Should I learn keys or scales first?

Most students start learning to read in major keys signatures rather than minor partly because minor keys commonly alter a couple of notes. If you want to read music in the key of D major, you must learn the D major scale!

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There’s many different types of scale and each one needs to be learnt in 12 keys. It can be very confusing for a beginner to know which scales to learn first on piano and then which order to learn the rest. There’s a few scales it makes most sense to start with but then the further you get along your journey, the more flexible your approach should become. Myself and many other piano teachers generally start students off in much the same way. Major scales are the most common and useful to learn first on piano, followed by the natural, harmonic and melodic minors. Start with C Major as it has no sharps or flats, then G D, A and E major before starting the minors. Next, learn some pentatonic, blues and chromatic scales plus the modes. There’s a bit more to think about though because there’s the order of the types of scales and the most useful order of keys within each one to consider. We’ll take a look at both. The following guidelines are to help you understand why a certain route often works best but also when to deviate. Then you’ll be more confident in finding a practical and efficient learning path for yourself.

Which Order To Learn Piano Scales

This is a useful outline of the order in which to learn the different piano scales. Starting with major and the minors is the best idea for most people but the further you get, the more flexible you can be to suit your needs.

Major Scales

Natural Minor Scales

Harmonic Minor Scales

Melodic Minor Scales

Pentatonic Scales

Blues Scales

Chromatic Scales

Modes Of The Major Scale

Major Most common and useful to start with Natural Minor The next most common. You need this first to understand the other minors which are often used Melodic And Harmonic Minor These make sense to learn together really. You could also include the Dorian mode here as it is very similar and easy to learn alongside Pentatonic And Blues Useful to start learning for more contemporary piano and improvisation. Blues scales are pentatonics with 1 extra note Chromatic Very useful for technique purposes Modes Of The Major Scale Learn the concept of modes together but for contemporary music, you may need Mixolydian and Dorian earlier on Other There’s so many more scales that exist. By this point, you should just start learning what you need for whatever music you’re learning or writing. You don’t need to complete the set and learn all 12 of each type before moving on. It’s usually best to stagger starting each one and be flexible so you’re learning what you need to support the actual music you’re working on. Remember, there’s no exact or perfect order to suit everyone.

Let’s now take a look at each type and order within.

Major Scales

Major scales seem to be the most commonly used in music and particularly in the beginning stages, you will come across them most often. They are also the simplest to understand and begin playing. Most students start learning to read in major keys signatures rather than minor partly because minor keys commonly alter a couple of notes. If you want to read music in the key of D major, you must learn the D major scale! Major scales are also fundamental to understanding how music works from a theory perspective. A clear grasp of these gives you a strong foundation from which to learn about how other scales, chords and chord progressions work too. Once you learn to find them easily on the keyboard, they are useful as a visual framework you can use and adapt to find other scales too. They also help you to understand how a piece of music works and memorize it. You can read my article HERE on why you should always memorize scales to learn more about that.

What Order To Learn Major Scales In

Here’s a useful order you can learn the major scales in. You can be a bit flexible with this to fit what you’re learning though so read on for further details. Start with C major. It has no flats or sharps and only uses white keys, making it easier to play and read music. Then you can learn the other major scales starting from white notes in order of sharps, G D, A, E, B, then F. After that, black key major scales in order of flats, Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, Gb.

C Major

G Major (1 Sharp)

D Major (2 Sharps)

A Major (3 Sharps)

E Major (4 Sharps)

F Major (1 Flat)

B Major (5 Sharps)

Bb Major (2 Flats)

Eb Major (2 Flats)

Ab Major (3 Flats)

Db Major (4 Flats)

F#/Gb Major (6 sharps/6 Flats)

C Major Best To Start Here G, D, A, E, B Majors The rest of the white note major scales (Apart from F)

They all use the same fingerings as C.

Each one has an extra sharp. Learn At Least G before F F Major You could learn this before or after the last groupe as you may need to use it sooner Bb, Eb, Ab,

D, Gb/F# Majors The black note major scales

Very different finger patterns here so best to learn last unless you really need to learn one earlier

Why Start With C?

Starting with C means not having to worry about remembering which notes to use, it’s just a straight line from C to C! This makes it the easiest to play when you’re first learning and trying to get your fingers under control and hands working together properly. Having no black keys (flats or sharps) makes it much easier to begin reading sheet music, playing from memory or by ear. A straight line of white notes also makes it much clearer to understand how the scale is built in terms of intervals and visualize many other aspects of music theory on the keyboard. For much more depth on the topic of how the key of C can really help you understand music better, read this article HERE. After C, start making your way clockwise around the circle of 5ths. The circle of 5ths is simply a way of organizing key signatures by the amount of sharps or flats in the key. Going clockwise, each key is a 5th up from the last.

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The next one after C would be G which has 1 black note (sharp), then D which has 2 and so on. It makes sense to learn at least G as well or up to E (4 sharps) because to this point, they all use the same finger numbers. This is helpful for learning as you can focus more on finding new shapes whilst not having to worry about getting confused with a new finger pattern at the same time. These few keys are also going to be easiest, most common and most useful to begin learning music in. You don’t have to be too rigid here though, be flexible. My suggestion would be to learn at least C and G, but then you could learn F major too if it makes sense for you (i.e you’re learning a song in F). It too only has one black note (a flat) and it’s still easier and common to learn music in F as a beginner. The right hand fingers are slightly different though this time but hands together still feels fairly similar and it’s good to expand in small steps. B major then has a slightly different left hand pattern but still feels similar to C major hands together. Learn this after you have done C to E unless you really need to learn it before. I would then begin learning the flat side (anti-clockwise) around the circle up to Gb/F#. From B flat onwards, these scales all start to feel very different under your fingers which is why it’s usually best to wait. Of course, if you really need to start these keys earlier because of other music you’re working on, then it’s not really going to cause a massive problem.

Major Scale Tutorial Playlist

I have a PLAYLIST on YouTube with tutorials for every major scale. You can use these to help you learn each scale. I also have a clear and helpful PDF worksheet containing graphics, notation and finger numbers for every major scale you can download as a handy reference. You don’t need to learn all 12 before starting minor scales, in most cases there’s not much point. You’ll want to start learning music in minor keys way before then and it’ll be much more productive to stagger it. So after you’ve done 3 or 4 majors, start with minor scales too and then you can work through both, simultaneously.

Natural Minor Scales

Minor scales are regularly used in music too so these are quite important to begin learning early on. There’s actually a few types of minor scale, each which a slight difference at the top of the scale. The natural minor scale is the one you need to start with. You can see from the circle of 5ths above that each major scale has a relative minor scale. These 2 keys use all the same notes and share the same key signature, but they just start in different places. A piece of music in a minor key quite often changes back and forth between which kind of minor scale is being used. It makes sense to learn natural minor first then as it fits a key signature perfectly without having to use any accidentals (extra flats, sharps or naturals) to go outside. They also give you the foundation to understand the other minor scales from the theory side and once you can see them on the keyboard comfortably, it becomes straight forward to adjust them to find the other types.

What Order To Learn Natural Scales In

With minor scales, I don’t usually teach them completely in the order of the circle of 5ths. Here’s a useful order you can use but make sure to read on because there’s a specific reason I like to do it like this. Again, after the first couple, you can definitely be flexible to suit what aspect of learning you’re focusing on or to learn a scale you need for a piece. I Like to teach and have students practice finding minor scales either by converting a major scale or finding the relative minor of a major scale. I usually try to do every key both ways at some point.

A Minor

C Minor

G Minor

F Minor

D Minor

E Minor

B Minor

F# Minor

C# Minor

G# Minor

D#/Eb Minor

Bb Minor

A Minor and C Minor A Minor is only white notes but C is the best for understanding how minor scales are built G, F, D, E, B Minors Going through these helps you to learn to convert major scales you know to minors b flattening the 3rd, 6th and 7th F#, C#, G#,

D#/Eb, Bb

Minor These follow the circle of 5th from F# Minor. You can also start learning these before or mix with the last group if you need. Usually in the same lesson, I will start with A minor and C minor. A minor because it’s the relative minor of C major and therefore still only uses white notes. C minor because it is clearer to picture the intervals used to construct a minor scale. The 3 intervals that are flattened compared to the major scale pattern are black so they stand out. To reinforce a student’s understanding of theory, I think it is then useful to get them to find minor scales themselves by converting major scales they already know. I like starting with the major keys that begin on a white note and have less black notes to make it visually clearer. So after A and C, next would be G and F, then D E and B. The keys starting from the black notes, I will often leave until last unless they’re needed earlier. I don’t think the order here is terribly important really but you could start going clockwise from F# minor on the circle of 5ths to hit them all in an organized way.

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After just learning a few keys of just the natural minor though, I would then start to learn how to adjust them to create the other types of minor scales.

Harmonic And Melodic Minor Scales

Changing between different types of minor scales midway through a piece of music is very common so these are important to learn fairly early on. Because these and the natural minor are just different combinations of the minor or major the 6th and the 7th notes, it makes sense for some people to learn the Dorian mode at the same time which is the final combination. This is used frequently in genres like jazz, funk, soul and blues.

What Order To Learn Harmonic And Melodic Minors In

Because how they’re built is so close and their usage is so intertwined, it makes sense to learn all 3 types of minor scale alongside each other for the rest of the way. Do start off learning and understanding these for the very first time in C though for the same reason as before. It is much easier to picture the theory on the keyboard itself and see what intervals are used to build each one in C. You can learn how to fully understand the different minor scales in this video. I also have a helpful PDF worksheet on minor scales which contains, graphics, finger numbers and notation for all the minor scales

Pentatonic Scales And Blues Scales

These are very useful for more modern playing and especially improvisation. They are very much connected because of the way they are used and because the blues scales are really just adding 1 extra ‘blue’ note to the equation. Pentatonic really means there’s 5 notes in it so technically, there’s actually a few types but when we say THE pentatonic scales, people are talking about these specific major and minor versions we use all the time. Each major has a relative minor too, kind of like the major and minor scales. There are major and minor versions of the blues scales too, both really useful to learn for slightly different musical situations. Learning these, focus more on just what the notes are and what you can do with them. It’s not always as necessary to practice them up and down like you would majors and minors. You can if you need later in your career, maybe for a long run.

I also have a Pentatonic and Blues scales PDF available

What Order To learn Pentatonic And Blues Scales In

I recommend learning to understand these scales for the first time, both major and minor versions in C and then A. In the earlier stages of your learning, you will likely come across the keys beginning from the other white notes more often with the kinds of music you will use these scales for, with the possible exception of B. It makes sense to focus on the keys you will use the most then and just learn each scale when you have need of it. If you want you to try and hit all 12 anyway so you’re prepared for the future, you could also follow the circle of 5ths to organize your practice.

Chromatic Scales

These are just every note on the keyboard! So there’s really 12 keys as per usual, one starting from each note, but it’s almost like there’s only 1 at the same time. You can use the same fingers for each one (just starting at a different point of course) These are mostly useful for technique purposes to get your fingers used these chromatic movements that come up in many types of music

What Order To learn Chromatic Scales In

To be honest, with these it’s really not as important to do it in all 12 keys compared to majors and minor for example. Once you can do it comfortably from one starting note, it’s basically the same everywhere. It may just be wise to try starting from at least a few different notes, if not all, to make sure you don’t get too used to only one set way and that you’re comfortable starting from different points in a piece of music.

The Modes Of The Major Scale

Don’t focus on technique or speed as much with these like you would majors or minors. It’s more important to just be able to understand them and find them easily on the keyboard so you can use them. Not all of these are as common or useful to learn by heart but it makes sense to understand them all together. You may want to learn Dorian and Mixolyidan earlier on as they are fairly simple to find and useful for much contemporary music.

What Order To learn The Modes In

By their very nature, modes are sequenced. There’s the pattern that begins from the first note of the major scale, the second, the third and so on. When first learning to understand how modes work, it makes the most sense to just learn them in that order. However, in terms of memorizing individual modes in different keys, I think it’s best to learn what you will most likely use, first.