Keys and scales
Why the grid only shows some notes, and how to move a melody to another key.
Lesson 3 of 7
There are twelve different notes in Western music before they repeat an octave higher. Most music uses a set of seven of them, called a scale. The grid only shows the notes of the scale, so every note you click fits.
The major scale is the most common. Starting on C it uses only the white keys of a piano: C, D, E, F, G, A, B, then C again.
The major scale
Pick another key and listen: same pattern, different starting note.
| 1C5 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7B4 | ||||||||
| 6A4 | ||||||||
| 5G4 | ||||||||
| 4F4 | ||||||||
| 3E4 | ||||||||
| 2D4 | ||||||||
| 1C4 |
What makes it major is its pattern of gaps: whole, whole, half, whole, whole, whole, half (a half step is the smallest gap, one key on the piano; a whole step is two). Change the key below: the notes change, but the pattern, and the sound of the scale, stays the same.
Keys
The key is the scale’s home note, the 1. Moving a melody to another key keeps its shape and changes only how high it sits, which is how singers find a key that fits their voice.
Same melody, any key
Switch the key while it plays.
| 1C5 | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7B4 | ||||||||||||||||
| 6A4 | ||||||||||||||||
| 5G4 | ||||||||||||||||
| 4F4 | ||||||||||||||||
| 3E4 | ||||||||||||||||
| 2D4 | ||||||||||||||||
| 1C4 |
Hiding the notes outside the scale is a shortcut. Real keyboards show all twelve, and later chapters use the others on purpose; for now, staying in the scale makes every idea sound right.