10 The Major Scale

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Having struggled through the low notes, we end the preliminary lessons with an easier note. C sharp, written C#.

First, the note.

Simple enough, given what has gone before. Just two left hand fingers, L1 and L2, nothing else. Or, just an A without the left hand thumb. While C# is easy to sound, too much breath pressure will send the note sharp (like its name).

The C# note is written with an accidental, similar to the F# we saw previously. Let's explore further. Try the following exercise:
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Not too hard, hopefully. Note that the C to C# has L1 and the left thumb moving in unison. Listen to the space between the notes. Can you hear that C# lies halfway between C and D? In musical terms, moving from C to D is a "whole tone", whereas C to C# or C# to D is a "semitone". Two semitones added together make a whole tone.

Now, finally, we have enough notes to play the cornerstone of Western music. The major scale. Try it.
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Be sure to play a C#, not a C. This is a D major scale, because it starts on a low D, then ends on a high D. It should sound very familiar. Play the low and high D, one after the other, like this
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Take this as slowly as you need to get both notes. Can you hear the similarity between them? The high D is, well, a higher version of the low D. In music terms, we say that the two notes are an "octave" apart.

Now play the D major scale from top to bottom.
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The C# to B transition has the left hand thumb hitting the hole exactly when L2 comes off. To practice this move, hold L1 down with both LT (the thumb) and L2 up. Now rock L2 and LT back and forth, using L1 as a pivot. Try it again, this time with L2 and LT hitting their respective holes. We practiced a similar rocking motion earlier with the low A to low B transition.

Many tunes have initial "lead in" or pickup notes. These notes are written in a "pickup measure" or bar before the start of the tune. Look at the example below. Here the lead in or pickup note, a "D", comes on the fourth beat of the pickup measure. Listen to the player. The count in is three beats only, rather than the usual four beats. The fourth beat is the pickup note. Pickup notes are common, you'll see them in one of the tunes for this lesson.

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Learning a full scale is the key preliminary section aim, now achieved. likewise the ability to read it. You are now equipped to play a variety of tunes, like the ones for this lesson at the library links below.

Beginners often come to their first lesson wanting to know "how long before I can play". The answer is, almost immediately. However, playing better is a task that never ends. After 35 years much remains for me to do. Learning an instrument is a process. Be glad for the stage you're at, seek to improve it, and above all, enjoy the journey.
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Mayden Lane
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Dorothea
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The Cherping of the Larke
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Whiskey in the Jar
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Nachtanz
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Previous Lesson
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