BACK TO BASICS-SECONDS

The first week's exercises are working on intervals of a second, which is working with the adjacent note of the scale. We will be using major and minor scales. A second exercise with the C major scale, might go like this: C D C D C D C D, D E D E D E D E, E F E F E F E F, F G F G F G F G, A B A B A B A B, B C B C B C B C B C, C----------. An interval is the distance between notes, with a minor second also a half-step (C to Db) and a major second a whole step (C to D). This can be confusing when doing this exercise. With this exercise, we are working with adjacent notes of the scale, some which may be major seconds, some minor seconds. For the major scale example, C to D is a major second, E to F is a minor second, but we are adhering to the pattern of the major scale, which is "whole, whole, half, whole, whole, whole, half" steps. Apply this pattern anywhere on the piano and you will have a major scale. I will be adding a video shortly to demonstrate the exercise. In the mean time, I recommend you getting www.smartmusic.com to help.