Dr. B Music Theory Lesson 1 (Circle of 5ths, Scales)

Summary

Este guión de video ofrece una metodología eficiente para identificar las firmas de escalas mayores y menores, así como para escribir y memorizar escalas mayores y menores. Se explica cómo utilizar la 'circunferencia de quintos' para comprender mejor las escalas y cómo aplicar fórmulas para convertir escalas mayores en escalas menores naturales, armónicas y melódicas. El video también destaca la importancia de la práctica y la memorización para dominar la teoría musical, sugiriendo que con el tiempo, los músicos pueden 'visualizar' las escalas en su mente, lo que facilita la interpretación y el aprendizaje de nuevas piezas.

Takeaways

• 🎼 **Identificar P signatures**: El círculo de quintas ayuda a identificar las firmas de las escalas principales y a escribir tus escalas mayores.
• ⏱️ **Mejor método**: Se prefiere el método del círculo de quintas sobre el uso de pasos enteros y semitonos para aprender las escalas.
• 🔠 **Escalares principales**: Las escalas principales se aprenden fácilmente con el círculo de quintas, empezando por la escala de C que tiene cero sostenidos ni bemoles.
• 🔄 **Movimiento armónico**: Se prefiere ir en la dirección de los bemoles porque implica bajar en quintas perfectas, un movimiento armónico fundamental.
• 📝 **Construir escalas**: Las escalas se construyen siguiendo la secuencia de letras del alfabeto y aplicando los bemoles o sostenidos correspondientes.
• 🔄 **Patrones en escalas**: Se destacan los patrones en la construcción de escalas, especialmente cómo se añaden los nuevos bemoles o sostenidos.
• 🧠 **Memorización**: Es fundamental memorizar las escalas principales rápidamente, para lo cual se sugiere escribirlas diariamente hasta que queden grabadas.
• 🔄 **Círculo de quintas**: El círculo de quintas se puede construir en ambas direcciones, aumentando o disminuyendo los sostenidos o bemoles según se va moviendo.
• 🎶 **Aplicación a escalas menores**: Las escalas menores se pueden derivar de las escalas mayores aplicando fórmulas específicas para cada tipo de escala menor.
• 📉 **Escalas menores**: Se explican tres tipos de escalas menores: natural, armónica y melódica, cada una con su propia fórmula de conversión desde la escala mayor.

Q & A

¿Qué herramienta se utiliza para identificar las firmas de escalas mayores y menores?

Se utiliza el círculo de quintos para identificar las firmas de escalas mayores y menores, lo que ayuda a comprender y memorizar las escalas de manera eficiente.

¿Cómo se determina la escala mayor de C?

La escala mayor de C se determina sin sostenidos ni bemoles, y se sigue el orden de las letras del alfabeto sin repetir ninguna letra consecutivamente.

¿Cuál es la forma más eficiente de aprender las escalas mayores según el guion?

La forma más eficiente de aprender las escalas mayores es a través del círculo de quintos, en lugar de memorizar el patrón de sostenidos y bemoles.

¿Cómo se añade el primer bemol en la escala mayor de F?

El primer bemol se añade como el cuarto sonido en la escala mayor de F, que es B♭, siguiendo el principio de que el nuevo bemol siempre es el cuarto sonido de la escala.

¿Cuál es la relación entre los sostenidos y bemoles en el círculo de quintos?

En el círculo de quintos, los sostenidos y bemoles se introducen en un patrón específico, donde los sostenidos se agregan al ir hacia la derecha y los bemoles se agregan al ir hacia la izquierda.

¿Cómo se determina la quinta nota en la escala mayor de D♭?

La quinta nota en la escala mayor de D♭ es A♭, ya que sigue el patrón de sostenidos y bemoles determinado por el círculo de quintos.

¿Qué es la forma de menor natural y cómo se obtiene a partir de una escala mayor?

La forma de menor natural se obtiene al bajar la tercera, sexta y séptima notas de una escala mayor media semitone.

¿Cuál es la diferencia entre la escala menor natural y la escala menor armónica?

La escala menor armónica difiere de la natural en que también requiere bajar la sexta nota, pero no la séptima.

¿Cómo se determina la escala menor melódica ascendente y descendente?

La escala menor melódica ascendente se determina al bajar solo la tercera nota de la escala mayor, mientras que la descendente sigue el mismo patrón que la menor natural, bajando la tercera, sexta y séptima notas.

¿Por qué es importante memorizar las escalas de manera correcta?

Es importante memorizar las escalas de manera correcta para evitar la formación de malas hábitos y para que el cerebro pueda asociar rápidamente las notas con las escalas, mejorando la capacidad de leer y tocar música.

Outlines

00:00

🎼 Introducción a las escalas mayores y la circunferencia de quintos

El primer párrafo introduce la importancia de las escalas mayores y cómo la circunferencia de quintos puede ayudar a identificar las firmas de las escalas y a escribir estas escalas. Se enfatiza en la eficiencia del método y se compara con la técnica tradicional de pasos enteros y semitonos. Se explica que la escala mayor de C, que no tiene sostenidos ni bemoles, se puede escribir simplemente siguiendo el abecedario sin repetir letras. Además, se introduce el concepto de cómo se añaden los nuevos accidentales en las escalas, siempre como el cuarto tono de la escala, como en el caso de la escala de F mayor que introduce un bemol en la cuarta posición.

05:02

🎹 Escalas mayores y su identificación de accidentales

Este párrafo profundiza en cómo se identifican las escalas mayores a través de los accidentales, mostrando ejemplos como la escala de B flat mayor con dos bemoles y la de E flat mayor con tres. Se destaca la importancia de reconocer patrones y seguidamente se explica cómo se añaden los nuevos bemoles en la cuarta posición de la escala. Se menciona la relación entre las escalas y cómo el nuevo bemol en una escala da lugar al siguiente bemol en la siguiente escala, como el D flat mayor que introduce un G flat.

10:03

🎶 Expansión de la circunferencia de quintos y su influencia en las escalas

El tercer párrafo continúa explorando la circunferencia de quintos, esta vez en la dirección de los sostenidos. Se describe cómo se añaden los sostenidos a las escalas, siguiendo siempre la fórmula del nuevo sostenido que es una letra antes de la nota de la escala. Se mencionan ejemplos como la escala de G mayor con un sostenido y la de D mayor con dos. Además, se discute la utilidad de la circunferencia de quintos para memorizar y entender la relación entre las escalas y los accidentales, y se sugiere prácticas para internalizar esta información.

15:03

📜 Memorización de escalas mayores y su importancia

Este párrafo aboga por la práctica de escribir las escalas mayores repetidamente para que se conviertan en un reflejo instintivo. Se comparte una anécdota personal sobre cómo la escritura diaria de escalas en clase ayudó a memorizarlas. Se enfatiza la importancia de la memorización para el aprendizaje de la música y cómo la capacidad de visualizar mentalmente las escalas mejora con la práctica. Además, se introduce la idea de que la escritura correcta es fundamental para evitar la formación de hábitos incorrectos.

20:03

🛠 Conversión de escalas mayores a escalas menores

El quinto párrafo introduce el concepto de las escalas menores y cómo se derivan de las escalas mayores utilizando fórmulas específicas. Se explican los tres tipos de escalas menores: natural, armónica y melódica, y se proporcionan las fórmulas correspondientes para cada una. Se resalta la importancia de recordar desde qué escala se parte y a cuál se llega para aplicar correctamente las fórmulas. Se ejemplifica la conversión de la escala mayor de D a la escala menor natural, cambiando la tercera, sexta y séptima notas.

25:05

🎵 Detalles sobre las escalas menores armónicas y melódicas

Este párrafo profundiza en las escalas menores armónica y melódica. Para la armónica, se menciona que solo se baja la tercera nota, mientras que para la melódica, la versión ascendente solo requiere bajar la tercera nota, y la descendente sigue la misma fórmula que la natural menor. Se discuten las implicaciones de la notación musical y la historia de la impresión musical en la formación de estas escalas y se advierte sobre no confundir las fórmulas al convertir escalas. Se ejemplifica la escala de G flat mayor y su conversión a la escala melódica ascendente y descendente.

Keywords

💡Escala mayor

La escala mayor es una secuencia de notas musicales que sigue un patrón específico de intervalos, compuesto por tonos y semitonos. En el vídeo, se utiliza para enseñar cómo identificar las firmas de clave y cómo escribir y utilizar las escalas mayores, que son fundamentales para entender la música y su estructura. Por ejemplo, la escala mayor de C se menciona como la escala que tiene cero sostenidos y cero bemoles, y se utiliza para demostrar cómo se construye una escala mayor sin accidentes.

💡Círculo de quintas

El círculo de quintas es una herramienta utilizada en música para ilustrar la relación entre las escalas y las claves, y cómo se relacionan entre sí. En el vídeo, se discute cómo el círculo de quintas ayuda a entender la progresión de las escalas mayores y menores, y cómo se asignan los sostenidos y bemoles a las claves, como se ve en la transición de la escala de C mayor a la de F mayor, que introduce un bemol.

💡Accidentes musicales

Los accidentes musicales son los símbolos utilizados en la notación musical para alterar la altura de una nota, como los sostenidos (#) y bemoles (♭). En el guion, se explica cómo los accidentes se añaden a las escalas mayores para formar las escalas menores y cómo se relacionan con el círculo de quintas, como cuando se introduce el primer bemol en la escala de F mayor.

💡Escalas menores

Las escalas menores son otras secuencias de notas musicales que, a diferencia de las escalas mayores, tienen un carácter más sombrío o melancólico. En el vídeo, se enseña cómo se derivan las escalas menores a partir de las escalas mayores utilizando diferentes fórmulas para el natural menor, el armónico menor y el melódico menor. Por ejemplo, para obtener una escala natural menor, se baja la tercera, sexta y séptima notas de la escala mayor.

💡Natural menor

La escala natural menor es una de las formas de escala menor, y se obtiene modificando la escala mayor. Se define en el vídeo como la escala que se obtiene al bajar la tercera, sexta y séptima notas de una escala mayor, lo que le confiere un sonido distinto y más grave en comparación con la escala mayor. Se utiliza para demostrar cómo se aplican las fórmulas musicales para transformar una escala mayor en una menor.

💡Armónico menor

La escala armónica menor es otra variación de la escala menor, que se diferencia de la natural menor en su sexta y séptima notas. Se menciona en el vídeo que, a diferencia de la escala natural menor que solo baja la tercera nota, la escala armónica menor también baja la sexta nota, pero no la séptima, lo que la hace más utilizada en la música clásica y jazz.

💡Melódico menor

La escala melódico menor es la tercera forma de escala menor presentada en el vídeo, y es la más compleja debido a que tiene dos versiones distintas para subir y bajar la escala. Se describe cómo, al igual que en las escalas menores anteriores, se baja la tercera nota, pero la sexta y séptima notas varían dependiendo de si se está subiendo o bajando la escala, lo que añade complejidad a su uso y memorización.

💡Enharmonía

La enharmonía se refiere a la posibilidad de que una nota musical pueda tener diferentes nombres o representaciones, pero suene igual. En el vídeo, se discute cómo los dobles sostenidos y bemoles (como el B doble flat que se convierte en A natural) son ejemplos de enharmonía, y cómo esto afecta la notación y la comprensión de las escalas y claves musicales.

💡Fórmula musical

Las fórmulas musicales son métodos o reglas que se aplican para transformar una escala o una melodía de una forma a otra, como de mayor a menor. En el vídeo, se utilizan fórmulas para enseñar cómo se derivan las escalas menores a partir de las escalas mayores, y cómo se pueden memorizar y aplicar estas fórmulas para comprender mejor la música y leer partituras.

💡Memorización de escalas

El proceso de memorización de escalas es un tema central en el vídeo, donde se enfatiza la importancia de escribir y practicar las escalas para que se 'fotografíen' en la mente. Se describe cómo, con la práctica, se pueden recordar rápidamente las escalas y sus notas, lo que facilita la lectura de partituras y la improvisación musical. Se utiliza como ejemplo la práctica diaria de escribir escalas en clase de historia.

Highlights

Circle of fifths is a tool for identifying key signatures and writing major scales.

The most efficient way to learn major scales is by mastering the circle of fifths.

The key of C has zero sharps and flats, making it a straightforward starting point.

Major scales are built by following the pattern of whole and half steps.

The fourth note in a major scale determines the flat or sharp in the key signature.

Patterns in the circle of fifths can help quickly identify key signatures.

The circle of fifths can be used to find both sharp and flat key signatures.

Writing out major scales repeatedly helps to memorize them effectively.

Memorizing scales can lead to a 'photographic memory' for music theory.

The circle of fifths can be used to derive minor scales from major scales.

There are three types of minor scales: natural, harmonic, and melodic.

Natural minor scales are derived from major scales by lowering the third, sixth, and seventh notes.

Harmonic minor scales are derived by lowering the third and sixth notes of a major scale.

Melodic minor scales have different formulas for ascending and descending.

Enharmonic spellings are important for understanding the structure of scales.

The circle of fifths can be used to understand the relationship between sharps and flats.

Memorizing scales using the circle of fifths can improve sight-reading and music theory understanding.

The circle of fifths can be visualized as a tattoo for easy reference, highlighting its importance.

The Guidonian hand is another historical method for teaching music theory.

Double flats and double sharps simplify music notation and printing.

Transcripts

all right so starting with the circle of

this this is going to help you with

identifying P signatures and writing

your major scales and using the major

scale is probably the most efficient way

to to figure out just about everything

so one of the goals is to get it so that

you can name all your major scales like

like lightning and you got it down paack

so this is one one way there's another

different methods you can use and this

is the method that I think is the most

efficient one of the methods that I

don't think is the most efficient is

that whole the idea of using whole step

whole step half step whole step whole

step whole step half step it works it's

just really slow and what I'm trying to

do is give you guys the the most

efficient quickest way that's going to

help you learn this stuff so in the

circle of fits when we talk about the

key of C this is we're all talking only

major scales right here the key of C has

zero Sharps zero

Flats so the way it works for when we're

going to always have the letters in

order for a scale so if we have a C

scale you start on a c and then you go

through the alphabet d e f g a b and

then you loop around to C and you then

say well I know I have these letters

because it's always going to have the

letters you never have the same letter

more than once consecutively you'll have

it at the beginning at the end but

you'll never have like c d d g you'll

never have that you'll have all the

letters in order and then you say well

it's got zero Sharps zero Flats I'm done

that's your C major scale because that's

zero sharp zero Flats now when we go and

and some some people will do the the

sharp Direction going this way and it'll

be inverted I like this way because this

is down in perfect fifths and since

going down a fifth is a fundamental

harmonic motion I like to do it in this

direction this major scale the F major

scale has one accidental and this is the

flat Direction so we're going in the

direction of

flats right

Flats one flat so in the F major scale

we've got one flat now we know we can

the letters and we know an F major scale

is going to have an f g a b c d e f and

one of the notes is going to have a

flat the flat that gets

added is

always the fourth note in the

scale so if you write out the letters

like this the fourth one is always the

new flat so in this case this

is the

flat so I add the flat we're good to go

that is your F major

scale so our next major scale is a B

flat major scale so we know we have b c

d e f g a b we know that the B is flat

and here we got to make sure we do the

the beginning note and the ending note

right CU they're the same and we have

the new

flat and as I said the new flat is

always the fourth note of the scale 1 2

3

4 means it's E flat so E

flat so the the key signature of B flat

major has two Flats E flat is our new

flat now you're going to notice patterns

here so keep your eyes open for patterns

right and for for those of you that know

this sometimes having a methodology like

this will help you if you're going to

try to teach someone else you want to

have a way that you can explain it

that's really clear you want a principle

a method that allows you to think about

it so when we go to our EF flat major

scale it's going to have three

Flats you can see again one two three

guess how many in a flat four right and

if we write out e f g a b c d e we know

that we have our our first flat again

the flats that we introduced they don't

go away so we have our B flat we have

our E flat we add it both for the top

and the bottom of the scale and our new

flat is the fourth not 1 2 3 4 e f g a

it's a flat now you'll notice that the

new flat is always the next scale as

well

right so without even counting you will

know that in your a flat scale the new

flat is d flat and in your d flat major

scale the new flat will be g

flat so let's kind of erase

this and just do those scales right so a

flat major scale we know we write the

letters first a b c d e f G A it's got

four flats the first flat is B the

second flat right first flat is B second

flat is e second flat second

flat uh is our a flat we add two because

it's the beginning and the end and our

new flat 1 2 3 4 is the d flat and now

we have our D our our a flat major scale

spelled

out we go on to d flat same principle d

d e f g a b c

d so three

flat

there we know that a d flat major scale

has five

flats the new flat is the g flat and if

we just going to fill it in five flats

right so B flat second flat E

flat a flat

d

flat and the new one is a g

flat and you want to get to the point

where you know these

scales off the top of your head so I can

say d flat major scale and you go d flat

E flat F G flat A flat B flat c d flat

got

it and then I can ask you things like

what's the fifth note in the D flat

major scale and you go well it's a flat

because I know my scale and I could say

who that's great what is the third note

in an E flat major scale G you know it

that

quickly that comes in part by writing

out your major scales just

until until you have like a photograph

in your mind so

I'm I'll tell a quick little story here

11th grade I had a friend played guitar

and he knew all his scales and I did we

were an American history class together

and

we looked like we were taking

notes all class what we were really

doing were writing notes and he was

teaching me the scales and I would write

out my major scales every day in

American history class and then

afterwards I go to the band room and I

play it on my saxophone and I close my

eyes now and I see staff paper and I can

see the scales in my mind and then I

work out Triads and then seventh courts

and it's now it's the only thing I have

a photographic memory for but it's

because I wrote it out for an entire

year every day and now it's it's just in

my

head it's pretty pretty

cool now my my knowledge of American

history for a long time was totally

embarrassing like if you go on those

late night shows where they interviewed

people on the street they said wanted to

say something really stupid and you're

like oh my goodness that would have been

me i' I've tried to fix that a little

bit at least but write out your major

scales over and over until you start

feeling like they're like locked in your

brain so we're going to we're going to

go the other direction now for a little

bit I know we didn't finish with g flat

yet okay

um but we go in this direction we're

going the sharp Direction so this is

Sharps so a G Major scale has one Sharp

so we do the same thing we write out our

letters g a b c d e f g and again we're

just using our alphabet right A B C D E

F G but starting on whichever one and

we're just using those

letters so we got one sharp what sharp

is it what's the principle what's the

formula the formula is always the new

sharp is one letter before the note of

the scale so if we're talking about a G

Major

scale what's the letter that comes

before g f so F

sharp we could also say 1 2 3 4 five six

7even the seventh note but instead of

counting 1 2 3 4 5 6 7even it's always

easier to go one back so the new sharp

is FP D major

is going to have two sharps a major

three Sharps E major four sharps B major

five Sharps F sharp six

Sharps we're get I'm explain this this

inharmonic P right here in a

second so when we come for a D major

scale d e f g a b c d we have our first

chart and our new sharp our second sharp

which is always one back from d d one

back

C the other aspect of that helps you

with this whole circle of fif is trying

to figure out memorize how this this

circle this

little this little works I always

thought like I don't I don't have any

any tattoos but there's two tattoos that

I thought would be cool to get as a

musician one is the circle of fifths

just like oh yeah I got my scales

down the other was um the guidonian hand

which if you take to study music music

history or oral skills there was a a

method of sight singing of like soulfish

Doras latio and it was used to like

teach singers like if you didn't know

the music the the choir director would

just point to like a certain part of his

hand and be like that's the note you

should be singing and like you could do

the whole Melody just on your hand

I thought that would be cool just be

like tell people to Melody so circle of

fifths we're going this way we're just I

call it down in fifths right so if we go

count backwards from from C right we're

going c b a g f

so let me write it this way C backwards

b a g f

down to fifth 1 2 3 4

5 and when we going down to fifth again

we're always going down a perfect fifth

which means we have to include that flat

that got

introduced so we're going always going

down five but we're we're including the

flat that we added in each

scale this direction we're going up in

fifths so if you're going

counterclockwise you can just go C d e f

g up a fifth g a b c d up a fifth and

again we're going to include whatever

Sharps get introduced but but you don't

really start getting that until you go

from B to F sharp because you go b c d e

f but we've introduced F long ago and

you can't forget about

it so that's how you can kind of

reconstruct the circle of this so as

you're like do working on this at home

practice writing the circle of fist then

practice writing out the scales you do

that enough times it'll it'll become a

photograph in your head got to do it

correctly though you can't do it wrong

because then you get a wrong photograph

in your head and then you know it's like

habits right there's good habits there's

bad habits how do you make a habit you

do it over and over so you do the wrong

thing over and over bad habit you do the

good the good thing over and over good

habit so you want to write it out

correctly every time so that your brain

starts being like photograph I got it

the

correct so with

that we're basically figuring out how

we're doing all our major

scales you'll notice here that I put a

slash here and we actually have one more

C

flat if I were to go the sharp Direction

e v FP

if I go one

more it's C so C is going to

have seven Sharps and we have major

scales up to seven flats and up to seven

Sharps

so all the scales we can have we can

have a C major scale g

d a e b f and c Shar and this is

zero sharps or flats one sharp 2 3 4 5 6

seven and when we have go the flat

direction we got one

flat Two Flats three Flats four flats

five flats six

Flats seven Flats right so C and I'll

and I'll even move this over here so C

I'll put C in the middle it's the one

that has zero and then number of

accidentals this is the sharp

side this is the flat

side and you got all of those so that's

why we have these slashes here and and

harmonic and when I say write out all

your major

scales there's 15 of them you it's not

like oh there's 12 notes on the piano

well yeah but we we have these other we

go up to 7 Sharps and flat so we

actually have to know the N harmonics as

well okay so that's how we work the

major

scales you want to get comfort with that

now as if your brain isn't already like

filled with that minor scales and what I

like to do is I like to use major scales

to give me my minor scales I like to

apply a formula to a major scale to

convert it into a minor scale there's

other

methods and that's okay this is just the

one that I think is the the fastest the

most

efficient now there's three different

types of minor scales okay there is

natural

minor there is harmonic

minor and there is

melodic minor so there's three different

forms

or types of minor scales and each one

requires a different formula and again

it's really important to remember what

you're going from and what you're going

to because if you mix that up and apply

the formula to the wrong thing you'll

come up with the wrong answer which is

no surprise so I'm always assuming I'm

starting with a major scale so with

natural Miner if I

start with a major scale

and I want to convert it into natural

minor I

lower the third note of the

scale the sixth note and the seventh

note by a half step I'll say that again

I'll take a major scale I lower the

third note the sixth note and the

seventh note and Presto I've got myself

a natural minor scale so let's start

let's start relatively simple let's take

our D major

scale we look at our circle of fist D

major scale has two sharps they are F

and CP so I write out my D major scale d

e f g a b c

d I lower the third note I'm going to

number it here so you can see

it I lower the third note a half step so

the fshp becomes an F

natural I lower the six

note so the B becomes a B

flat and I lower the seventh note a half

step so the

C becomes a c

natural taada we now have our natural

minor scale by applying this formula

lower the third the sixth and the

seventh we can convert a major scale to

a natural minor

scale I'm going to tell you a little bit

about some of the other things later but

right now I don't want to overwhelm you

I'm going just want to do one step at a

time so we're just going to worry about

this method

now for harmonic minor it's a different

formula again we're going to start with

the major scale but for this one we only

need to lower the Third

and lower the

six and we will get our scale now this

method will have some problems when we

start dealing with the key signatures

you'll notice that I'm writing

everything here as separate pitches

without a key signature and I would

that's how I recommend you start doing

it so you can just memorize the names so

major scales tie them to a key signature

minor scales let's just think of them as

derivatives from a major scale for

now harmonic let's pick another one

let's pick a a flat one let's go with E

flat major so E flat major we've got

three Flats they are B flat E flat and a

flat so I will write my E flat major

scale E flat F G A flat B flat C D

I write the octave of E flat there and

then I follow the formula the third Note

1 2 3 gets lower to half

step so G becomes G flat and the sixth

note E flat F now g flat k flat B flat C

the C becomes a C

flat and I have that scale right so

let's let me just play here was my E

flat major scale

now my E flat harmonic

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minor and that's what it would sound

like but Dr Brock C flat is the same

thing as B natural why can't I just

write B

natural because you can only have one of

the letter you have to have all the

letters in a row remember how we were

developing the whole scales we wrote the

letters and then applied it you can't

have a B flat and a be natural side by

side in the scale you have to have each

letter represented which is why it's

important that we know about these

enharmonic

spellings and when you first start

learning music it might seem like wow

it's just more complicated by they

having you know F flat and e sharp and

why would they do that it's just doesn't

make any sense it does it's actually

easier because when you start dealing

with the

scales you then have a unit you have

this formula and structure so when

you're memorizing music and learning

music if you can just be like apply

formula in your head you're going to

learn music faster you're going to site

music

better again like learning an an entire

memorizing a conero it's not easy what

makes it easy is by knowing these

formulas so when I'm memorizing a piece

on my saxophone I I often will analyze

it theoretically and say ah so this is a

a flat major scale going down and then

this madic minor scale going up and I

don't need to memorize all the different

individual notes I'm just memorizing

this scale followed by this scale and so

instead of learning all the little

pieces I'm learning by chunks and the

human mind works a lot faster when you

learn in chunks so that's why it's

important to be clear on the enharmonic

spellings all right lastly we get to

melodic minor now melodic minor is the

trickiest because it has two versions it

has an

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ascending which means as you go up the

scale and a

descending which means as you go down

the scale it's a different scale so it's

one scale going up and another scale

going

down so for the ascending

version again we'll start with our major

scale we apply a formula the formula is

lower the third a half step that's it so

you can kind of see like what makes all

of them minor what makes minor minor the

lower third that's what does it

everything else is just different

variant right so as you're memorizing

this you'll always just say again you're

looking for principles and commonalities

here all of them lower the third and

then you say oh harmonic I also have to

lower the six and natural it's that six

and the seven so we're only just adding

one one thing if we're going this way as

we're looking at it so let's take

another

scale um let's let's make it a

challenging one let's go with our g flat

major scale g flat major has

six six Flats right here so we will

write out g a b c d e f g we'll apply

our Flats first flat b e a d our

G's and our C flat that's a lot of flats

right everything except

F and we lower the third a half step so

g flat A flat B flat well guess what

they call that b double flat so we have

double flats and double sharps and those

are going to help us again you're you

might say Dr Relic why would they do

that it makes it makes it so much more

complicated be double flat it's just the

same thing as an a natural why not just

it's

because now we have to have two a's in a

row and it's not only for the how you're

going to think it conceptually but if we

go back historically and think about how

music was being

printed it's a lot easier to say here's

a here's a a key signature and we're

just going to put them all in order as

opposed to if you have a one's an A flat

and one's an a natural you're going to

have to add accidentals into the actual

music and originally music is being

printed by wood block

carving so the less you need to carve

wood the better right and then if you

need to change it it's like oh got to

carve another wood block here right

so the ease of music notation and

printing is another reason why we have

these because it

allows things to be adjusted like you

might say all these notes are flat and

if I add one I'll just have to add that

one flat and if i' have all these notes

in the same row I have to change them

back what kind of a it is and I have to

add lots of aent as opposed to just

one so there we have it now we got our

ascending molic

minor

descending is the same exact formula as

natural minor

so you take the major scale you apply

the lowered third lowered six lowered

seven and you then have the descending

natural minor word of warning you don't

take your ascending melodic minor lower

the third the sixth and the seventh

because if you were to do that your b

double flat now would be a b triple flat

and that does not exist there are no

triple Flats there are triple Sharps so

again your formula is always from a

major scale to convert so you go up G

flat A flat B flat C flat d flat E flat

F G flat and on the way down it would be

F

flat e double

flat because again this is my seven and

six d flat C flat the bble flat stays on

the way up and down again that's what's

fun to minor a flat and G flat all right