theory overview series_ key signatures - scales and key chords

8/11/2019 Theory Overview Series_ Key Signatures - Scales and Key Chords

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Theory Overview Series

The Key Signatures: Scales and Key Chords

©2014 Grade 9 Productions

All Rights Reserved



How to use this Overview

This overview covers the basics of every key signature, each of which is broken

into four parts, detailed as follows:

Key Signature

This is the key signature as it appears on the treble and bass clef staves.

Degrees of the Scale

There are seven degrees (or steps) in each major or minor scale, and each step is

represented using a roman numeral. The degrees of the scale are also known by

their technical names, which are outlined below:

I: TONICII: SUPERTONIC

III: MEDIANT

IV: SUBDOMINANT

V: DOMINANT

VI: SUBMEDIANT

VII: LEADING NOTE

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Similar Motion Finger Chart

This is a chart demonstrating the fingering and patterns that occur for each

scale, and the keys are grouped according to set patterns used for the scales -

before each group is an introduction explaining the patterns.

The minor keys are represented using the natural minor, the equivalent of the

major scale in that it uses no accidentals within the scale, adhering to the

accidentals of the key signature.

The vertical red-shaded areas indicate when both hands are playing with the

same finger at the same time; the horizontal blue-shaded areas indicate when

the two hands are playing a mirror-image finger group (most commonly 2-3

and 4-3-2). Where two or more mirror-image groups occur one after the other,

slightly different shades of blue will be used to distinguish between them.

Sometimes the two different patterns occur at the same time, in which case the

blue shade will take precedence, with the note name only being shaded red.

Also on a few occasions the mirror-image finger group may bleed over from the

end of one octave into the beginning of the next - on the chart itself this can be

seen when only single notes are shaded blue on opposite sides of the chart

(rather than in groups of two or three as happens with groups coming entirely

within the scale itself).

Key Chords and their Inversions

Each degree of the scale can have a triad built up on it - this is done by taking

the degree of the scale and skipping up to the next note and skipping up again

to the final note, and the triad is said to be in root position. The same roman

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numeric system is used for numbering chords as for numbering the degrees of

the scale, as is the technical naming; so the C major chord in the key of C major

is said to be chord I, the tonic chord.

A triad may be inverted, that is turned upside-down. This happens when the

bass note (the note at the bottom) jumps up an octave to become the highest

note, as demonstrated in the figure below (using the tonic chord of E minor):

To clarify which inversion a chord is using, a lowercase letter of the alphabet is

used: a for root position (although this is usually omitted if a chord is in root

position), b for first inversion, c for second inversion and so on. The number of

inversions possible is one less than the number of notes in a chord, therefore the

three note triad (tri-) has two inversions before reaching root position an octave

higher.

The three chords included in this section are the tonic chord (I), the

subdominant chord (IV) and the dominant chord (V); these three chords

dominate the majority of western music.

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Overview of all Key Signatures

1. The C Finger Pattern Scales

2. The Triple C Finger Pattern Scales

3. The Hybrid Scales

4. The 2-3 Pattern Scales

5



1. The C Finger Pattern Scales

The C Finger Pattern is so called because it is taken from the pattern that is

used to play the C major scale, traditionally the first scale taught to a piano

student.

The mnemonic used is "1-2-3-1", representing the first four notes played by the

right hand when playing the ascending scale. The second "1" represents the

thumb travelling under the hand, as in "1-2-3-thumb under."

Given the symmetrical nature of the hands, whereas the 1-2-3-1 mnemonic is

used for the right hand ascending it conversely represents the left hand

descending; this is why it is often easier to play a C Finger Pattern scale in

contrary motion, as both hands will be using the same finger at the same time,

whereas a similar motion will see the two hands playing the same note names,

moving parallel to one another.

The Middle Finger Sandwich

The Middle Finger Sandwich is a pattern used for playing C Finger Pattern

scales in similar motion.

Ascending

Both hands step up together until both are playing their middle finger on the

third degree of the scale. This first playing of the middle finger (representing a

slice of bread) acts as a trigger, reminding the student that it is the time to put

the right thumb under and stepping upwards to the fourth degree, whilst the

left hand continues stepping along its fingers. When the left hand reaches its

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thumb, essentially running out of fingers, this is the time for both middle

fingers to play together again, with the left hand's middle finger stepping over

the thumb and the right hand middle finger being stepped to from the second

finger - this marks the second slice of bread and the end of the middle finger

sandwich; the two hands can now just step along their fingers for the final notes

of the scale.

When descending everything is mirrored, so it will be the left thumb that steps

under as it steps down followed soon after by the right middle finger going over

the thumb, stepping down to end the middle finger sandwich.

Transitioning Between Octaves

Apart from the lowest and highest notes of the scale, both hands will play the

first degree of the scale with the thumb. The lowest note will see the right hand

use the thumb whilst the left plays the fifth finger (the pinkie), and the highestnote will see this position reversed, with the right hand playing the 5th finger

and the left hand playing the thumb.

Ascending

When approaching the first degree of the scale when ascending, the right hand

will play the 4th finger (requiring the thumb to move under to play the tonic)

and the left hand will play the 2nd finger (so the thumb will be simply stepped

to).

Having played the first degree of the scale, the previous fingers are reversed -

the right hand will now simply step up to its 2nd finger whilst the left hand will

play its 4th finger, requiring it to go over the thumb.

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As with the Middle Finger Pattern, when descending the process is simply

reversed. The following figure demonstrates the transition, using the C major

scale:

8



C major



RH: 1 2 3 1 2 3 4

C D E F G A B

LH: 5/1 4 3 2 1 3 2


9



A minor



RH: 1 2 3 1 2 3 4

A B C D E F G

LH: 5/1 4 3 2 1 3 2


10



G major



RH: 1 2 3 1 2 3 4

G A B C D E F#

LH: 5/1 4 3 2 1 3 2


11



E minor



RH: 1 2 3 1 2 3 4

E F# G A B C D

LH: 5/1 4 3 2 1 3 2


12



D major



RH: 1 2 3 1 2 3 4

D E F# G A B C#

LH: 5/1 4 3 2 1 3 2


13



A major



RH: 1 2 3 1 2 3 4

A B C# D E F# G#

LH: 5/1 4 3 2 1 3 2


14



E major



RH: 1 2 3 1 2 3 4

E F# G# A B C# D#

LH: 5/1 4 3 2 1 3 2


15



D minor



RH: 1 2 3 1 2 3 4

D E F G A Bb C

LH: 5/1 4 3 2 1 3 2


16



G minor



RH: 1 2 3 1 2 3 4

G A Bb C D Eb F

LH: 5/1 4 3 2 1 3 2


17



C minor



RH: 1 2 3 1 2 3 4

C D Eb F G A Bb

LH: 5/1 4 3 2 1 3 2


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2. The Triple C Finger Pattern Scales

The Triple C Finger pattern is used for the majority of major scales that begin

on a flat. Unlike the C Finger Pattern the two hands do not follow the same

pattern of fingers leading to a more dynamic (and therefore trickier to master)

range of scales.

The left hand follows the mnemonic "3-2-1-4" representing the first four notes

played in the ascending scale, and each of the scales in this section use that

mnemonic for their left hand. (The full grouping is: "3-2-1-4-3-2-1").

The right hand system gives the Triple C Pattern its name, and the pattern can

be boiled down to the following statement:

Between C and C use the C finger pattern

Visually it is as if the player is playing a form of C scale but just happens to be'jumping in' on a different note name, dependent on which scale they are

actually playing. But when they are going from one C to the next they will be

using the C finger pattern (1-2-3-1), resulting in thumbs being played on the

Cs and Fs, and the 4th finger being played on the B-flat.

If we take the scale of B-flat major but, instead of starting it on the B-flat itself we start from C, the result would be this:

RH: 1 2 3 1 2 3 4

C D Eb F G A Bb

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If you played this on a piano would hear an unusual sounding C scale which

naturally wants to end on the B-flat rather than the C. Keeping the same set of

fingering but now starting on the B-flat itself yields this:

RH: 4 1 2 3 1 2 3

Bb C D Eb F G A

Because each of the Triple C Finger Pattern scales begins on a different note

name (and has a different set of accidentals), each finger chart will look different

but they will all have 1s on the C and F, and 4 on the Bb.

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B-flat major



RH: 4 1 2 3 1 2 3

Bb C D Eb F G A

LH: 3 2 1 4 3 2 1


21



E-flat major



RH: 3 1 2 3 4 1 2

Eb F G Ab Bb C D

LH: 3 2 1 4 3 2 1


22



A-flat major


Similar Motion Finger Pattern

RH: 3 4 1 2 3 1 2

A b Bb C Db Eb F G

LH: 3 2 1 4 3 2 1


23



D-flat major



RH: 2 3 1 2 3 4 1

Db Eb F Gb Ab Bb C

LH: 3 2 1 4 3 2 1


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3. The Hybrid Scales

The hybrid scales are a set of scales that use the C finger pattern for one of the

hands and a different pattern for the other. There are only three scales in this

set:

F major and F minor - both use the Triple C finger pattern for the right hand

and the C finger pattern for the left.

B minor - uses the C finger pattern for the right hand and the 2-3 pattern (see

next section) for the left hand.

25



F major



RH: 1 2 3 4 1 2 3

F G A Bb C D E

LH: 5/1 4 3 2 1 3 2


26



F minor



RH: 1 2 3 4 1 2 3

F G Ab Bb C Db Eb

LH: 5/1 4 3 2 1 3 2


27



B minor



RH: 1 2 3 1 2 3 4

B C# D E F# G A

LH: 4/1 3 2 1 4 3 2


28



4. The 2-3 Pattern Scales

The 2-3 pattern is used primarily for keys that use all five of the black keys

(although the pattern itself can also be less easily spotted in the C finger pattern

scales), and is named after the finger pattern used on the two groups of black

keys - as in so many other instances the right hand and the left hand mirror

each other.

The 2-3 pattern is also used for the minor scales that begin on a black key but

do not necessarily use all five black keys, but do use 1) at least three black keys

and 2) use two in succession.

The following drawing demonstrates the pattern:

For the keys that do use all five of black keys the only difference between each

of them are the two white keys, so it's fairly useful to see the difference laid out,

as shown in the following table; as can be seen, relatives majors and minors have

the same two white keys as they share the same key signature - this only occurs

when the minor scale played is the natural minor.

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Name of Key Two White Keys

D-flat major F C

E-flat minor F Cb

F-sharp major

G-flat major

B E#

Cb F

B-flat minor C F

B major B E

Out of the seven keys in this section (counting the enharmonic keys of F-sharpand G-flat majors as being separate even though they use exactly the same

keys), three of them use the 2-3 pattern for only one of the hands; they are all

minor keys.

C-sharp minor

This uses the 2-3 pattern for its left hand but takes the right hand pattern from

its relative major, E major, as if playing the E major scale but jumping in from

the C-sharp (in the same way as the Triple C finger pattern works). Therefore

it plays a thumb on E and A with the 4th finger on D-sharp, just as occurs in

the E major scale.

F-sharp minor

This uses the 2-3 pattern for its left hand but takes the right hand pattern from

its relative major, A major, as if playing the A major scale but jumping in from

the F-sharp (in the same way as noted above). Therefore it plays a thumb on the

A and D with its 4th finger on G-sharp, just as occurs in the A major scale.

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G-sharp minor

This uses the 2-3 pattern for its right hand but takes its left hand pattern from

its parallel major, A-flat major, therefore using the "3-2-1-4" mnemonic to play.

31



B major



RH: 1 2 3 1 2 3 4

B C# D# E F# G# A#

LH: 4/1 3 2 1 4 3 2


32



F-sharp major



RH: 2 3 4 1 2 3 4

F# G# A# B C# D# E#

LH: 4 3 2 1 4 3 2


33



G-flat major



RH: 2 3 4 1 2 3 4

Gb Ab Bb Cb Db Eb F

LH: 4 3 2 1 4 3 2


34



C-sharp minor



RH: 3 4 1 2 3 1 2

C# D# E F# G# A B

LH: 3 2 1 4 3 2 1


35



E-flat minor



RH: 3 1 2 3 4 1 2

Eb F Gb Ab Bb Cb Db

LH: 2 1 4 3 2 1 3


36



F-sharp minor



RH: 3 4 1 2 3 1 2

F# G# A B C# D E

LH: 4 3 2 1 3 2 1


37



G-sharp minor



RH: 3 4 1 2 3 1 2

G# A# B C# D# E F#

LH: 3 2 1 4 3 2 1


38



B-flat minor



RH: 4 1 2 3 1 2 3

Bb C Db Eb F Gb Ab

LH: 2 1 3 2 1 4 3


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