- Hi.
In lesson five in grade one,
we were thinking about a few major scales
and the major keys that
belong to those scales.
So we thought about C major,
and we thought about G major,
and about D major,
and about F major.
And again, it would be
perhaps worth recapping on
lesson five of grade one just to be sure
that that all makes sense
before we venture onwards
into the new keys that we need
to know about for grade two.
So, here are the new major keys
that we're going to explore.
A major, B-flat major,
and E-flat major.
Now, one way you can always be sure
to get sorted on which
sharps or flats you need
in any particular scale is to remember
the thing we learnt
about before that says,
there's a pattern to major scales.
It goes tone, tone, semitone,
tone, tone, tone, semitone.
So, let's take our first
key which is A major
and we're going to try and
construct it on that method.
So, here comes the stave,
and here's a treble clef.
And if it's A major, obviously
I'm going to start on A.
It doesn't really matter
which A you start on,
but it makes reasonable sense
to start on this A here.
If you wanted to start
on A two ledger lines
below the stave, that
would be equally fine.
I'm going to start on this A and
we're going to write out one of each
letter until we come to the next A.
So, A,
B,
C,
D,
E,
F,
G,
and in order to find the top note A,
I need to use the first ledger line.
So, that gives me the notes of
one octave of a scale of A major.
Now if we're going to
apply this pattern to it,
we might need to add
some sharps or some flats
to make the tones and semitones
come in the right place.
So let's have a think about this.
We need a tone between those two notes.
We need a tone between those two.
We need a semitone between those two.
A tone here.
A tone there.
A tone there,
and a semitone to finish.
So, let's check this out.
And we can do this, with the
help of the keyboard as well.
If the first note is A,
there's A.
We need a tone between A and B.
Now if we look at the
keyboard picture for a moment,
you can see there's a
black note in-between.
So, that would be a semitone,
that would be a semitone.
So A to B, must be a tone.
So that's fine isn't it.
We have got a tone between A and B.
Now between B and C, there
should also be a tone.
Let's have a look, here's B.
And here's C.
Now you can see, we've got
a little problem because
there's no black note is
there between B and C.
So B to C,
is a semitone.
Now we don't want to change the B,
because if we change the B that's going to
muck up the tone we've already had.
So, you've always got to think about
changing the second note,
the higher note of the pair
in order to get this to work.
So, I've really got to ask myself now,
well if B to C is a semitone,
what would be a tone above B
that gives me C something?
Well if B to C is a semitone,
then B to C-sharp must
be a tone. Do you see?
I have to call it C-sharp because
this note has to be some kind of C.
You could say, "Well, that note's D-Flat."
Well we don't want D
anything we want C something.
So, it's going to have to be C-sharp.
So, B to C-sharp is a tone.
So, let's put a sharp
sign in front of that C,
and we've got a C-sharp giving us a tone.
Now, between the C-sharp
we've just discovered and
the next note D, we need a semitone.
So here's C-sharp,
up is semitone,
there's D.
And you see, there's nothing
in-between those two notes.
That's definitely a semitone.
So, D is good.
Now we need a tone between D and E.
So, let's check this one out.
Here's D.
And here's E.
And as you can see, there's
a black note in-between.
So, D to E must be a tone.
So that's good.
The next pair takes us from E to F.
So here's E.
And here's F.
And, that should be a tone.
Now if you have a look at E to F,
this is the other pair of
white notes other than B and C
where there's no black note in-between.
So, E to F
must be a semitone.
Remember we don't want to change E because
if we change E we're going to muck it up
going backwards down the scale.
So we've got to change the F.
If I need a tone above E,
and the note has to be F something,
it will have to be F-sharp.
Because there's a semitone from E to F,
a semitone from F to F-sharp,
so E to F-sharp is a tone.
So, next move. I need to put a sharp sign
in front of F.
Now, we're almost there.
But after the F-sharp we've
now got, we need a tone.
Let's see how we're looking.
F-sharp, going up to G.
Ah, now that's only a semitone isn't it?
There's nothing between F-sharp and G.
I don't want to change the F-sharp,
we've already dealt with F-sharp anyway,
so I need to be doing something to G.
So what can I do to G, to make sure that
G something is a tone above F-sharp.
Well there answer is, to make it G-sharp.
F-sharp to G is a semitone,
G to G-sharp is a semitone,
so F-sharp to G-sharp is a tone.
So let's make G, a G-sharp.
And then I need a semitone,
between G-sharp and A at the top.
So let's check that one out.
G-sharp, to A.
Yes, that's a semitone.
So that gives me, a scale of A major.
And hopefully you can now see,
that A major has three sharps in it,
and you can see why we need them.
If I play that scale of A with no sharps,
it sounds like this.
Now that's got a name, it's
called the Aeolian Mode,
but you don't need to worry about that.
If we put the tones and
semitones in the right place,
using C-sharp, F-sharp, and G-sharp
it starts to sound like a major scale.
And so, if I want to play a
piece of music in A major,
I would be using those three sharps.
Here's a little piece in A major.
And that works, because I'm
using those three sharps.
Okay, so that's the scale of A major.
And, let's have a little
think about B-flat major next.
And just to make life
a bit more interesting,
let's do it in the bass clef this time.
So here comes the stave.
And the bass clef.
B-flat major so we need to start on B.
Well there's a B there isn't there,
on the second line of the stave.
I could use this B up here,
but if I go up from there,
I'm going to have an
awful lot of ledger lines,
and if I start on a B down here,
I'm going to start with
quite a few ledger lines.
This is going to fit very
comfortably into the stave.
So B,
C,
D,
E,
F,
G,
A,
B.
Well the very first thing I need to do
is to think about this because
it's not B major we're
writing it's B-flat major.
So, this is obviously going to be B-flat.
And you might also think,
"Well actually if that's B-flat,
"that will have to be
B-flat at the top as well."
We could discover that later,
but we know its going to be B-flat
because it's B-flat major.
So, we might as well put it
in before we do anything else.
I'm going to do exactly what
we did before in A major.
We're just going to do it in B-flat major.
So we need tone, tone, semitone,
tone, tone, tone, semitone.
Now then, here's the
B-flat we're starting on.
It's two below middle C.
There's middle C.
This is B-flat just beneath middle C.
Here's the B-flat an octave lower.
So that's where we're starting.
So B-flat to C, should be a tone.
That's looking good because
we've got a note in-between so
B-flat to B is a semitone.
B to C is a semitone.
B-flat to C is a tone.
C to D is a tone cause there's
a black note in-between.
D to E is a tone,
but we need this to be a semitone.
So, we need to do something to E
to make it a semitone above D.
So if that's D, E will have to be E-flat,
to give us a semitone.
So there's E-flat.
E-flat to F should be a tone.
You can see we've got
this note in-between.
So, E-flat to F must be a tone.
F to G must be a tone.
And it is, because there's
just one note in-between.
G to A should be a tone.
And it is, because there's
a black note in-between.
And A to B-flat, should
be a semitone at the top.
And it is.
And that's why we end up with B-flats
and an E-flat in the
scale of B-flat major.
Again to get the pattern,
tone, tone, semitone,
tone, tone, tone, semitone.
This is what it sounds like.
B-flat,
C,
D,
E-flat,
F,
G,
A,
B-flat.
And, the other key we're
going to talk about is
E-flat major.
And we're going to do
exactly the same thing here,
and we'll go back to
the treble clef because
variety is the spice of life.
Here is a stave.
Here comes the treble clef.
And it's E-flat major,
so let's get some notes
that start on E. Bottom
line of the treble clef.
A good place to start.
And, up we go.
One note in every space, on every line,
until we come to the next E.
It's E-flat major, so we know
it's E-flat at the bottom.
And therefore, it must
be E-flat at the top.
What's our pattern?
Tone, tone, semitone,
tone, tone, tone, semitone.
And if we go through the
scale in just the same way,
we'll soon discover we're
going to need some flats.
Here's E-flat.
Up a tone to F.
Well you can see that's a tone.
F to G, that's good. That's another tone.
G to A is supposed to
be a semitone. Oh dear.
But when we look at it,
we notice that G to A is actually a tone.
So, we're going to have to
change this note aren't we?
And it's going to have to become A-flat
to give us a semitone above G
and to end up with A something.
So that's going to be A-flat.
And then we need a tone,
to take us from A-flat to B something.
So here's A-flat, we're
looking for a tone.
A-flat to B suddenly looks
like a long why doesn't it?
Because A-flat to A is a semitone,
A to B-flat is another semitone,
B-flat to B is another semitone.
Three semitones or a tone and a half.
So what do we need to do to B,
to make it a tone above A-flat?
There's the A-flat.
There's the B.
If I make my B, B-flat,
can you see that we've got a tone?
A-flat to B-flat,
we've just got that one note in-between.
So that B, will have to be a B-flat.
B-flat to C should be a tone. And it is.
C to D should be a tone. And it is.
D to E-flat should be
a semitone. And it is.
That's how you would work out
that we've got three sharps in an A major,
two flats in B-flat major,
three flats in E-flat major.
And if you were asked
to write out the scale,
that's how you would do it.
It's always possible of course
that you would be asked
to write out your scale
descending instead of ascending.
But you would still want
the same pattern of notes.
Let's just very quickly do one of those
so we get the idea as to how we would
write out a scale descending.
And, let's go back to
A major for a moment.
We'll do it in the bass clef, shall we?
And, let's start with A here.
And this time, we're going
to come down, descending.
Every line, every space,
until we get down to bottom A.
Now remember, the pattern
from the bottom up
is tone, tone, semitone,
tone, tone, tone, semitone.
So, don't start at the
top. Start at the bottom.
Tone, tone, semitone,
tone, tone, tone, semitone.
Now, even though this
is going down the scale,
we've learnt how to go up from the bottom.
So, it's just as easy when it's
going down as it is going up.
If, when your going down, you
start at the end of the scale
and work up just as we did before.
So, A to B is a tone.
B to C we said was a semitone,
so we're going to have to change
the higher note of the two to a C-sharp.
So we've got A to B is a tone.
B to C-sharp is a tone.
C-sharp to D is semitone which is good
because it's supposed to be.
D to E should be a tone.
And sure enough, it is.
E to F is supposed to be a tone,
ah but E to F is only a semitone,
we need to change the higher note.
So, it's going to have to be F-sharp.
And don't forget, always write accidentals
on the left hand side of the note.
F-sharp to G should be a tone,
but actually it's looking like a semitone.
So what are we going to do to G?
We're going to make it
G-sharp. And there we have it.
G-sharp to A is the semitone at the top.
So, it just sounds like
a descending scale.
But we've still worked it out,
from the bottom going up.
Tone, tone, semitone,
tone, tone, tone, semitone.
Now, you may be asked to talk about
key signatures for these three keys.
So let's just quickly talk about that.
You add on the sharps or
flats in a particular order.
So let's start with a treble clef,
and see if we can do this.
There's the treble clef.
Now back in grade one,
we learnt that C major has
got no sharps and no flats.
We learnt that G major has got one sharp.
And that one sharp, is F-sharp.
So if you were writing a key signature for
the scale of G major,
or for a piece of music in G major,
you would write F-sharp because
that's the very first sharp that appears.
G major is the first scale
that's got a sharp in it.
It's got one sharp and it's F-sharp.
And in the treble clef, we
always write it on the top line.
We don't write it down here we always
write it on the top line.
We learnt in grade one that D major,
is the scale that's got two sharps.
It's got the F-sharp
that we had in G major,
and it's got a new sharp called C-sharp.
So we put the C-sharp there.
Now we've learnt today that A major,
ends up with three sharps.
And you'll notice, it's got the F-sharp
that we had from G major, and it's got
the C-sharp that we had from D major,
and now its got a new sharp
for A major and it's G-sharp.
So, we put that there.
And you'll notice, a little pattern
is starting to develop isn't it?
That we start high, we
go down, we come up,
then we're going to go down.
And we'll talk about what happens
after that in later grades.
But, that's what the key signature
would look like for A major.
You must have these
sharps in the right order,
because G major has one sharp,
and that sharp is F-sharp.
D major has got two sharps, and they are
the F-sharp from G major plus the C-sharp.
And A majors got three sharps.
The F-sharp from G major,
the C-sharp from D major,
and now the new sharp
for A major, G-sharp.
So, they must go in the right order.
And that's where you have to put them,
on the treble clef stave.
So in the bass clef, if we wanted
to write the same key
signature in the bass clef,
it would look like this.
We'd put the F-sharp first,
and it always goes on line four.
Then we put the C-sharp, and
following the same pattern,
it comes down just as it did there.
And then we put the G-sharp up here,
following the same pattern.
So we start high, we go
down, we come up, we go down.
So that's what the key
signature would look like,
for A major in the treble
clef or the bass clef.
You might be asked to
write the scale of A major
using a key signature instead of putting
the sharps and flats in along the way.
So you just plot all the notes, and then
you would use those key signatures
depending on which clef your in.
When it comes to dealing with the flats,
let's just think about the
key signatures we need here.
There's a stave, and in the treble clef
we learnt in F major for grade one
that F major has B-flat.
So let's put that first,
because that's the first
scale that uses a flat.
It just has one flat. F major.
Today we've learnt that B-flat
major has got two flats.
It's got B-flat and it's got E-flat.
We put the E-flat at the top there.
And in the bass clef, you would write
the key signature for
B-flat major like this.
B-flat on line two and you
would go up for E-flat.
You mustn't put these flats
or sharps in the wrong octave,
there's a convention that we use.
When it comes to E-flat major,
we discovered that we
have B-flat and E-flat
left over from the previous keys,
and we've also got A-flat.
We started there, we went
up, we come down for A-flat.
And we'll do the same
thing in the bass clef.
Start there, go up, and
come down for A-flat.
So two flats gives us the key
signature for B-flat major,
three flats gives us the key
signature for E-flat major.
And that's just telling us,
what we learnt when we
were doing the scales.
Now in terms of triads for these keys.
This works just the same
as it did in grade one,
but we just have to think
about these new keys.
So, if we want a tonic triad for A major,
we could write the key
signature for A major
that we've just learnt to do.
And then we would write A,
with the third note above it
and the fifth note above it.
Or, if you wanted to write
it without a key signature,
you'd write A, C-sharp,
because there's a sharp there isn't there
and E.
That's what it would look
like with a key signature.
If you wanted to write a
tonic triad for B-flat major,
then you would have your key
signature for B-flat major,
B-flat, D, and F.
The first note, the third
note, the fifth note.
And remember in grade one,
we learnt that these
triads would either be
three spaces next to each other,
or three lines next to each other.
And the other thing you
might be asked to do,
is to look at a piece of music
and to say what the key is.
And to do that, you'd
look through the piece
and you'd say, "Ah, it's got B-flats in it
"and it's got E-flats in it.
So it must be in B-flat major."
Or you'd look through and say,
"It's got F-sharps in it,
it's got C-sharps in it,
"it's got G-sharps in it.
So it must be in A major."
So you would work out the
key of a piece of music,
by relating it to the
scales that we've just done.
So, there's quite a bit to
take on board in that lesson.
And do play it again, if you
just want to recap on that.
But I hope all that makes perfect sense.
