LEARN SEQUENCE 10: FROM MINOR TO MAJOR WITH STAIRPLAY

Transcription

1 LARN SQUNC 0: FRM MINR T MAJR WITH STAIRPLAY BY HUBRT GRUBR PUBLISHD BY: HAUS DR MUSIK WIN IN CPRATIN WITH: LANG LANG INTRNATINAL MUSIC FUNDATIN

2 FRM MINR T MAJR - WITH STAIRPLAY Here you will learn how to transform minor scales into major scales with the cards on the sound-stairs! The notes on the stave are ordered so that every note finds its place either on a line or in a space. ven if it doesn t appear so on the stave, the distance between the seven notes is not always the same. Between B-C, h-c, si-do and -f, e-f, mi-fa the distance is small and consists of only a semitone. Between all the others the distance is twice as big and consists of two semitone-steps. This is a whole tone. This creates a distinctive sequence of notes. W H L T N W H L T N S M I T N W H L T N W H L T N S M I T N W H L T N This distinctive sequence of notes is also known as a scale. It consists of five whole tones and two semitones. What s important here is with which note the scale begins. This is also how it gets its name. From minor to major - with STAIRPLAY

3 Build yourself an a-minor scale with your STAIRPLAY-cards. It begins as its name suggests, with A/a/la, and only needs seven regular notes. You can find them on the white keys of the piano. 8 G 7 F From minor to major - with STAIRPLAY 3

4 To transform the a-minor scale into an A-major scale both semitones need to move to a different place. With minor-scales they are between the nd and 3rd notes and the 5th and 6th, with major-scales between the 3rd and 4th and the 7th and 8th. verywhere else are whole tones. There are two easy ways to convert a minor-scale into a major-scale, the first of which may require more time. Take your STAIRPLAY-cards in your hands and follow our instructions step by step. There are as many verification steps as there are tone steps in a scale. In total there are 7 steps. However, they are very similar. You continuously verify the distance between two notes and correct it if necessary: From minor to major - with STAIRPLAY 4

5 STP : Check the correct distance between the st and nd notes. Between A/a/la and B/h/si there should be a whole tone. STP : Between the nd and 3rd notes there should be a whole tone in a major scale. The C/c/do must go up one semitone with the accidental # (sharp) to become C#/cis/do#. If you put the B/h/si one semitone lower with the accidental b (flat), the distance between the nd and 3rd notes would be correct, but between the st and nd it would change back and become a semitone step. This solution would not be possible. 3 From minor to major - with STAIRPLAY 5

6 STP 3: The 3rd note is now called C#/cis/do# and no longer C/c/do. The distance from the 4th note D/d/re has become a semitone and no longer needs to be changed. 3 4 From minor to major - with STAIRPLAY 6

7 STP 4: The distance between the 4th note D/d/re and the 5th note /e/mi is a whole tone and is likewise correct From minor to major - with STAIRPLAY 7

8 STP 5: The distance between the 5th and 6th notes is too small. The 6th note, the F/f/ fa, must become F#/fis/fa# with an accidental # (sharp) to go one semitone up. 6 F From minor to major - with STAIRPLAY 8

9 STP 6: The 6th note is now called F#/fis/fa# and the distance to G/g/sol, the 7th note, is once again too small. The G/g/sol must also be changed by an accidental # (sharp) and go one semitone up to become G#/gis/sol#. 7 G 6 F From minor to major - with STAIRPLAY 9

10 STP 7: With this the distance between the 7th and 8th note is a semitone and our A-major scale is finished. The A-major scale also has 3 sharp-accidentals which are: F#, fis, fa# C#, cis, do# G#, gis, sol# 8 7 G 6 F From minor to major - with STAIRPLAY 0

11 The second way of turning an a-minor scale into an A-major scale should be a bit quicker. Take again your STAIRPLAY-cards in your hands and follow our instructions step by step. Here there are 8 steps, which are also very similar. very note of the scale must be shifted to the exact spot up or down on the sound-stairs: STP : You know that the easiest major scale begins with C/c/do and consists of 7 note-names, which can be found on the white keys of the piano. Now slide as far down the sound-stairs so as to reach A/a/la from C/c/do. These are three semitones. Thus the A/a/la is now the first note of your A-major scale. From minor to major - with STAIRPLAY

12 STP : Now do the same to the nd note. Three semitones lower from D/d/re will bring B/h/si. From minor to major - with STAIRPLAY

13 STP 3: At the 3rd note you must decide whether it will be from /e/mi, C#/ cis/do# or Db/ des/reb. However, the decision shouldn t be difficult. nce you have used an A/a/la and a B/h/si for your new A-major scale, you must follow the C/c/do, even if it now sounds a semitone higher and is a C#/cis/do#. If you were to choose Db/des/reb then you would skip a note in your major scale. 3 3 From minor to major - with STAIRPLAY 3

14 STP 4 T 8: Likewise turn F/f/fa into D/d/re, G/g/sol into /e/re, A/a/la into F#/fis/fa# and B/h/si into G#/gis/sol#. To conclude you must shift your high C/c/do 3 semitones lower until you get an A/a/la, and then your A-major scale is finished. nce you ve finished your scale on the sound-stairs go back and forth to the cards whilst someone else plays the note on their instrument. Alternatively each person could play just one note from the stairs or one person could play all the notes on a piano or any other instrument. And what if one person hopped and skipped between each card? THR AR MANY WAYS T PLAY A SCAL N TH SUND-STAIRS YU CAN ASILY TRY THM ALL AND DISCVR VR NW CHIMS! From minor to major - with STAIRPLAY 4

15 In the 3rd movement of a famous piano-composition by WLFGANG AMADUS MZART (756-79), the th sonata in A-major, KV 33, there are simple but wonderful musical partitions and melodies to discover, which you have probably already heard. Play it and consider together which scale to use: either a-minor, A-major or C-major (withdraw both other possibilities). Consider also which parts could belong together and then listen to the original, played by LANG LANG on: PART : a-minor scale A-major scale C-major scale PART : a-minor scale A-major scale C-major scale From minor to major - with STAIRPLAY 5

16 PART 3: a-minor scale A-major scale C-major scale PART 4: a-minor scale A-major scale C-major scale PART 5: a-minor scale A-major scale C-major scale From minor to major - with STAIRPLAY 6

17 PART 6: a-minor scale A-major scale C-major scale PART 7: a-minor scale A-major scale C-major scale And finally, yet another small musical puzzle which you could already solve before even thinking about minor and major scales. In the first movement of the piano sonata no. in A-major, KV 33, by W.A. Mozart, there is a distinctive subject at the beginning that consists of two sets of 8 bars. Below you will find six sections. Cut them out. If you use two of them twice you can build and play the first part of the movement, with the aid of your note-hands and sound-stairs. From minor to major - with STAIRPLAY 7

18 From minor to major - with STAIRPLAY 8