RE: [Harp-L] Figuring Sharps in Keys

[Marc Molino <mmolino54@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Geoff,
I'm still trying to get this down myself in terms of memory, but there are two things that helped me understand it:

1) The major scales follow the same pattern--start on any note and the scale equals:
W-W-H-W-W-W-H (W=whole step; H=half step -- if you picture a keyboard including both the black & white keys, a whole step would be two keys and a half would be one key--e.g., there is no black key between an E and an F note, so going from E to F is a half step).

2) The circle of fifths (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circle_of_fifths). Start with C, count up 5 notes (including C) and you add a sharp for that scale. Count up 5 more and add another sharp for the next scale. But wait, which sharp? Well, you can memorize them or you can use the pattern above in #1.
E.g., You want an A scale. You have A... W-W-H-W-W-W-H would equal 
A...(W)... B...(W)... C#...(H)... D...(W)... E...(W)... F#...(W)... G#...(H)... A

It sounds complicated, but it's not that bad, especially if you visualize it with a keyboard.

Good luck,
Marc 


> Date: Mon, 5 Oct 2009 12:27:33 -0400
> From: gbarrett5@xxxxxxxxx
> To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [Harp-L] Figuring Sharps in Keys
> 
> I am having trouble trying to understand how one decides how and which 
> notes have sharps in any particular scale.  For instance I realize the 
> 'C' has no sharps but A has a number but how to figure out which note is 
> sharp and how one gets there is what I am stumped with.
> 
> Any help would be a great help in understanding the methodology.
> 
> Geoff
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