromatic:
A chromatic scale is a scale consisting of all 12 different notes in order. To play it, use every notes on the piano, both black and white keys, in order ascending and descending.
Please refer to this video for the scales required: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x87Ahzp4Ys8
Terms
Simple Vs. Compound Time
Simple Time Signatures
- The top number in the time signature is 2, 3 or 4
- The main beat (the beat we count in) is divisible by two
- The main beat is not a dotted note
- The bottom number tells you what type of note is used for the main beat
For example, in 4/4 the main beat is a crotchet (quarter note) and we have 4 of them. This means we count “1, 2, 3, 4”. If we want to divide the crotchet, we can split it into two quavers:
In 2/2, the main beat is a minim (half note) and we have 2 of them. We count, “1, 2”. We can split each one into two crotchets:
And in 3/8, the main beat is a quaver (eighth note). We count, “1, 2,3”. We can split each one into two semiquavers:
Compound Time Signatures
- The top number is 6, 9 or 12
- The main beat (the beat we count in) can be divided into three
- The main beat is always a dotted note
- The bottom number shows you the division of the beat, not the main beat.
6/8
The bottom number 8 tells us to count quavers (eighth note), the top number tells us there should be 6 in a bar. But, the main beat is not quavers, it’s a dotted crotchet. This means that instead of counting “1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6”, we count in dotted crotchets, ie “1, 2”
This grouping is wrong, because the quavers are grouped to make three beats, instead of two. (This grouping would be fine for 3/4 time, which has three beats per bar).
9/8
There are 9 quavers (eighth notes) per bar. Each group of three quavers makes one main beat, which is worth a dotted crotchet and is counted, “1, 2, 3”.
Here you can see the dotted crotchet main beats, which are then each sub-divided into three quavers. The quavers are beamed in threes, to make three beats per bar.
12/8
There are 12 quavers (eighth notes) per bar. Each group of three quavers makes one main beat, which is worth a dotted crotchet and is counted, “1, 2, 3, 4”. The quavers are beamed to make four beats per bar.
Duple, Triple and Quadruple Time
All the time signatures that we’ve learnt so far can be described as duple, triple or quadruple. These words refer to the number of main beats per bar.
In simple time, just look at the top number:
2=duple, 3=triple and 4=quadruple.
- 2/2 and 2/4 are duple time
- 3/2, 3/4 and 3/8 are triple time
- 4/2 and 4/4 are quadruple time
In compound time, you need to count the number of main beats, or you can divide the top number by 3.
- 6/8 is duple time (2 dotted crotchets per bar)
- 9/8 is triple time (3 dotted crotchets per bar)
- 12/8 is quadruple time (4 dotted crotchets per bar)
For more, check out this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3xsoi-NKw8
Transposing
We can make a melody sound the same, but higher or lower, if we transpose it by one octave.
This melody begins on the note G – but which G? Is it a high or low G? The easiest way to explain exactly which G, is to say whether it is above or below middle C, and by how much.
This G is the first G below middle C.
We can change it to the first G above middle C, and write it on the 2nd line of the stave. It’s still the same note, but now it is an octave higher in pitch.
Using this as the starting point, we can copy over all the notes of the melody, so that the whole thing is one octave higher:
Note: When a note is a B or higher, the stem (tail) of the notes changes direction to fit better.
If you understand the information above, please click ‘mark as complete’ and move onto the next section.
