For example, C is suitable for ballads and Eb can sound a bit like Bach.Scales are collections of the eight notes that make up a key. Preferable is to play chords with your left hand and notes from the scale with your right ( more on improvisation).Īn interesting thing is that different major scales have their own “sounds”. To explain further: you can play chords like C, Em, F, G and Am together with the C Major Scale.

See harmonizing major scales into chords.Īn easy way to start improvising on the piano is to play major scales together with the chords that use the same notes. In the key of C, for instance, the standard chords being used are:

That is because you can randomly choose three different notes from a scale and you will get a triad. Scales and chordsĪs soon as you know a certain major scale, you can easier grasp the chords in the same key. This is because the notes below the diagrams are foremost thought to be easy to understand. Also, the notes in the diagrams and the notes in the overview below sometimes differ. F#) that can look peculiar, see theory for an explanation. In some cases, there are double-sharps (e.g. As an example, C#, D#, E#, F#, G#, A#, B#, C# and Db, Eb, F, Gb, Ab, Bb, C, Db (as in C# / Db scales) are the same notes but partly written differently. The notes are, however, the same on the keyboard. C# and Db), because they can be played in two different keys. Some of the scales have two names divided by a slash (e.g. The nature of the intervals labels the Major Scale as a diatonic scale. This helps you a lot until you have memorized all the scales and vice versa: you don’t need to memorize them if you know the intervals. These are always the same for scales in a specific category.

The intervals and steps are important to learn. The Major scales in graphic compilation are available in the member area.Ī collection of keyboard charts can be downloaded as a PDF-file. This hi-res digital poster includes all Major scales, but also all Minor scales together with major and minor chords.

Major piano scales pdf