HARMONIC WHEEL: UTILITIES

http://www.harmonicwheel.com
In the next 2 large sections the main utilities of the Harmonic Wheel are explained in detail. They
have been written in a simple and friendly way so as to be useful even for the layman. In fact a
summary of main musical concepts is given, which may serve as an introduction to Music
Theory and Harmony for anyone interested in this subject. Thus all the concepts are explained
in the simplest cases !for example in the " #a$or %ey& and the rest of them are solved
automatically with the aid of the Harmonic Wheel. In this development a big effort has been made
to logically connect all the concepts to give the theory a solid and unified structure.
All the explanations are given without using the musical notation, for it is unnecessary in this
approach. 'nly one example of it is presented in one of the last chapters. (evertheless it is
strongly recommended to learn it for it is one of the few languages having the status as a universal
language along with the mathematical language the symbols for the physical units and the symbols
for the chemical elements. #oreover once the contents of this Web page are ac)uired it will be
easier to understand this system of script.
*ven for those people having musical %nowledge this new way of connecting musical concepts will
result very interesting. +nd particularly those musicians who play monophonic or percussion
instruments will find, in Level , a very useful summary of Harmony foundations, which may
be sufficient to satisfy their real professional needs thus avoiding the necessity of reading
complex and extensive texts.
The contents have been organi,ed into 2 -evels:
Level ! is devoted to fundamental aspects of Music Theory. This level deals with the musical
notes the intervals the #a$or and minor scales and the %eys. The Harmonic Wheel allows us to
easily obtain the interval between any two notes as well as the notes belonging to any #a$or or
minor scale being it natural harmonic or melodic along with their corresponding %ey signature. +s
novelty the Harmonic Wheel gives a complete and panoramic view of the existing relationships
among all the %eys. While the cycle of fifths shows the %eys on a line !one dimension& the
Harmonic Wheel shows them on a surface !two dimensions&. .o besides the cycle of fifths the
changes of mode are also visible which are not in the cycle of fifths. Thus a real MA" #$ TH%
&%'( is achieved.
Level is devoted to the foundations of Harmony. This level deals with the construction of #a$or
minor +ugmented and diminished chords as well as all possible / note chords that can be obtained
by superimposing #a$or and minor thirds. Then the existing relationships among the different
types of chords are explained by means of scales. 'n the Harmonic Wheel all these chords have a
simple graphical representation. This fact facilitates us to obtain the notes composing them that is
their arpeggios. 'n the other hand this instrument allows us to obtain automatically all the chords
associated to any #a$or or minor scale. This function is named )H#*+ $,-+%*. +s novelty the
particular representation of notes and consonant chords on the Harmonic Wheel explains
graphically the construction of the #a$or scale its relationship with its relative minor scale and the
most important characteristics of their associated chords. +ll these things are difficult to see even in
the conventional musical script. #oreover than%s to this %ind of representation it is easy to
determine which chords are more or less affine to any given scale. 0inally some special scales
containing 1 2 and 3 notes are explained along with their associated chords.
LEVEL 1: FOUNDATIONS OF MUSIC THEORY
http://www.harmonicwheel.com
1. MUSICAL NOTES
The Musical -otes are 42 5 being natural and the other 1 are altered.
The natural notes sorted out by their pitch from the lowest to the highest are: " 6 * 0 7 +
and 8. These 5 notes form the so called ) Major (cale and correspond to the 9white %eys: in the
piano. +fter the 8 comes another " and so on. (evertheless the first and second " are not identical
as the latter is higher than the former. The thing is that from the point of view of ;hysics the
9vibration fre)uency: of the second " is exactly double that of the first " which ma%es those notes
very 9affine: when hearing them to the extent of assigning them the same name. It is said that the
distance between them is one octave because there are 3 natural notes from the first to the second
" including both the initial and the last note in the count.
The distance between two consecutive natural notes are not always the same for in some cases the
distance is one .hole step /.0 and in others it is one Half step /H0. ;articularly between * and 0
there is one half step as well as between 8 and ". 'n the contrary between any other two
consecutive natural notes there is one whole step. This is the reason why the so called altered notes
are placed between them at a one half step distance and they correspond to the 9blac% %eys: in the
piano !0ig. 4&. Therefore a set of 42 different notes is obtained there being one half step between
any note and the next one. Thus the distance between a given " and its octave !that is the next "&
is 42 H or 2 W. This set of 42 notes is %nown as the )hromatic (cale.
0igure 4. The musical notes and their location in a piano.
In order to name the altered notes the accidentals are introduced which are the sharp ! & and the
flat ! &. The sharp raises the natural note one half step and the flat lowers it one half step. Thus for
example between " and 6 !where there is a whole step distance& an altered note is placed which
can be called " or 6 . These two notes corresponding to the same pitch but having different
names are called enharmonic. In the same way * and 0 natural or 8 natural and " are also
enharmonic !the term 9natural: means 9without any accidental:&. 'ccasionally the double sharp !
& and the double flat ! & are used to raise or lower the natural note one whole step respectively.
In spite of the fact that the 42 notes are uniformly spaced in 0ig. 2 the different consideration given
to the natural and the altered notes is evident as well as the lac% of uniformity in the distribution of
whole and half steps among the natural notes. +ll these things which seem to be strange and
whimsical are in fact the result of centuries of evolution of #usic Theory which in turn is the
conse)uence of the affinity relationships that exist among sounds along with the strong cohesion
and unity that the set of 5 notes composing the #a$or scale have. +ll these )uestions will be
properly explained in different chapters.
0urthermore as will be shown in "hapter 1 a #a$or scale can be built beginning with any of the 42
notes thus obtaining for example the 6 #a$or scale + #a$or scale etc. what ma%es the 42 notes
e)ually important. The " #a$or scale is simply the one having exclusively natural notes. In the
7uitar for example the 42 notes are given exactly the same treatment !0ig. 2&.
0igure 2. -ocation of the notes on the <rd string of the 7uitar.
2. INTERVALS
The ,nterval is the distance in pitch between two notes which is given by the number of whole and
half steps between them. This number however does not indicate the degree of affinity between
them nor their relative position in a #a$or scale. Therefore it is most common to indicate the
interval with a number and a )uality. The interval number indicates the number of natural notes
between the first and last note both included. +nd unless other thing indicated it will be assumed
that the interval is ascending that is that the second note is higher than the first one. Thus for
example the interval 9between 6 and +: is a 1
th
!6 = * = 0 = 7 = + are 1 natural notes in ascending
order&.
If we now consider the interval 9between 6 and + : we find again a 1
th
!6 = * = 0 = 7 = + are 1
natural notes in ascending order& although this distance is smaller than that between 6 and +. To
ta%e into account these differences an interval )uality is added to the interval number which is
related to the number of whole and half steps contained in the interval.
The interval )uality is based on the #a$or scale. .o every interval between the lowest " and any
other note in the " #a$or scale in ascending order are called Major /M0 or "erfect /"0.
;articularly the interval between " and 0 7 or " is called ;erfect while the interval between " and
any other note in this scale is called #a$or !in "hapter < an explanation of it will be given&. Table 4
shows these intervals and also indicates the number of whole steps contained in each of them.
Table 4. Intervals in the ascending " #a$or scale.
8etween " and
" 6 * 0 7 + 8 "
Interval
; 4
st
# 2
nd
# <
rd
; /
th
; 1
th
# 2
th
# 5
th
; 3
th
(umber of Whole steps > 4 2 2.1 <.1 /.1 1.1 2
The ; 4
st
interval is called 1nison and the ; 3
th
#ctave. To name other different intervals the
following )ualities are used:
minor /m0 if it has one half step less than the corresponding #a$or interval. 0or example
between " and * there is a m <
rd
!4.1 W& and between " and 8 there is a m 5
th
!1 W&.
Augmented /A0 if it has one half step more than the corresponding #a$or or ;erfect
interval. 0or example between " and 6 there is an + 2
nd
!4.1 W& between " and 0 there
is an + /
th
!< W& and between " and + there is a + 2
th
!1 W&.
diminished /d0 if it has one half step less than the corresponding minor or ;erfect interval.
0or example between " and 7 there is a d 1
th
!<W& and between " and 8 there is a d 5
th
!/.1 W&.
When necessary the term double Augmented /AA0 is used for the interval having one half
step more than the +ugmented and the term double diminished /dd0 is used for the interval
having one half step less than the diminished.
Table 2 shows the intervals between " and the altered notes and also indicates the number of whole
steps contained in each of them.
Table 2. Intervals between " and the altered notes.
8etween " and
"
6
6
*
0
7
7
+
+
8
Interval
+ 4
st
m 2
nd
+ 2
nd
m <
rd
+ /
th
d 1
th
+ 1
th
m 2
th
+ 2
th
m 5
th
(umber of Whole steps >.1 >.1 4.1 4.1 < < / / 1 1
The last two rows in Table 4 also serve to determine the interval between any two notes
irrespective of whether the first note is " or not. -et us see some examples:
8etween 6 and + there is a 1
th
!6 = * = 0 = 7 = + are 1 natural notes in ascending order&
having <.1 W. It is therefore a ; 1
th
.
8etween 6 and + also there is a 1
th
but now having 2.1 W so it is a dd 1
th
.
8etween 8 and 7 there is a 2
th
having 1 W. It is therefore an + 2
th
.
8etween + and " there is a <
rd
having < W so it is an ++ <
rd
.
Those intervals not bigger than an octave as those studied up to this point are called simple while
those bigger than an octave are called compound. *very compound interval can be reduced to a
simple one by eliminating the proper number of octaves. The interval )uality of a compound
interval is that of its corresponding simple interval.
3. INVERSION OF INTERVALS
The inversion of an interval consists simply in interchanging the order of its notes. Thus if we
invert the interval 6 = + which is a ; 1
th
we obtain the interval + = 6 which is a ; /
th
. +nd if we
invert the interval * = 7 which is a # <
rd
we obtain the interval 7 = * which is a m 2
th
. In the
inversion of intervals the following two rules apply:
4. The sum of the interval numbers of a given interval and its inversion is always 2.
2. .hen inverting intervals, the Major is transformed into minor, the minor into Major,
the Augmented into diminished, the diminished into Augmented, the double
Augmented into double diminished and the double diminished into double Augmented.
The "erfect interval, however, remains "erfect.
We can chec% these two rules in the two previous examples. .o in the first one the ; 1
th
becomes a
; /
th
!1 ? / @ A and both of them are ;&B and in the second one the # <
rd
becomes a m 2
th
!< ? 2 @
A and # becomes m&.
In practice the inversion of an interval is achieved by raising the lower note one octave or by
lowering the higher note one octave. 8ut the same result is reached by changing the ascending
character of the interval to descending. Thus between 6 and + there are 1 natural notes in
ascending order !6 = * = 0 = 7 = +& and a distance of <.1 W so it is a ; 1
th
. 8ut in descending
order there are / natural notes !6 = " = 8 = +& and a distance of 2.1 W that is a ; /
th
. Therefore
the inversion of the interval can be understood in these two different ways.
It is very illustrative to verify that in the descending " #a$or scale every interval between the
highest " and any other note in the scale is minor or "erfect. Table < shows these intervals and also
indicates the number of whole steps contained in each of them.
Table <. Intervals in the descending " #a$or scale.
8etween " and
" 8 + 7 0 * 6 "
Interval
; 4
st
m 2
nd
m <
rd
; /
th
; 1
th
m 2
th
m 5
th
; 3
th
(umber of Whole steps > >.1 4.1 2.1 <.1 / 1 2
If we compare Table < with Table 4 in "hapter 2 we will see that apart from the 4
st
and 3
th
intervals only the /
th
and 1
th
have the same number of whole and half steps in both the ascending
and the descending scale. 'n the other hand notes 0 and 7 are very affine to note " due to the
particular relationships among their fre)uencies from the physical point of view. +s a conse)uence
of all these things these intervals are called 9;erfect:. Cemember that the ; /
th
and the ; 1
th
are the
inversion of each other.
+lthough to a smaller extent those notes forming # <
rd
or m <
rd
intervals with " are also very
affine to it as well as their corresponding inversions the m 2
th
and # 2
th
respectively. This concept
of affinity several times mentioned is technically %nown as )onsonance and is related to the
physical phenomenon of vibration which originates the sound. In summary we can say that apart
from the unison and the octave, the )onsonant intervals are the " 3
th
, the M 4
rd
and the m
4
rd
, along with their inversions the ; /
th
the m 2
th
and the # 2
th
respectively. The rest of the
intervals are +issonant. In practice this means that if two notes forming a consonant interval are
simultaneously heard a sensation of harmony, rest and stability is perceived. 'n the contrary
hearing at the same time two notes forming a dissonant interval produces a sensation of tension and
instability.
0inally in Tables 4 and < we can also observe that all possible interval distances appear except the
< W or Tritone a highly dissonant interval having special properties. +ctually with the notes of the
" #a$or scale it is possible to form only one tritone the 0 = 8 !+ /
th
& or its inversion 8 = 0 !d 1
th
&.
The concept of #ctave and its division in ! parts, the concept of )onsonance and the concept
of Major scale are 4 fundamental principles which the .estern Music is based on, irrespective
of the musical style considered.
4. INTERVALS AND THE HARMONIC WHEEL
6etermining the interval between any two notes is one of the first obstacles arising when one begins
the study of #usic. (evertheless this tas% is highly simplified by using the Harmonic Wheel as we
will see in this chapter.
In the Harmonic Wheel the Musical -otes are represented in 5LA)& and the couples of
enharmonic notes are represented by placing one of them $ust above the other. 'n the other hand
the notes are placed in such a way that each note is connected, by means of red lines, with the 6
notes with which it forms )onsonant ,ntervals.
+s previously explained the )onsonant ,ntervals are combinations of 2 notes that when played
together produce a sensation of harmony, rest and stability. +nd apart from the unison and the
octave they are the ; 1
th
the # <
rd
and the m <
rd
as well as their inversions.
In the Harmonic Wheel each of these consonant intervals is represented with a different type of
line. Thus )ircumferences are used for ; 1
th
intervals !and their inversions ; /
ths
&B *adii for m
<
rd
intervals !and their inversions # 2
ths
&B and (pirals for # <
rd
intervals !and their inversions m
2
ths
&. 0ig. < shows these three types of lines.
"ircumferences: ; /
th
; 1
th
Cadii: m <
rd
# 2
th
.pirals: # <
rd
m 2
th
0igure <. -ines used to represent the consonant intervals.
+s an example 0ig. / shows the note * and the 2 notes with which it forms consonant intervals
which are:
+ and 8 at intervals of ; /
th
and ; 1
th
respectively and located on the circumference going
by note *. If we move to the right along this circumference we find ; 1
th
intervals while if
we move to the left we find ; /
th
intervals. !The enharmonic " is discarded for it does not
form a 1
th
interval with * but a 2
th
&.
7 and " at intervals of m <
rd
and # 2
th
respectively and located on the radius going by
note *. If we move upwards along this radius we find # 2
th
intervals while if we move
downwards we find m <
rd
intervals. !The enharmonic 6 is discarded for it does not form a
2
th
interval with * but a 5
th
&.
" and 7 at intervals of m 2
th
and # <
rd
respectively and located on the spiral going by
note *. If we move to the right along this spiral we find # <
rd
intervals while if we move to
the left we find m 2
th
intervals. !The enharmonic + is discarded for it does not form a <
rd
interval with * but a /
th
&.
0igure /. The note * and the 2 notes with which it forms consonant intervals.
-#T%7 +ll the indications in -I7HT 8-D* are included for illustrative purposes and do not
appear on the Harmonic Wheel.
0urthermore these < types of lines allow us to easily %now the interval between any two notes. To
do this we only have to pay attention to the #a$or !<
rd
and 2
th
& and ;erfect !/
th
and 1
th
& intervals.
The orientations of these intervals with respect to a given note are always the same and are easy to
memori,e. 0ig. 1 shows these intervals from note *.
0igure 1. # <
rd
; /
th
; 1
th
and # 2
th
intervals from note *.
8y comparison with these / intervals it is possible to determine which is the interval between * and
any other note except in the case of a 2
nd
or its inversion a 5
th
. 8ut for these two cases it is
sufficient to remember that the # 2
nd
contains 4 W.
The final procedure consists in firstly determining the interval number of the given interval and then
its )uality. If %eeping to this order it will not be necessary to deal with enharmonic notes. -et us see
some examples:
Which is the interval between * and 7E It is a <
rd
. .o we follow the # <
rd
line and compare
with the 7 at its end. +s it is a 7 this means that between * and 7 there is a # <
rd
so
between * and 7 there is a m <
rd
.
Which is the interval between * and "E It is a 2
th
. .o we follow the # 2
th
line and compare
with the " at its end. +s it is a " this means that between * and " there is a # 2
th
so
between * and " there is a m 2
th
.
Which is the interval between * and 8 E It is a 1
th
. .o we follow the ; 1
th
line and compare
with the 8 at its end. +s it is a 8 natural this means that between * and 8 there is a ; 1
th
so
between * and 8 there is a d 1
th
.
Which is the interval between * and + E It is a /
th
. .o we follow the ; /
th
line and compare
with the + at its end. +s it is an + natural this means that between * and + there is a ; /
th

so between * and + there is an + /

th
.
Which is the interval between * and 6 E It is a 5
th
. Its inversion from 6 to * contains >.1
W so it is a m 2
nd
. Therefore between * and 6 there is a # 5
th
.
In case the first note in the interval is altered we will begin by considering this note natural and
then we will include the effect of the accidental. -et us see a couple of examples of this:
Which is the interval between * and 7 E We begin by considering the interval between *
and 7 which is a <
rd
. +nd following the previous procedure we see that it is a # <
rd
.
Therefore between * and 7 there is an + <
rd
.
Which is the interval between * and + E We begin by considering the interval between *
and + which is a /
th
. +nd following the previous procedure we see that it is a d /
th
.
Therefore between * and + there is a dd /
th
.
5. MAJOR SCALES
In "hapter 4 we saw that the " #a$or scale is composed by the following succession of notes and
intervals:

" #a$or scale
The first note in the scale is called Tonic !in this example "& and it is normally repeated at the end
of the scale. The numbers representing the order of each note in the scale are called scale degrees
and are written in Coman numerals:
" #a$or scale along with its degrees
The names of the scale degrees are the following:
+egree +egree -ame
I Tonic
II .upertonic
III #ediant
IF .ubdominant
F 6ominant
FI
.uperdominant
FII -eading tone
FIII 'ctave or
Tonic
If we want to build a #a$or scale beginning for example with note + that is the + #a$or scale we
only have to %eep to the same succession of whole and half steps seen for the " #a$or scale that is
W W H W W W H:
+ #a$or scale
Therefore we can define a Major (cale as a set of 5 notes characteri,ed by the whole and half step
succession W W H W W W H. +nother e)uivalent way to build the #a$or scale consists in finding
the notes forming #a$or or ;erfect 2
nd
to 3
th
intervals with the tonic.
In the + #a$or scale we can observe that there are < sharp notes !" 0 and 7& which is necessary to
%eep to the whole and half step succession. The number of sharps or flats in a #a$or scale is %nown
as the &ey (ignature. .o it is said that the + #a$or %ey signature has < sharps.
The order in which the sharps appear in #a$or scales is always the same: $, ), 8, +, A, %, 5
!that is by ; 1
th
intervals&. This means that in a #a$or scale having < sharps they will correspond
to the notes 0 " and 7 as seen in the + #a$or scale. In the same way if a scale only has 2 sharps
they will correspond to the notes 0 and " as occurs in the 6 #a$or scale:
6 #a$or scale
'n the other hand the flats appear in the reverse order with respect to the sharps that is in the
order: 5, %, A, +, 8, ), $ !that is by ; /
th
intervals&. .o in a scale having 2 flats they will
correspond to the notes 8 and * which occurs in the 8 #a$or scale:
8 #a$or scale
8uilding the #a$or scales determining the %ey signature of each of them or %nowing the order in
which the tonics appear when augmenting or diminishing the number of sharps or flats are complex
)uestions that re)uire much time of study. 0or this reason the Harmonic Wheel is provided with a
very easy system to solve all these )uestions directly and in a very educational way. To do this we
only have to rotate the two discs forming this instrument as we will see in the next chapter.
6. MAJOR SCALES AND THE HARMONIC WHEEL
The #a$or scales are obtained with the Harmonic Wheel by simply rotating its two discs until the
sign matches the desired tonic. The remaining notes in the scale are then automatically mar%ed
with the sign . +s an example 0ig. 2 shows the 6 #a$or scale.
0igure 2. 6 #a$or scale.
'n the other hand the lines in 6+CG 8-D* indicate the region in the Harmonic Wheel embraced
by this scale !the use of which will be seen in "hapter 4<&. 0or every #a$or scale this region is a
curved rectangle.
The notes in the scale thus mar%ed are represented in blac% !because this colour always represents
notes& and they are placed by following the consonance relationships. Therefore they are not sorted
out by their pitch. If we want to have these notes sorted out by their pitch we must use the red
notation !although what this colour actually represents are chords as will be explained in -evel 2&.
This way the notes are found to the right of the Coman numerals which indicate the scale degrees
as in 0ig. 2. When using this notation we must neglect the letters and symbols appearing to the
right of the notes.
In 0ig. 2 we can also see next to the I degree !Tonic& the %ey signature of this scale that is 2
sharps. If we continue rotating the two discs forming the Harmonic Wheel we will see how the
different scales appear along with their tonics and %ey signatures. .o note that when augmenting
the number of sharps or reducing the number of flats the tonics appear precisely by ;erfect fifths.
+nd when reducing the number of sharps or augmenting the number of flats the tonics appear in
the reverse order that is by ;erfect fourths.
+n interesting property of the #a$or scale is that if we represent its notes on a circumference they
will be located one next to the other and they complete a half circumference. +s an example 0ig. 5
shows this %ind of representation for the 6 #a$or and + #a$or scales. This fact means that the 5
notes of a #a$or scale can be sorted out by ;erfect fifths although in this case the first note is the
IF degree that is the .ubdominant !7 in the first scale and 6 in the second one&. The fact that the
notes in a #a$or scale are connected by ;erfect fifths indicates the high degree of consonance
among them. In 0ig. 5 notice that those enharmonic notes not following the series of ; 1
th
intervals
are discarded.
0igure 5. The 6 #a$or and + #a$or scales represented on a half circumference.
0urthermore in this representation it can be clearly seen how the altered notes appear. Thus in the
6 #a$or scale which has a %ey signature with 2 sharps the notes 0 and " appear at the end and
following the order of sharps. +nd when going from the 6 #a$or to the + #a$or scale we can see
that the note 7 is replaced by 7 as must occur since the + #a$or %ey signature has < sharps. This
way it can be observed that the sharps appear by ;erfect fifths beginning with 0. +nd when
augmenting the number of sharps in the %ey signature the tonics also appear by ;erfect fifths. 'n
the other hand if we represented the scales containing flats we would see how the flats appear by
;erfect fourths beginning with 8B and that when augmenting the number of flats the tonics also
appear by ;erfect fourths.
-earning the scales ta%es its time. 0irstly the order of sharps and flats must be %nown. +nd then it
is necessary to %now how the %ey signatures are related to the tonics. To do this the following two
rules apply and can be easily proved by representing the scales as in 0ig. 5:
4. ,n 9ey signatures containing sharps, the last sharp note is the Leading tone. 0or
example in the %ey signature having < sharps they correspond to 0 " and 7 . Thus 7
is the -eading tone and + is the Tonic. Therefore this %ey signature corresponds to the +
#a$or scale.
2. ,n 9ey signatures containing flats, the next to last flat note is the Tonic. 0or example in
the %ey signature having 1 flats they correspond to 8 * + 6 and 7 . Thus 6 is the
Tonic and this %ey signature corresponds to the 6 #a$or scale.
We only have to add to these rules that the 9ey signature having no accidentals corresponds to
the ) Major scale and that having one flat corresponds to the $ Major scale. + musician must
be able to play every scale both ascending and descending by only %nowing the tonic and the %ey
signature finding the notes mentally. +lthough the Harmonic Wheel allows us to understand the
scale construction and to solve any doubt related with them it cannot replace the necessary practice
to fluently play all the scales.
It is difficult to exaggerate the importance of #a$or scales in #usic. In fact the whole musical
script system is conceived to easily write this type of scales. Thus when learning this system one
can reali,e that for a given staff with any clef and any %ey signature if there are no accidentals all
the written notes necessarily belong to a certain #a$or scale. 'n the contrary the notes out of this
scale will have accidentals. This way the accidentals serve to easily recogni,e the notes not
belonging to the considered #a$or scale. 'n the other hand all the diatonic instruments !some types
of flutes and harmonicas almost all the toy instruments etc.& only contain the notes of a #a$or
scale.
7. MINOR SCALES
If in any #a$or scale we change the tonic but %eep all its notes what we obtain is a new Mode.
0or example if in the " #a$or scale we choose the note * as the tonic the resulting scale is: * 0
7 + 8 " 6 *. This is not a #a$or scale since it does not %eep to the interval succession W W H
W W W H but it is a mode associated to the " #a$or scale. Therefore there are 5 possible modes
for any #a$or scale one for each note in the scale that is considered the tonic. In fact the name
9#a$or: is precisely the name given to the mode with the interval succession W W H W W W H.
Western music has evolved with time to the so called Major:minor (ystem which means that
from the 5 possible modes only two of them remained: the #a$or and the minor modes. The minor
mode is that obtained by considering the FI degree in the #a$or scale as the tonic. .o from the "
#a$or scale the so called 9+ natural minor scale: is obtained:
+ natural minor scale along with its degrees
These two scales " #a$or and + natural minor are said to be relative to one another. In the same
way from the 8 #a$or scale the 7 natural minor scale is obtained. +nd from the + #a$or scale
the 0 natural minor scale is obtained.
In general we can define a natural minor scale as a set of 5 notes characteri,ed by the following
interval succession: W H W W H W W. -ogically a Major scale and its relative minor have the
same 9ey signature. In "hapter 4< the special characteristics of these two modes will be studied
as well as the reason why they prevail over the rest of the modes.
(evertheless the natural minor scale has an inconvenience: the distance between its FII and FIII
degrees is one whole step while in a #a$or scale this distance is one half step. .o it turns out that
when playing the natural minor scale and passing from the FII to the FIII degree it does not
produce the sensation of having reached the end of the scale. In #usic it is said that the FII degree
of the natural minor scale does not have the -eading tone character and so it is called (ubtonic
instead. In order to avoid this inconvenience it is common to raise one half step the FII degree of
this scale by means of an accidental which results in the harmonic minor scale.
+ harmonic minor scale along with its degrees
However in the so built harmonic minor scale an + 2nd interval appears between its FI and FII
degrees that is 4.1 W which has a strange and unnatural effect for it is a too big interval for being
between two consecutive degrees. .o sometimes the FI degree is also raised one half step by
means of another accidental thus solving this problem. This results in the melodic minor scale
where the interval between two consecutive degrees is always one whole or one half step.
+ melodic minor scale along with its degrees
0inally since the -eading tone character associated to the FII degree is only needed in the
ascending scale but not in the descending it is also common to use the melodic minor when
ascending the scale and the natural minor when descending the scale. This combination is
occasionally %nown as the classical melodic minor scale although sometimes it is called simply
the 9melodic minor scale: what can lead to confusion. ,n this context, it will be assumed that the
;melodic minor scale< is the one having the =, and =,, degrees raised one half step, both
ascending and descending.
8y means of a similar procedure to that seen for the #a$or scales the Harmonic Wheel also allows
us to obtain the notes of any minor scale being it natural harmonic or melodic. #oreover if we
pay attention to the red notation we will see that each %ey signature is next to two 9notes: one of
them followed by the letter 9m: for minor !actually what the red notation represents are chords as
will be seen in -evel 2&. These two notes are precisely the tonics of the #a$or and its relative
minor scales having this %ey signature !all of which will be explained in detail in "hapter 42&.
+s examples of this 0ig. 3 shows the following cases: 0or 2 the tonics of the 8 #a$or and 7
minor scalesB for 2 those of the 6 #a$or and 8 minorB for < those of the + #a$or and 0 minorB
and for no accidentals those of the " #a$or and + minor scales. This information must be
sufficient to play all the #a$or and minor scales with all the minor scale variants !natural
harmonic melodic and classical melodic& by mentally obtaining the notes.
0igure 3. Tonics of the #a$or and their relative minor scales along with their corresponding %ey
signatures.
8. MAP OF THE EYS
The #a$or or minor character of a scale is named Mode. The fact that Western music has evolved to
the so called Major:minor (ystem means that most musical wor%s or passages are composed
basically by the notes of a certain #a$or or minor scale.
'n the other hand the tonic of the #a$or or minor scale becomes the 9tonal center: and determines
the &ey. .o a %ey represents a tonic and a #a$or or minor mode. Thus it is said that certain wor%
or passage is written 9in the " #a$or %ey: or 9in the 0 minor %ey:.
This way each #a$or and minor scale has an associated %ey with the same name. The difference
between the scale and the %ey is that in the scale the notes are sorted out by their pitch while in the
%ey the notes appear in any order and even several of them can be played at the same time.
Traditionally the %eys have been sorted out by means of the so called )ycle of $ifths. 8asically
this means that when passing from one %ey to another having one more sharp or one less flat the
new tonic is a ; 1
th
above the previous one. In the Harmonic Wheel the "ycle of 0ifths in found
along any circular band !0ig. A&.
0igure A. "ycle of 0ifths along a circular band.
The cycle of fifths is also used to determine how close two given %eys are. Thus for example two
relative %eys as 6 #a$or and 8 minor are very close to each other. In the same way those %eys
which %ey signatures only differ in one accidental are also closeB for example 0 #a$or and "
#a$or or 0 #a$or and 8 #a$or.
(evertheless there is a particular case of close %eys that is not visible in the cycle of fifths. It is the
one corresponding to the )hange of Mode. It is well %nown that %eys such as " #a$or and "
minor or * minor and * #a$or etc. are very close to each other. It is also said that they are
"arallel &eys. However this fact is not seen in the cycle of fifths since their %ey signatures differ
in < accidentals. 'n the contrary in the Harmonic Wheel the proximity between parallel %eys is
clearly shown since they are one next to the other in the radial direction !0ig. 4>&. #oreover
because each radius begins and ends with the same note when an end is reached it is possible to
continue from the other one thus closing another cycle in this direction.
0igure 4>. "yclic "hanges of #ode in the radial direction.
.o while the cycle of fifths shows the %eys on a line !that is in one dimension& the Harmonic
Wheel shows them on a surface !that is in two dimensions&. Therefore the Harmonic Wheel
provides a complete and panoramic view of all the existing relationships among the &eys. This
is as a matter of fact one the most important characteristics of the Harmonic Wheel: the so called
MA" #$ TH% &%'(.