Lesson 2.3 – Major Scales

(C-B -D)

The best way to gain more confidence and develop your skills is by practicing.

Like playing piano and other musical instruments, we improve our reading ability

by learning and practicing scales.

A major scale is formed by notes in a specific order, covering an octave.

Remember, an octave is the distance between two notes of the same letter

name (i.e. C to C, D to D).

A major scale can go up (ascending), down (descending) or both, and is

formed using tones (T) and semitones (S). In particular, the ascending scale is

built on the following pattern of tones and semitones: T T S T T T S

At this stage, you have learned all of the notes in the C major scale. This scale,

as explained in the previous lesson, uses no accidentals. Now, let’s learn two

more scales. The B and D major scales.

METHOD BOOK

LEVEL 1A | 1

Let’s practice

All of these exercises should be practiced at various speeds. Use these exercises

to help you review the new scales. The goal is to eventually have the scales

memorized.

a)

b)

METHOD BOOK

LEVEL 1A | 2

c)

d)

e)

f)

METHOD BOOK

LEVEL 1A | 3

Notice that up to this point, we have only used accidentals. The next few

exercises will use a key signature. A key signature appears at the

beginning of the piece and indicates what flats or sharps are to be

used. If nothing appears, you can assume there are no flats and

sharps unless they are marked as an accidental.

g)

h)

i)

j)

k)

Continue to work on these exercises throughout the rest of this level. Play each

one at various dynamics and speeds. Remember – even the most advanced

players practice fundamentals!

METHOD BOOK

LEVEL 1A | 4

% α ˙ œ œF Major (broken octave optional)

œ œœ œœ œœ1

(3)

˙̇ œœ œœ œœ œ œ œ ϖ

MAJOR SCALESLEVEL 1A-C

SCALES

LEVEL 1A | 5

SOLO WORK LEVEL 1

For Level 1, you need to play two solos. The first solo is to be played in public (playing in

front of your class or family and friends is fine), and the second solo is to be played for your

adjudicator during your Level Evaluation. Here are recommended solos for this level:

Tradition of Excellence, Book 1

The Good Life (page 19)

Sunday School Choruses (Ruthberg)

2. Awesome God

5. Father I Adore You

8. Ha-La-La-La

14. I Want to Live Right

23. My God is So Big

26. Seek Ye First

28. The B-I-B-L-E

Salvationist Star Search Soloist Album

2. French

4. We Gather Together

Tradition of Excellence, Book 1

Romanza (page 36)

American Instrumental Solo Series

He is Lord

Jesus Is the Sweetest Name I Know

O How He Loves You and Me

One Day

Saints

Any Instrument

B% Instruments

E% Instruments

Tradition of Excellence, Book 1

Trumpet Voluntary (page 36)

American Instrumental Solo Series

Do Lord Remember Me

Infinity

Jesus Lover Of My Soul

Near The Cross

They’ll Know We Are Christians

SOLO WORK

LEVEL 1A | 6

Lesson 1.3 - The Bass Clef

The Bass Clef is another clef that is used in music. The Treble Clef is used for high notes and the Bass Clef is used for low notes.

Here’s how to draw a Bass Clef:

1 2 3

EXERCISE Practice drawing Bass Clefs.

THEORY

LEVEL 1A | 7

Bass Clef Note Names

Notes can be placed on the lines or in the spaces (just like the Treble Clef staff). Here are the notes of the Bass Clef:

A G F E D C B A G

You can remember the notes of the Bass Clef as follows:

All Cows Eat Grass

Grounded Birds Don’t Fly Away

TIP Notice that the Bass Clef dots are around the note F and therefore is sometimes called the F Clef.

If you need to remember where F is on the staff, just look at the Bass Clef!

THEORY

LEVEL 1A | 8

EXERCISE Write the name of each note.

_____ _____ _____ _____ _____

_____ _____ _____ _____ _____

_____ _____ _____ _____ _____

_____ _____ _____ _____ _____

_____ _____ _____ _____ _____

THEORY

LEVEL 1A | 9

EXERCISE Draw the following notes on the staff.

F C G B A

D B E C F

G A D E B

C F G B D

A E C F G

THEORY

LEVEL 1A | 10

Bass Clef Ledger Lines

Remember what we did when we needed to write notes above or below the Treble Clef staff? We used ledger lines! Ledger lines can also be used for the Bass Clef staff.

Ledger lines above the staff:

A B C D E F

Ledger lines below the staff:

G F E D C B

EXERCISE Write the names of the notes underneath the following Bass Clef Staves.

_____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____

_____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____

THEORY

LEVEL 1A | 11

EXERCISE Write the following notes on the Bass Clef Staff.

Write at least two notes using ledger lines BELOW the staff Write at least two notes using ledger lines ABOVE the staff

E B F C A

G D A E C

B G F D A

THEORY

LEVEL 1A | 12

Middle C

The note ‘C’ found on the ledger line above the Bass Clef staff is the same as the note ‘C’ on the ledger line below the Treble Clef staff.

Middle C

Middle C

This note is called ‘middle C’ because it is in the middle of the two staves.

THEORY

LEVEL 1A | 13

SUMMARY

The Bass Clef is used at the beginning of the staff in order to writelower notes than the Treble Clef.

The Bass Clef circles around F and therefore is sometimes called the “FClef.”

The names of the five lines are G B D F A. You can use therhyme: Grounded Birds Don’t Fly Away.

The names of the four spaces are A C E G. You can use therhyme: All Cows Eat Grass.

We can use ledger lines for Bass Clef as well as Treble Clef to writenotes lower and higher than the notes within the 5 lines of the staff.

THEORY

LEVEL 1A | 14