b flat major scale piano finger position

For example, the only difference between C major and C minor is the 3rd note of the scale (‘E’ as opposed to ‘Eb’).

When going from major to minor, you really only need to lower the 3rd note of the scale by half-step.

Let’s plug in an example, starting on ‘C’ and building a C minor scale using this half-step/whole-step formula:Ī couple things that might be helpful as you practice these 5-finger major and minor scales: This is the 1st note of the minor scale that you will construct. Here is the half-step/whole-step formula for building a minor scale. Let’s plug in an example, starting on ‘C’ and building a C major scale using this half-step/whole-step formula: This is the 1st note of the major scale that you will construct. Now we are going to learn the half-step/whole-step formula for building a major scale.

Moving up or down by two half-steps is called moving by whole-step. Moving from ‘C’ to very next pitch down (‘B’) is moving down by half-step. So, moving from ‘C’ to the very next note up in pitch (‘C#’) is moving up by half-step.

Moving from one note to the very next possible note up or down the keyboard is called moving in half-steps. “Going down the keyboard” is just the opposite – right to left, pitches getting lower. When we go “up the keyboard” we are really saying that we are going from left to right across the keyboard and the pitches are getting higher. Understanding half-steps and whole-steps is very important to learning to build all of the major and minor scales.

B flat major scale piano finger position