What is the musical scale based on?
The psychoacoustic properties of the musical scale are fascinating. The musical scale is based on our perception of frequency, and harmonic relationships between frequencies. The choice of 12 evenly spaced notes is based on the so-called circle of fifths.
What is the relationship of a scale to a song?
As well as providing a set of notes for creating melodies, scales can help us find chords which suit the key of a piece of music. Several times so far, we have indicated that certain chords are suited to particular scales more than other chords.
What is the frequency of each musical note?
Frequencies for equal-tempered scale, A4 = 440 Hz
| Note | Frequency (Hz) | Wavelength (cm) |
|---|---|---|
| B0 | 30.87 | 1117.67 |
| C1 | 32.70 | 1054.94 |
| C#1/Db1 | 34.65 | 995.73 |
| D1 | 36.71 | 939.85 |
Is the key of D higher than C?
Typically D will be higher than C, because if you transpose something from one to another, you are typically going to pick the closest match, pitchwise. So to transpose from C to D, you’d shift everything two half-steps higher, rather than shift everything 10 half steps lower.
Why do we use scales in music?
As well as providing a set of notes for creating melodies, scales can help us find chords which suit the key of a piece of music. Several times so far, we have indicated that certain chords are suited to particular scales more than other chords.
What is the relationship between chords and scales?
In fact, every chord is related to several scales, and every scale is related to several chords. There is an rich web of relationships between chords and scales, and understanding how to use them is very important for many aspects of music, especially with improvisation and songwriting.
What is the difference between a key and a scale?
Both scales and keys refer to groups of tones and sometimes we can either say scale or key and mean the same thing. Still, there is a difference. A key is a collection of tones and it is common to say that a piece of music is written in the key of… For example, a song that includes the chords G, C,…
What chords make up the C major scale?
We know that the C major chord consists of the notes C, E and G. To get a C major scale we just add D, F, A and B. The thing is, all chords built from the notes C, D, E, F, G, A and B will sound fine when put together in chord progressions. C, Dm, Em, F, G, Am and Bdim consists all of notes from the C major scale.