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20241026172059-The_Minor_Scale

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The Minor Scale

From “The Minor Scale Pattern¨ in Music Theory for Electronic Music Producers

Remember the pattern for the major scale? It looked like this:

W W H W W W H

In this pattern, ‘W’ refers to whole-step and ‘H’ refers to half-step.

Everything about this is the same in a minor scale, except the order of the half-steps and whole-steps. In a minor scale, the pattern is this:

W H W W H W W

A C (natural) major scale, i.e. a major scale pattern in the musical key of C, looks thus on the standard Western classical piano keyboard (refer to 20240904103821-Musical_Scale_and_Key_Patterns):

However, the A (natural) minor scale, i.e. the minor scale pattern in the musical key of A, would lead to this result when implemented on the standard Western classical piano keyboard:

Another way to create a musical scale describable as minor, aside from simply implementing the scale’s interval pattern (refer to 20240901171406-Musical_Intervals), is “to start with a major scale, and adjust the notes that are different¨ (Allen 2018, 119). There are three notes that differ for the minor scale (Ibid):

From “Minor vs. Major¨ in Music Theory for Electronic Music Producers

The third is a 1/2 step lower in the minor scale. Just like how we lowered the third of a major chord to make it minor, we lower the third note in the major scale to make a minor scale. The second note that is altered is the sixth. It is also lowered by a 1/2 step. Remember that the sixth is the inversion of the third, so it also has some authority over the major/minor quality. Last, we lower the seventh a 1/2 step as well.

To sum up (Ibid):

  1. A minor scale has the third a half-step lower than in the major scale
  2. A minor scale has the sixth a half-step lower than in the major scale
  3. A minor scale has the seventh a half-step lower than in the major scale

A simpler way of putting it is that (Ibid):

From “Minor vs. Major¨ in Music Theory for Electronic Music Producers

A minor scale can be said to be a: “major scale with a b3, b6, and b7¨.

C_major_scale major_scale musical_scale whole_step minor_scale A_minor_scale C_natural_major_scale A_natural_minor_scale keys musical_key major_third minor_third major_sixth minor_sixth major_7th_interval minor_7th_interval major_seventh minor_seventh scales music_theory musical_scale_quality scale_quality

bibliography

  • “The Minor Scale Pattern.” In Music Theory for Electronic Music Producers: The Producer’s Guide to Harmony, Chord Progressions, and Song Structure in the MIDI Grid., 1st ed., 118. Minneapolis, MN: Slam Academy, 2018.
  • “Minor vs. Major.” In Music Theory for Electronic Music Producers: The Producer’s Guide to Harmony, Chord Progressions, and Song Structure in the MIDI Grid., 1st ed., 119. Minneapolis, MN: Slam Academy, 2018.

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