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371 posts, Registered User
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Hi,
I've spent the last 2 months, slowing learning major scales using the circle of fifths. I made myself flashcards a la:
Q: EbM - 3 (3rd of...)
A: [G]
And get quite high scores (sometimes, I get one wrong), but when I test myself by playing the major chord as a 7th, I sometimes hit the wrong key, or have to pause for a moment. I want to break off the major scale like it was...someone asking me my name. No Umming and aahhing, no "let's see now....Eb, F..G, G!"
I still sometimes forget whether Amaj has a natural or sharp F. OK, I know it is a sharp, but 2moro, will I?
With this in mind, should I not even bother with minors yet? I'm eager to start those. I may even begin to make beats after I got the maj and min down, while learning other **** (dom, sus, etc).
Or will learning minor scales before I am GOOD with maj eff my brain up?
Sorry for the sketchiness of this post. I wanna squeeze in some more theory before bed and work again.
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967 posts, Registered Beat Maker
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Ya I'd say learn the majors first. I say this because when you learn the majors, you learn the minors as well! Since the minors are just relative of the majors, you develop a pretty solid foundation once all majors are learned.
Example:
When you look at the circle of fifths, you look at C Maj, you know that the relative minor is A and there are all naturals in both scales because they are the same. Same goes for let's say, F# Maj... the relative minor is Eb... so all the notes in F# Maj are the notes in Eb minor. So I believe it is best to learn the major scales first.
EDIT: Although I would advise learning majors before the minors, I still wouldn't say that learning them at the same time will mess up ur brain lol.
Last edited by RAnthony; 2 Weeks Ago at 03:27 PM..
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142 posts, Registered User
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This is how I memorized scales. I learned the keys first. For sharps memorize F,C,G,D,A,E in that order. For Flats B,E,A,D,G,C. The notes for all scales without sharps or flats go in order. Like E would be E,F,G,A,B,C,. If you memorized the keys you would know E has 4 sharps. If you memorized the order of the sharps you would use the first 4 notes F,C,G,D and sharpen those notes in the scale. E,F,G,A,B,C becomes E,F#,G#,A,B,C#,D#. I'm horrible at explaining things but by doing that I was able to learn the scales in like 2 days. It works with minor scales too.
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249 posts, PROLLY MAKIN A BEAT
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RAnthony
Ya I'd say learn the majors first. I say this because when you learn the majors, you learn the minors as well! Since the minors are just relative of the majors, you develop a pretty solid foundation once all majors are learned.
Example:
When you look at the circle of fifths, you look at C Maj, you know that the relative minor is A and there are all naturals in both scales because they are the same. Same goes for let's say, F# Maj... the relative minor is Eb... so all the notes in F# Maj are the notes in Eb minor. So I believe it is best to learn the major scales first.
EDIT: Although I would advise learning majors before the minors, I still wouldn't say that learning them at the same time will mess up ur brain lol.
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right lol, learning them at the same time is definitely the way to go
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371 posts, Registered User
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Thanks guys. I will slowly start minors next week. I aim to at least start making beats around dec 09/january 2010 once I cop some software. If I get the sw now, I will neglect theory too much.
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228 posts, Registered User
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Hire someone to give you lessons. It is far more expensive but if you want to learn fast, that is the way to do it. In my opinion, books for the most part can never replace a teacher.
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371 posts, Registered User
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^ Thanks. I have been considering going to a class of some sort. I know my book covers what I need to know, its a great book. It starts from drawing a treble clef to extended chords and beyond, modes, I think. It's enough to keep me entertained, but I will still consider it.
In fact, it is good how far I've come in 2 months. From knowing nothing to playing 9th maj chords and hearing if one finger accidently plays a flat or sharp. I've osmosis-learned a lot too, like dom chords, b5s, #9s, etc.
it depends what you're trying to do. are you trying to understand music better, or are you trying to pass a class?
if you want to understand music better, you need to think in terms of intervals. for instance - play the first 5 notes in the C major scale, and then the first 5 notes in the F major scale. what are the similarities? (hint - forget what the notes are called)
both scales 'feel' the same when you go from note to note because they are abiding by the intervals of the major scale. i could go on and talk about whole steps and half steps, but that's not really the point i'm trying to get at.
what you want to do is learn how to feel your way around your instrument so that you're not thinking in terms of note or key, but rather the basic scale rules you are playing in. for example, play the following four notes in order, with a little bit of your own rhythm (c major scale base) C-G-A-F. now do the same (e major scale base) - E-B-Db-A.
both successions of notes i just listed are the same progression. the only differences are that they start on a different note and abide by the scale of that root note.
i might have lost you or even posted something that is technically 'incorrect' by book standards, feel free to alert me on that. i just joined FP and this is probably the one area i know something about (relatively speaking), but i'm always open to a good discussion.
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