Music Theory

David Loberg Code, Western Michigan University

Minor scales come in three variants: natural, harmonic, and melodic. It is probably easiest to compare them with the major scale.

The space between any two pitches is called an interval. Whole steps and half steps are two types of intervals. A whole step can also be called a major 2nd, and half steps are sometimes called minor 2nds. Major simply means BIG; minor means little. The number 2 (2nd) comes from counting the number of letters from one note to another. Bigger intervals can also be identified by their interval count (or size) and quality (major, minor, etc.).

When counting, always start on 1 (never zero). For example, the interval count from D to B is a 6th:

Meter is the pattern of pulses or beats on which the rhythms of a piece are based. The rhythms of a meledy can go faster or slower, but the beat marches on at a steady pace. It is like drawing a picture on a piece of graph paper. Each square on the graph is like a beat. When you count out the beats, you are counting the meter. Most pieces have either 2, 3, or 4 regular beats per measure. When you play a melody, you usually accent the notes which start on the beat. When you play faster notes, they usually divide the beat into either 2 or 3 parts.