About three types of major

You already know that music is most often recorded in a major and minor mode. Both of these frets have three varieties each — the natural, harmonic and melodic range. There is nothing terrible behind these names: the basis for all is the same, only certain levels change in the harmonic and melodic major or minor (VI and VII). In a minor, they rise, and in a major will decrease.

3 types of major: first - natural

Natural Major - this is an ordinary major scale with its key signs, if they, of course, exist, and without any random alteration signs. Of the three types of major in music, these are more common.

The major scale is based on the well-known formula of the sequence in the scale of whole tones and semitones: TT-PT-TT-TT-PT. You can read more about it here.

Look at examples of a few simple major scales in natural form: natural in C major, gamma G major in its natural form and the sound scale of the tonality of natural F major:

3 types of major: the second - harmonic

Harmonic major - This is a major with a lower sixth step (VIb). This sixth step goes down in order to be closer to the fifth. The low sixth step in the major sounds very interesting - as if it “minimizes” it, and the mood becomes gentle, acquires shades of oriental languor.

Here is how the harmonic major scales look like the previously shown keys in C major, G major and F major.

In C major, A flat appeared - a sign of a change in the natural sixth step, which became harmonic. In G major a sign appeared in E-flat, and in F major - in D flat.

3 types of major: the third - melodic

As in the melodic minor, in the major of that de species, two steps, VI and VII, change at once, but everything here is absolutely the opposite. First, these two sounds do not increase, as in a minor, but decrease. Secondly, they are altered not in an upward movement, but in a downward movement. However, everything is logical: in the melodic minor in the upward movement they rise, and in the melodic minor in the downward movement they decrease. It seems to be the way it should be.

It is curious that due to the lowering of the sixth step between this step and other sounds, all sorts of interesting intervals can be formed - extended and decreased. This may be newts or characteristic intervals - I recommend you to understand this.

Melodic Major - this is a major major scale in which the gamma of a natural look is played in the upward movement, and in the downward movement two steps decrease - the sixth and seventh (VIb and VIIb).

Music examples of melodic appearance - key in C major, G major and F major:

In the melodic C major, in a downward movement, two “random” flat surfaces appear - B-flat and A-flat. In G major of the melodic species, F-sharp is first canceled (the seventh step decreases), and then a flat appears before the note mi (the sixth step drops). In the melodic F major, two flatings appear: E-flat and D-flat.

And one more time ...

So there are three types of major. it natural (plain), harmonic (with a lower sixth step) and melodic (in which during the upward movement you need to play / sing the natural scale, and when moving downwards - lower the seventh and sixth stages).

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