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6 votes

When was the term "scale degree" coined? Or where did it originate?

Scale and degree ultimately come from Latin words meaning "ladder" and "step," respectively, so the concept of "scale degree" is several centuries old, predating even the ...
phoog's user avatar
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4 votes

When to use Blues scales in jazz

The key gives you some clues, but ultimately it's completely up to you which blues scale you use when, especially in a jazz context, you simply play some variations starting on different roots and ...
OwenM's user avatar
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3 votes

When to use Blues scales in jazz

I like this question. First, C Major and A minor share the exact same notes. Why? The A minor scale is the C major scale but starting and ending on the A note, instead of the C note. The A blues scale ...
MLunzy's user avatar
  • 221
3 votes
Accepted

How to find the parent scale (prime form?) for a group of sibling modes?

In practice, the most popular scale is the parent. By that logic, Locrian sure as heck isn't the parent. There are also modes of the harmonic minor (e.g. Phrygian Dominant) and ascending melodic minor ...
Dekkadeci's user avatar
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2 votes

How do I make different sounds using modes when I'm using the same chords that I'm building the modes off?

You don't "use" modes by selecting a scale and randomly playing notes and chords from it without having any sense, skill and control over what you are doing with your notes and chords. A ...
piiperi Reinstate Monica's user avatar
2 votes

Different meanings of "third"?

A third is an interval. The concept of a 'third' is very closely tied to the concept of a 7-note diatonic scale using all the notes ABCDEFG, each possibly sharpened or flattened (even multiply). A ...
PiedPiper's user avatar
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2 votes

When was the term "scale degree" coined? Or where did it originate?

According to one of the online dictionaries, the first use of the exact term "scale degree" stems from 1889 but does not give the source. The term "degree" itself seems to date ...
ttw's user avatar
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2 votes
Accepted

Why are all legato practices about 3 notes per string?

Once one is an experienced player, any note could be an emphasised one - plucked, hammered or pulled-off. 3nps doesn't necessarily have to be hammered, or played other than normally, it just happens ...
Tim's user avatar
  • 190k
2 votes
Accepted

Two categories of scales

This is a question about musical jargon. Language questions like this often have two aspects that can be usefully teased apart. The first is descriptive -- we would like to know how people in fact use ...
helveticat's user avatar
2 votes

Two categories of scales

A scale is basically any set of notes portrayed in an organised manner. Hence ascending and descending. How else could a set of notes which belong together be shown? So it doesn't really matter which ...
Tim's user avatar
  • 190k
1 vote

Do added-tone chords change depending on the key?

Chord symbols of this sort are relative to the root of the chord. The second that you're adding to an E major chord is always F♯. No. Likewise, a Cadd2 chord consists of the notes C, D, E, G in the ...
phoog's user avatar
  • 20.6k
1 vote

How to find the parent scale (prime form?) for a group of sibling modes?

You mention the concept of the "prime form" of a pitch class set, and the idea of "the most degrees packed towards the root" which indeed describes the prime form. However, mixing ...
Seth McSetface's user avatar
1 vote

How do I make different sounds using modes when I'm using the same chords that I'm building the modes off?

How can you get a different sound from modes when they use the same chords from whichever you built the modes off, doesn't really matter if it's major or minor, that part is confusing? Major and ...
phoog's user avatar
  • 20.6k
1 vote

Why does F# minor chord fit A minor key

Why does F# minor chord fit A minor key The simple answer is - if 'fit' means 'using the notes of the scale', it doesn't. And if A minor -> C major -> F# minor -> F major was just plonked ...
Laurence's user avatar
  • 90.6k

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