Piano Guidance
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Which scales are happy?

Major scales. These scales have a major third (the note four that is four semitones above the root), which makes them feel happy or bright.

ethanhein.com - Scales and emotions | The Ethan Hein Blog
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See also a post about making chords from scales, and all of these scales in one giant flowchart. So maybe you want to write a song or an instrumental in a particular mood or style, and you’re feeling overwhelmed by all the scales. Here’s a handy guide to the commonly used scales in Western pop, rock, jazz, blues and so on. You can play all of these scales and more using the aQWERTYon.

Major scales

These scales have a major third (the note four that is four semitones above the root), which makes them feel happy or bright. Happy; can be majestic or sentimental when slow. The white keys on the piano. Examples: “Mary Had A Little Lamb,” “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.” Bluesy, rock; can also be exotic/modal. Play over C7 chord. Same pitches as F major. Example: “Tomorrow Never Knows” by the Beatles. Ethereal, dreamy, futuristic. Same pitches as G major. Example: “Possibly Maybe” by Björk (from the line “As much as I definitely enjoy solitude…”) Also known as the overtone scale or acoustic scale, because it is close to the first seven pitches in the natural overtone series. Same pitches as the G melodic minor scale and the F-sharp/G-flat altered scale. Exotic, Middle Eastern, Jewish. Same pitches as F harmonic minor. Example: “Hava Nagila.”

Majestic, mysterious. “Lord Of The Rings” feeling.

Another film-score-sounding mysterious scale. Same pitches as F melodic minor.

Minor Scales

These scales have a flat third (the note that is three semitones above the root), which gives them a darker and more tragic feel.

Sentimental, tragic. Same pitches as E-flat major.

Hip, sophisticated, jazzy. Same pitches as B-flat major. Example: “So What” by Miles Davis.

Tragic, exotic, Middle Eastern.

Mysterious, jazzy, very dark. Example: sixties Coltrane. See a blog post about melodic minor.

Spanish/Flamenco. Same pitches as A-flat major.

Very dark and unstable. Use over C half-diminished chords. Same pitches as C-sharp/D-flat major and B-flat natural minor.

Neither major nor minor

Bluesy, obviously. Works great over major and minor chords. C minor pentatonic with sharp fourth/flat fifth added. Use over a C7 chord to make it sound very intellectual and jazzy. Same pitches as C-sharp/D-flat melodic minor.

Pentatonics

Pentatonic scales have five notes. The blues scale is the minor pentatonic plus the flat fifth. Joyful; widely used in world and folk music. Major scale with 4th and 7th removed. Same pitches as A minor pentatonic. Here’s a blog post about playing pentatonics on guitar. Widely used in rock, world and folk music. Minor scale with 2nd and 6th removed. Same pitches as E-flat major pentatonic. Here’s a blog post about playing pentatonics on guitar.

Synthetic Scales

These scales are based on regular, symmetric patterns.

All of the piano keys. Freefalling, anxiety-producing.

Dreamy, underwater. Every alternating key on the piano. Same pitches as D, E, F#, G# and A# whole tone scales. Example: Background parts in the Simpsons theme song. Dark, mysterious. Same pitches as Eb, Gb and A diminished scales. Examples: modern jazz, movies about Dracula. Dark, mysterious. Same pitches as Eb, Gb and A octatonic scales. Examples: modern jazz, movies about Dracula.

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Is E minor the same as G major?

E minor is a minor scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F♯, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has one sharp. Its relative major is G major and its parallel major is E major.

en.wikipedia.org - E minor - Wikipedia

Minor scale based on E

E minor is a minor scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F♯, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has one sharp. Its relative major is G major and its parallel major is E major.

The E natural minor scale is:

Audio playback is not supported in your browser. You can download the audio file Changes needed for the melodic and harmonic versions of the scale are written in with accidentals as necessary. The E harmonic minor and melodic minor scales are: Audio playback is not supported in your browser. You can download the audio file Audio playback is not supported in your browser. You can download the audio file Much of the classical guitar repertoire is in E minor, as this is a very natural key for the instrument. In standard tuning (E A D G B E), four of the instrument's six open (unfretted) strings are part of the tonic chord. The key of E minor is also popular in heavy metal music, as its tonic is the lowest note on a standard-tuned guitar.

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