Introduction
In our previous
lesson Constructing Scales we discussed about how scales are constructed. In
this succeeding lecture we will describe types of scales in music. We can
categories scales according to different parameters, such as:
1.
Number of notes in a scale
2.
Interval used in scale
Different types of scales are described as
follows.
Classification of Scales According to Number
of Notes
A scale has a fixed
number of notes. Usually we play scales that have seven different pitches such
as a Major Scale or a Minor Scale. Apart from these seven note scales there are
other scale which have six or five different pitches, such as Blues Scale and
Pentatonic Scales. According to the number of pitches found in a scale they
could be categorized as:
1. Heptatonic
Scales (7 Notes)
a.
Major Scale
b.
Minor Scale
c.
Lydian Scale
d.
Mixolydian Scale
e.
Phrygian Scale
f.
Locrian Scale
2. Hexatonic
Scales (6 notes)
a.
Blues Scale
3. Pentatonic
Scales (5 notes)
a.
Major Pentatonic Scale
b.
Minor Pentatonic Scale
Classification
of Scales According to Intervals
Scales can also be classified according to the
pattern of intervals used in the scale. According to the intervals the scales
generally classified as Diatonic Scale and Chromatic Scales. There could also be
other forms of scales according to number of intervals.
Diatonic Scale
A Diatonic Scale is an eight note musical scale
composed of seven pitches and a repeated octave. The diatonic scale includes
five whole steps and two half steps for each octave. The two half steps are
separated from each other by either two or three whole steps, depending on
their position in the scale. This pattern ensures that, in a diatonic scale
spanning more than one octave. Major Scale is an example of Diatonic Scale
Chromatic Scale
A chromatic scale
consists of an ascending or descending sequence of pitches proceeding always by
semitones. The structure of a chromatic scale is therefore uniform throughout,
unlike major and minor scales which have tones and semitones in particular
arrangements. In simple words, when you play all twelve notes of music in
ascending or descending sequence, it will be chromatic scale. For example
playing C Chromatic Scale in ascending order will look like as:
C
– C# - D – Eb – E – F – F# - G – Ab – A – Bb – B – C
Chromatic Scale is not used for compositions. In
next lessons we will discuss all these scales with their examples. Happy
Playing!!
