basicmusictheory.com: A-flat major scale
Solution: 1 Lesson steps: 1
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2. A-flat major scale descending
This step shows the descending A-flat major scale on the piano, treble clef and bass clef.
A-flat major scale descendingNo.1234567NoteGFEbDbCBbAb
Audio downloads
Bass Clef:MidiMP3
Treble Clef:MidiMP3
Lesson steps
[1] 2 3 4 5 6 Home Top ^
Solution: 1 2 Lesson steps:
1. Piano key note names
This step shows the white and black note names on a piano keyboard so that the note names are familiar for later steps, and to show that the note names start repeating themselves after 12 notes.
The white keys are named using the alphabetic letters A, B, C, D, E, F, and G, which is a pattern that repeats up the piano keyboard.
Every white or black key could have a flat(b) or sharp(#) accidental name, depending on how that note is used. In a later step, if sharp or flat notes are used, the exact accidental names will be chosen.
The audio files below play every note shown on the piano above, so middle C (marked with an orange line at the bottom) is the 2nd note heard.
Audio downloadsBass Clef:MidiMP3Treble Clef:MidiMP3[2] 3 4 5 6 Home Top ^
Solution: 1 2 Lesson steps: 1
2. A-flat tonic note and one octave of notes
This step shows an octave of notes in the key of Ab , to identify the start and end notes of the scale.
The numbered notes are those that might be used when building this note scale.
But since this is a scale in the key of Ab, it is certain that notes 1 and 13 will be used in the scale.
Note 1 is the tonic note – the starting note – Ab, and note 13 is the same note name but one octave higher.
A-flat chromatic scale-1 octave of notesNo.12345678910111213NoteAbAA# / BbBCC# / DbDD# / EbEFF# / GbGAbAudio downloadsBass Clef:MidiMP3Treble Clef:MidiMP32 [3] 4 5 6 Home Top ^
Solution: 1 2 Lesson steps: 1
3. A-flat major scale note interval positions
This step applies the major scale note interval pattern starting from A-flat, so that the correct piano keys and note pitches can be identified.
The major scale uses the W-W-H-W-W-W-H note counting rule to identify the scale note positions.
To count up a Whole tone, count up by two physical piano keys, either white or black.
To count up a Half-tone (semitone), count up from the last note up by one physical piano key, either white or black.
The tonic note (shown as *) is the starting point and is always the 1st note in the major scale.
Again, the final 8th note is the octave note, having the same name as the tonic note.A-flat major scale No.12345678NoteAbA# / BbCC# / DbD# / EbFGAbAudio downloadsBass Clef:MidiMP3Treble Clef:MidiMP3
Again, the final 8th note is the octave note, having the same name as the tonic note.
2 3 [4] 5 6 Home Top ^
Solution: 1 2 Lesson steps: 1
4. A-flat major scale notes
This step tries to assign note names to the piano keys identified in the previous step, so that they can be written on a note staff in the Solution section.
The 7 unique notes in a scale need to be named such that each letter from A to G is used once only, so each note name is either a natural white name(A.. G) , a sharp(eg. F#) or a flat(eg. Gb).
The rule ensures that every position of a staff is used once and once only – whether that position be a note in a space, or a note on a line.
This is needed to ensure that when it comes to writing the scale notes on a musical staff (eg. a bass or treble clef), there is no possibility of having 2 G-type notes, for example, with one of the notes needing an accidental next to it on the staff (a sharp, flat or natural symbol).
To apply this rule, firstly list the white key names starting from the tonic, which are shown the White column below.
Then list the 7 notes in the scale so far, shown in the next column.
For each of the 7 notes, look across and try to find the White note name in the Scale note name.
If the natural white note can be found in the scale note, the scale note is written in the Match? column.
The 8th note – the octave note, will have the same name as the first note, the tonic note.
A-flat major scaleNo.WhiteScale noteMatch?1AAbAb2BA# / BbBb3CCC4DC# / DbDb5ED# / EbEb6FFF7GGG8AAbAb
For this major scale, all notes have a match, and so the Match? column shows the major scale note names.
2 3 4 [5] 6 Home Top ^
Solution: 1 2 Lesson steps: 1
5. A-flat major scale descending
This step shows the notes when descending the A-flat major scale, going from the highest note sound back to the starting note.
For major scales, the notes names when descending are just the reverse of the ascending names.
So assuming octave note 8 has been played in the step above, the notes now descend back to the tonic.
A-flat major scale descendingNo.1234567NoteGFEbDbCBbAbAudio downloadsBass Clef:MidiMP3Treble Clef:MidiMP32 3 4 5 [6] Home Top ^
Solution: 1 2 Lesson steps: 1
6. A-flat major scale degrees
This step shows the A-flat major scale degrees – tonic, supertonic, mediant, subdominant, dominant, submediant, leading note / tone, and octave.
In music theory, each note in this scale has what is called a scale degree name, which describes the relationship of that note to the tonic(1st) note.
In music theory, each note in this scale has what is called a scale degree name, which describes the relationship of that note to the tonic(1st) note.
Scale degree names 1,2,3,4,5,6, and 8 below are always the same for all major and minor scales (ie. 1st note is always tonic, 2nd is supertonic etc.) , but obviously the note names will be different for each scale / key combination.
In the major scale, the 7th note is called the leading note or leading tone because the sound of the 7th note feels like it wants to resolve and finish at the octave note, when all scale notes are played in sequence.
It does this because in this scale, the 7th note is only 1 semitone away from the 8th note – the octave note. The Ab harmonic minor scale and Ab melodic minor scale scales share the same property – they both have only one half-tone / semitone between the 7th and 8th notes.
In contrast, the Ab natural minor scale has a whole tone (two half-tones / semitones, two notes on the piano keyboard) between the 7th and 8th notes, and the 7th note does not lean towards the 8th note in the same way. In this case, the 7th note is called the subtonic.
A-flat major scale degreesNote no.Degree name1Ab is the tonic of the A-flat major scale2Bb is the supertonic of the A-flat major scale3C is the mediant of the A-flat major scale4Db is the subdominant of the A-flat major scale5Eb is the dominant of the A-flat major scale6F is the submediant of the A-flat major scale7G is the leading tone of the A-flat major scale8Ab is the octave of the A-flat major scale
