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

Summary

This instructional script offers an efficient method for identifying key signatures and mastering major scales, which are fundamental for understanding music theory. It emphasizes the circle of fifths as a tool for learning scales, suggesting that memorizing these patterns can significantly aid in recognizing and playing scales quickly. The script also delves into the creation of minor scales from major scales, explaining the distinctions between natural, harmonic, and melodic minor scales and the specific formulas for converting between them. It touches on enharmonic spellings and their importance in music notation, aiming to provide a clear and structured approach to learning music theory.

The video is abnormal, and we are working hard to fix it.
Please replace the link and try again.

Q & A

What is the primary goal of learning the circle of fifths in music theory?

The primary goal of learning the circle of fifths is to help with identifying key signatures, writing major scales efficiently, and developing quick recall of all major scales. This method simplifies the process of understanding music theory.

Why is the method of whole step, whole step, half step, etc., considered inefficient by the speaker?

The speaker considers the method of using whole step, whole step, half step, etc., inefficient because it is slow. The speaker advocates for the circle of fifths method as it provides a faster and more efficient way to learn major scales and key signatures.

What is the pattern for introducing flats in a major scale?

In a major scale, flats are introduced sequentially, with the first flat being B-flat. The pattern follows the fourth note of the scale as the new flat each time. For example, in the F major scale, the fourth note is B-flat, and in the B-flat major scale, the new flat is E-flat.

What is the significance of enharmonic notes in scales?

Enharmonic notes, like C-flat being the same as B natural, are important because music notation requires that each letter of the musical alphabet is represented in the scale. This ensures clarity and consistency in how scales are written and understood, especially when dealing with key signatures.

What is the key formula for converting a major scale to a natural minor scale?

To convert a major scale to a natural minor scale, lower the third, sixth, and seventh notes by a half step. This creates a natural minor scale while retaining the same notes as the major scale.

How does the harmonic minor scale differ from the natural minor scale?

The harmonic minor scale differs from the natural minor scale in that it only lowers the third and the sixth notes by a half step, while the seventh note remains unchanged. This gives the harmonic minor scale its unique sound.

What are the three types of minor scales discussed in the script?

The three types of minor scales discussed are natural minor, harmonic minor, and melodic minor. Each type has its own unique formula for converting a major scale to a minor scale.

How is the melodic minor scale structured when ascending and descending?

The melodic minor scale has two different versions: when ascending, only the third note is lowered by a half step. When descending, it follows the same structure as the natural minor scale, with the third, sixth, and seventh notes lowered by a half step.

Why does the speaker emphasize writing out major scales repeatedly?

The speaker emphasizes writing out major scales repeatedly to help commit them to memory. By writing the scales correctly and consistently, learners can develop a 'photographic' memory of the scales, making recall much faster and more efficient.

What is the role of key signatures in learning scales?

Key signatures provide a system for organizing sharps and flats in a scale, which helps in quickly identifying and playing major and minor scales. Understanding key signatures is essential for memorizing scales and recognizing patterns in music theory.

Outlines

00:00

🎼 Mastering Major Scales and the Circle of Fifths

This paragraph introduces the concept of mastering major scales and the circle of fifths as an efficient method for understanding music theory. The speaker emphasizes the importance of quickly identifying major scales and criticizes the traditional whole step, whole step, half step method as slow. The circle of fifths is presented as a tool for learning major scales, starting with the key of C, which has no sharps or flats. The method involves recognizing the pattern of sharps or flats and applying it to the major scale. The speaker also discusses the pattern of introducing a new accidental, always the fourth note of the scale, as you move through the circle of fifths. Examples are given for F major and B-flat major scales, highlighting the process of identifying the key signature based on the number of sharps or flats.

05:02

🎹 Understanding Key Signatures and Scale Patterns

The paragraph delves deeper into the patterns of key signatures and scales. It explains how the number of flats increases sequentially in the circle of fifths, using the B-flat major, E-flat major, and A-flat major scales as examples. Each example illustrates the process of identifying the new flat as the fourth note of the scale. The speaker also shares a personal anecdote about learning scales in high school, emphasizing the importance of repetition for memorization. The paragraph concludes with a brief introduction to the sharp side of the circle of fifths, starting with G major and explaining the pattern of sharps.

10:03

🏔 Climbing the Mountain of Sharps and Flats

This section continues the exploration of the circle of fifths, focusing on the sharp side and the concept of enharmonic equivalents. The speaker discusses the logic behind the circle of fifths, moving both upwards and downwards, and the importance of including the newly introduced accidentals. The paragraph also touches on the historical context of music notation and the practicality of using double sharps and flats to simplify key signatures. The speaker concludes by emphasizing the importance of practicing and internalizing the circle of fifths for a deep understanding of music theory.

15:03

🎶 Transitioning from Major to Minor Scales

The focus shifts to minor scales, with the speaker introducing three types of minor scales: natural, harmonic, and melodic. The paragraph explains how to derive a natural minor scale from a major scale by lowering the third, sixth, and seventh notes by a half step. An example using the D major scale is provided to illustrate this process. The speaker also mentions that there are other methods to learn minor scales, but the one presented is considered the most efficient. The paragraph sets the stage for further discussion on harmonic and melodic minor scales in subsequent sections.

20:03

🎵 Harmonic and Melodic Minor Scales Explained

The paragraph discusses the formulas for creating harmonic and melodic minor scales from a major scale. For harmonic minor, only the third is lowered, while for melodic minor, the third is lowered on the way up and the sixth and seventh are lowered on the way down. The speaker uses the E-flat major scale as an example to demonstrate the creation of the E-flat harmonic minor scale. The importance of understanding enharmonic spellings is highlighted, as it simplifies the learning and memorization of music theory. The paragraph also touches on the practical aspects of music notation and the historical context of printing music, explaining why certain notational conventions exist.

25:05

📉 Descending the Scale of Melodic Minor

This final paragraph elaborates on the melodic minor scale, emphasizing its unique characteristic of having two versions: ascending and descending. The ascending version is formed by lowering the third by a half step from the major scale, while the descending version follows the same pattern as the natural minor scale, lowering the third, sixth, and seventh. The speaker warns against incorrectly applying the formula to the ascending version, which would result in non-existent triple flats. The paragraph concludes with a summary of the formulas for converting major scales to minor scales and the importance of understanding these concepts for efficient music learning and performance.

Keywords

The video is abnormal, and we are working hard to fix it.
Please replace the link and try again.

Highlights

The video is abnormal, and we are working hard to fix it.
Please replace the link and try again.

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

[Music]

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

[Music]

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