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Lesson 3 Practice: Major Scales

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This unit provides a set of "Practice" exercises in each key, related to the material in Lesson 3 - Major Scales. If your piano and computer are in two different locations, click the "Worksheets" link below to view and print a copy of the filled in Major Scale Chart that you can have with you at the piano.

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Click the "Worksheets" button to view and print the completed Major Scale Chart that you can have with you at your piano while you go through the exercises.

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In these exercises, we simply play through the scales, using the notes in the Major Scale Chart. We begin in the key of C, which is the easiest key because there are no sharps or flats in this key!

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The next row in the chart is the key of Db, which is one of the most difficult keys to play because so many of the notes fall on the black keys. If you need to repeat this exercise a few times to get it right, you can play the clip over and over. The key signature for the key of Db contains five flats, and by looking at the notes in the scale below, you should be able to tell exactly what those five flats are!

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The next row in the chart is the key of D - two sharps, which is not too tricky. Here's something to keep in mind - if you are going to be playing along with guitar players - for guitar, these "sharp" keys are easier to play than the "flat" keys, especially the keys with just a couple of sharps. So if you will be playing along with guitar players a lot, pay special attention to learning to play in these "sharp" keys!

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Our next key is Eb - three flats. On instruments like the saxophone, Eb is actually the easiest key to play. For someone playing the saxophone, playing in Eb is kind of like playing in the key of C on the piano. So if you expect to play in jazz groups, where there will be a saxophone soloist, focus your practice on these "flat" keys so that you'll be able to play along with the horn players.

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Even with four sharps, the key of "E" is a popular key for guitar players, because they can use open strings on the guitar. Play along with me as we do our scale in the key of E.

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The next key after the key of E is the key of F - there is no note between E and F. Remember that E is the note above the "Twins" and F is the note below the "Triplets," and the only reason we have Twins and Triplets is because there are some white keys on the keyboard that do NOT have a black note in between.

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Our next key is the key of F#, which can be pretty difficult to play because there are SIX sharps in this key. On the other hand, you do use ALL the black keys when you're playing in F#, and you just have to remember where the two WHITE keys fall. Also, note that one of the notes in this scale is E# - even though there is no black key just above the E key. Remember when we talked about "enharmonics" - different ways of naming keys? "E#" is another name for the "F" key - we call it E# so that the F# scale contains one note with each note name.

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Our next key is the key of Gb - and even though all the note names are different, you press exactly the same set of keys to play a scale in Gb as you did in F#. F# and Gb are the same note; G# and Ab are the same note, and so on. Note that in the key of Gb, one of the notes is Cb - even though there is no black key just below the C key.

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Our next key is the key of G. G is an easy key for the piano, because there is just one sharp, and it's easy for the guitar as well because the G chord uses lots of open strings on the guitar. Of course, if you're singing a song, the key of G may not be a good key for singing - and that's why we have to learn all the different keys.

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Our next key is the key of Ab - four flats.

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And now we move on to the key of A - three sharps.

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Our next key is the key of Bb - that's the easiest key for trumpets and some saxophones and other brass instruments. Play along with me in the key of Bb.

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And our final key is the key of B - five sharps. Not easy on guitar and really tough on horns - for the piano, at least you know that you'll be playing all five black keys and you just need to learn which white keys to include.

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Hooray, You Made It Through the Lesson 3 Practice Exercises !!!

And one more half step up from the key of B and we'd be back to the key of C! In future lessons and practice exercises, we will be playing multiple notes in the scales - and sometimes we'll even be playing notes "out of the scale" - but for now, just practice playing the scales so that you're ready for the next lessons! If you have questions or problems, click the "Ask Rhonda" button to send me an email and I'll get back to you as soon as I can!

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