Locate middle C on the keyboard. Locate all the other C’s on the keyboard.
Play a chromatic scale, starting at middle C and going up to the next C, playing all the intervening notes on the piano.
Play a diatonic major scale, starting at middle C and going up to the next C, just playing the white notes on the piano. Write down the pattern of whole (two semitones) and half (one semitone) steps.
Start on a different note (not a C). Play the same pattern of whole and half steps. This is called a transposition of the C major scale. It is also a major scale. What note did you start on? That’s the key of the scale.
Locate a F# and play from F# to the next higher F#, playing only the black notes of the piano. This is a pentatonic scale. Write the pattern of whole steps and minor thirds (three semitones).
Find another pentatonic scale starting on a different pitch class.
Any collection of C, E, and G pitch classes is called a C major chord. Starting on middle C, play C and the E and G above it. This is root position of the chord. Write down the intervals in the chord.
Find a C major chord that is not in root position. How does it sound the same? Different?
Find a major chord in root position that is not a C chord. You can do this by picking a key, then going up by the intervals you used for the C major chord.
Any collection of C, Eb, and G pitch classes is called a C minor chord. Starting on middle C, play C and the Eb and G above it. This is root position of the chord. Write down the intervals in the chord.
Play another minor chord that is not C minor.
Any three-note chord containing two minor or major thirds is called a triad. Triads are the building blocks of Western music. Minor and major chords are both triads. An augmented triad contains two major thirds and a diminished triad contains two minor thirds. Play some augmented and diminished triads. Do they sound different from major and minor triads? From each other?