Re: [Harp-L] Re: reading music

[sheltraw@xxxxxxxxxxxx]

Hi Jerome

> Last but not least, in modern Jazz, you may need some very specific
> scales, like altered scales, half diminished, diminished, whole tone
> scales ... I don't think you can learn these scales just by ear, they
> are too far from the basis of our musical culture. You need to practice
> them a lot to hear them, you need to hear them to play them. So at the
> end, I don't think one would be able to play with these scales without
> a learning experience through written music (or through tabs at
> least).

I learned scales without learning to read conventional notation or tabs.
All you have to do is learn the intervals. For example:

(1) All major scales have the following ordered intervals: whole step,
    whole step, half step, whole step, whole step, whole step, half step.
(2) Whole tone scales: All whole tone intervals.
(3) Diminished scales: whole step, half step, whole step, half step, whole
    step, half step, whole step, half step.

Etc.


Cheers,
Daniel