scales & melody

Melody

Sequence of pitches played one after another

Scale

Ordered set of pitches (low→high or high →low)

Interval

Distance between two pitches

Octave

Interval with 2:1 frequency ratio

Solfège

Do, re, mi, fa, so, la, ti, do

Sargam

Indian version- sa, re, ga, ma, pa, dha, ni, sa

Major scale

7 note scale (C-C on piano white keys) “bright” sound

Minor

7 note scale (A-A on piano white keys) “darker” sound

Step

Interval between adjacent notes in a scale

Whole step

2 half steps

Half step

Smaller intervals in western music

Diatonic scale

7 note scale (major/ minor)

Mode

Diatonic scale other than major or minor, used in early/folk music

Chromatic scale

All 12 notes in an octave

Pentatonic scale

5 note scale, no half steps (common in world music)

Augmented second

3 half steps

Maqam

Middle eastern scale often with augmented seconds

Whole tone scale

6 note scale of only whole steps, no tonic