The course › Unit 9: Scales and technique
Lesson 53 of 72 · The relative minor of C major, and its G♯
Play the white keys from A to A: A B C D E F G A. They’re the same notes as C major… but the music sounds minor. This is the A natural minor scale, with its whole and half steps in a different order: W H W W H W W.
A minor is the relative minor of C major: same key signature (no sharps or flats), same notes, a different starting point. It starts on the 6th note of C major, a minor third (a step and a half) below C.
Tip: Fingering: exactly the same as in C. Right hand 1-2-3, 1-2-3-4-5; left hand 5-4-3-2-1, 3-2-1.
Right hand, from the A above middle C up to the high A: same fingering as in C.
Listen to the end of the natural scale: from G to A, there’s a whole step, and the scale lacks a little pull to get back home. So musicians got into the habit of raising the 7th note: G♯. Now there’s only a half step left to A, which pulls the G♯ in like a magnet: it’s the leading tone.
Here’s the A harmonic minor scale: A B C D E F G♯ A. Between F and G♯, a wide gap of a step and a half gives it its exotic, Middle Eastern flavor.
G♯ isn’t in the key signature: it’s written before the note, every time. Thanks to it, the chord on E becomes E major (E): E – G♯ – B, which leads to A minor just as G7 leads to C.
Why this way: Sound before symbol: listen to both scales several times before you play. Your ear should expect the G♯ before your fingers go looking for it.
The same fingering, with G♯ under finger 4. Listen to the leading tone pulling toward A.
A harmonic minor in contrary motion: the right hand goes up from the A above middle C, the left hand goes down from the A just below it. The same fingers in both hands.
Greensleeves, an English Renaissance song, is in A minor: listen for its G♯s at the ends of phrases. Just before the end, an F♯ smooths the way up to the G♯. Legend credits it to King Henry VIII, but it first shows up in documents around 1580, more than thirty years after his death. Right hand, starting on a pickup (A).
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