Unit 1: Clefs and scales
Music is conventionally notated on a 5-line staff:
Notes – placed alternately on the lines of the staff and the spaces between them – represent the
white keys of a piano keyboard, which are named for the first seven letters of the alphabet. This
pattern repeats: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C, etc.:
The notes to which the lines and spaces of a staff refer depend on symbols, called clefs, placed at
the beginning of each staff. A clef assigns one line of the staff to a reference pitch. For example,
the indentation in the middle of the C clef (shown below) refers to middle C, a C near the center
of the piano keyboard. To distinguish one C from another C, or one A from another A, a
numbering system exists:
So, when the C clef is positioned on the middle of the staff, the lines and spaces refer to the
following notes:
MUSIC 110 – Hamilton College 1
Prof. Ryan Carter
The two dots of the F clef (shown below) refer to the F below middle C, so when the F clef is
positioned on the fourth line (counting from the bottom of the staff), the result points to the
following notes:
The G clef (shown below) is historically more recent, but commonly used in modern notation.
The curly part of the G clef refers to G4 (the G above middle C), for example:
Different positions of the C, F, and G clefs have specific names, though the treble clef and bass
clef are the most common today. Ranked roughly in order of frequency in modern usage, clef
names include:
Historically, clefs were moved up and down the staff in order to fit all the notes on the eleven
positions (five lines and six spaces) the staff provides. But when music goes beyond this range,
ledger lines are added above or below the staff to extend it (note that – as you may have noticed
– the numbering system increments when moving up from B to C, not G to A):
MUSIC 110 – Hamilton College 2
Prof. Ryan Carter
By convenient coincidence, the note that is one ledger line below the treble clef is C4, and the
note one ledger line above the bass clef is also C4, so the two clefs can be combined into the
grand staff, which covers the most frequently used register of the piano:
To refer to the black keys of the piano keyboard, we need to use accidentals, which are symbols
that raise or lower a note by a half step or whole step. A half step (abbreviated H) separates any
two adjacent keys on a piano keyboard. There are half steps between B and C, and between E
and F, but otherwise every half step falls between a white key and a black key:
A whole step (abbreviated W) comprises two half steps. A whole step above a white key may be
another white key or a black key; a whole step above a black key may be another black key or a
white key:
MUSIC 110 – Hamilton College 3
Prof. Ryan Carter
A sharp symbol ( ˜ ) raises a note by a half step, which usually results in a black key, but may be
a white key:
An accidental precedes the note it affects, so the notes above are notated as follows:
A flat symbol ( ¯ ) lowers a note by a half step, which usually results in a black key, but may be
a white key:
A natural ( Ω ) symbol cancels a previous accidental and always refers to an unaltered white key.
There are also double sharp ( ≈ ) and double flat ( √ ) symbols that raise and lower a note by a
whole step, respectively (those these are less common):
MUSIC 110 – Hamilton College 4
Prof. Ryan Carter
When different note names with different accidentals refer to the same key on a piano keyboard,
they are enharmonic (or enharmonically equivalent). D double flat is enharmonically
equivalent to C, D flat is enharmonically equivalent to C sharp, D sharp is enharmonically
& ! D double sharp is enharmonically
equivalent to E flat, and ! equivalent to E: !
? ! ! !
Because double sharps and double flats are less common, the most common notes are:
& #w bw #w bw #w bw
#w bw #w bw
& w bw #w w w w w bw
#w w w
Being comfortable with the layout of the keyboard and how notated pitches correspond to it will
be essential to future units.
& !
MUSIC 110 – Hamilton College 5
Prof. Ryan Carter
Major and minor scales
A scale is a collection of notes that are used in a piece of music (though notes outside the scale
may also be used). A scale is defined by a central pitch (called the tonic) and a pattern of whole
steps and half steps. A common scale is the major scale, which includes the following pattern of
steps above the tonic (where W refers to a whole step and H refers to a half step):
WWHWWWH
If you begin on C, this corresponds to the white keys of a piano, so a C major scale has no
accidentals:
If we begin a major scale on E, however, we see that we need to raise the F in order to get a
whole step:
If we continue the process, we find that we also need to raise the G, the C, and the D in order to
create a major scale:
Another common scale is the minor scale, which is traditionally taught in three versions: the
natural minor scale, the harmonic minor scale, and the melodic minor scale. The natural
minor scale has the following pattern of steps: W H W W H W W
Notes of the scale can be referred to by number, which can be written with a caret on top (e.g., 5,
read “scale degree five”), so the notes of the C natural minor scale may be represented as:
MUSIC 110 – Hamilton College 6
Prof. Ryan Carter
In practice, music written with minor scales usually involves raising 7 by a half step (this scale
degree is called the leading tone), and this results in the harmonic minor scale. In the C
harmonic minor scale, the B-flat is raised a half step to B-natural:
This results in a larger-than-a-whole-step (and historically problematic) interval between 6 and
7, in this case A-flat to B-natural. Composers have historically avoided this awkward interval by
sometimes raising both 6 and 7 by a half step, resulting in the melodic minor scale:
This does not mean that there are three different approaches to writing music with minor scales;
it just means that 6 and 7 are often altered, depending on the context. Another way to write a
minor scale (and this is not a conventional pedagogical method) is to write the natural minor
scale and include possible alterations above and below the staff:
In practice, 7 is more often raised than left unaltered. Conversely, 6 is more often left unaltered
than raised.
Every major and minor scale has only seven different scale degrees (though a pattern beginning
on one C, for example, can continue on to the next C, etc.). Additionally, each scale degree
occupies its own line or space. The C minor scale above could not be written with a D-sharp
instead of E-flat (even though they are enharmonically equivalent) because this would place two
scale degrees on D and none on E:
MUSIC 110 – Hamilton College 7
Prof. Ryan Carter
To write a scale:
1) Write the tonic ( 1 ) on the staff and write seven additional notes (without accidentals) on the
lines and spaces above it. For example, for an E-flat major scale, start with an E-flat, and add an
F, G, A, B, C, D, and E:
2) Check the pattern of half steps and whole steps this creates against the desired pattern (starting
from the bottom up). For example, we know that a major scale has the following pattern:
WWHWWWH
In this case, there is already a whole step from E-flat to F and another from F to G. But there is
also a whole step from G to A, and we need a half step here, so a flat must be added to the A:
3) Continue this process until you return to the tonic. If everything is correct, the second instance
of the tonic will have the same accidental as the first, and there will be one (but only one) note
on each line and space between the two tonics:
4) If you are writing a minor scale, begin with the pattern of whole steps and half steps for the
natural minor scale (W H W W H W W) and follow steps 1-3 above. Next add the accidental that
would raise 7 by a half step (above the staff) and the accidental that would raise 6 by a half step
(in parentheses below the staff). These will always be naturals, sharps, or double sharps, though
a scale may include a combination. Without any alterations, this is a G natural minor scale. With
a raised 7, this is a G harmonic minor scale. By raising 6 and 7, this is a G melodic minor scale:
MUSIC 110 – Hamilton College 8
Prof. Ryan Carter
Modes and other scales
Ancient Greek philosophers wrote extensively on musical subjects, including intricate systems of
pitch organization with names that referred to different regions (such as Lydia and Phrygia).
Over the subsequent millennia, a series of evolving practices (and some historical
misunderstandings) has led to a system of seven “modern modes.” We kept some of the ancient
Greek names (like Lydian and Phrygian) even though the modern modal system bears little
resemblance to how these terms were originally employed. The patterns of half steps and whole
steps for these modes are:
Equivalent to playing
Mode name Step pattern the white keys of a
keyboard beginning on:
Ionian mode (identical to major scale) WWHWWWH C
Dorian mode WHWWWHW D
Phrygian mode HWWWHWW E
Lydian mode WWWHWWH F
Mixolydian mode WWHWWHW G
Aeolian mode (identical to natural minor scale) WHWWHWW A
Locrian mode HWWHWWW B
A pentatonic scale is any scale with five notes. A couple are particularly common, and both use
an interval that is equivalent to a whole step plus a half step (W+H):
And a few more scales:
MUSIC 110 – Hamilton College 9
Prof. Ryan Carter
