The minor scale
After C: Minor scale · Scales lab · Note values · Time signatures · Sight reading · Highway Game
Hear A minor, then C minor. Relative keeps C major’s notes and moves home to A. Parallel keeps C and lowers degrees 3, 6, and 7. The pattern lives on Western theory · Scales. The fingers are below.
Same keys, a new home
Play C major, then the same white keys from A. The pattern is W–H–W–W–H–W–W. It lives on Western theory · Scales.
| From A | Step | Land on |
|---|---|---|
| start, degree 1 | — | A |
| skip one key | W | B |
| the next key, no black key between | H | C — the lowered 3rd |
| skip one key | W | D |
| skip one key | W | E |
| the next key | H | F |
| skip one key | W | G |
| skip one key | W | A |
Right hand, thumb on A, then the same tuck you used in C major: 1 on A, 2 on B, 3 on C, thumb under onto D, then 2, 3, 4, 5 up to the next A. Left hand, pinky on A: 5, 4, 3, 2, thumb on E, then finger 3 crosses over onto F.
Same home, three notes lowered
Keep C as home and lower degrees 3, 6, and 7: C D E♭ F G A♭ B♭ C.
Learn A first. It needs no black keys. C minor’s three flats can wait.
Play A before the variants
- Right hand, A to A, saying the letters. Metronome near 60. The tuck is after C.
- Left hand alone, pinky on A up to the next A.
- Then the chord you already know, A C E, and notice those three notes are degrees 1, 3, and 5 of this scale.
When A is easy, the usual order is E, D, G, then C minor. They share fingerings with the majors you are learning. Black-key minors (F♯, C♯, G♯, E♭, B♭) come last.
Two cousins raise the 7th so the scale pulls home again, the way B wanted to rise to C. They are harmonic minor and melodic minor, and they wait on Beyond the major scale. The next page is the scales lab, which plays this scale from any key with the finger numbers on the keys.