Yes that's correct. playing the notes in a scale
in order is playing
the scale itself. Playing the notes in a scale in any different order is playing a
melody in the
key of whatever the
scale is,
E.G. E Flat Minor.
E Flat Minor is a
Minor scale in the Key of E flat, as E Flat is the
Tonic of that scale, the note the scale begins on.
The Minor scale is a
template of tone/semitone steps that you can use, beginning from any note on the keyboard and draw a Minor Scale from.
In order to understand the concept behind this idea of 'templates' better you need to understand how the keys on a keyboard work. The distance between any key and an adjacent key is known as a
semitone. Two of these steps makes a
Tone. In the picture below Semitones are in
red and Tones are in
Blue
I'll write out the 'template' for the Natural Minor scale below by using this notation:
Tonic = the key of the scale, the first (and last) note; T = a whole tone, S = a Semitone.
The (Natural) Minor scale is: (Tonic) -> T -> S -> T -> T -> S -> T -> (Tonic)
As you can see a scale is a series of tone/semitone steps beginning on a given note and ending on that note an octave higher. You can use that basic 'template' for the minor scale and begin on any note on the keyboard and you will have a Minor scale. Begin on C and you have the C Natural Minor scale. Begin on E flat and you have the E flat Natural Minor scale.
C Natural Minor Scale:
E Flat Natural Minor Scale:
You are by no means constrained to using only 1 octave, the pattern simply repeats itself once you reach the tonic.
The idea of Using these basic scales as a basis upon which you draw
melody from is one of the most fundamentally underlying concepts to music composition.
Every song you have ever heard uses scales as a basis upon which the artist writes a melody in a specific key, giving the piece its overall feel.
Its impossible not to use some form of scale or other when writing music, because if you write or play any kind of tune that doesn't sound completely a-tonal and progresses in some form or other, no matter how abstract.
You are using a scale. Its inescapable. Whether you realized you were using it or not.
Things don't sound similar just because you are using a specific scale to write the melody around, as an example I'll post two things I'm working on at the moment, One is nearly finished and just needs allot of polishing, the second is in very early development. Pay attention to the mellodic content of the tunes and ask yourself wether they sound original or not.
The first one Is written
completely in the scale of C natural Minor. Yep, thats the only scale I've used to write the entire thing, Pads, Bass, Highs, Main melody... e.t.c.
http://soundcloud.com/tiger_widow/chill ... er-mark-5a
The Second one is written entirely in the scale of E flat Natural Minor. same again. Every element of it is written entirely from that scale.
http://soundcloud.com/tiger_widow/chilled-wip
So you can see that using scales is very important to create a certain 'essence' and vibe to the track while at the same time make sure each element sits correctly with the other elements (or in other words, everything is 'in key'). You should also see now how using scales does not make everything sound 'the same' as what you actually do with that scale can be a million and one things.
Now, another very important aspect of using scales in writing your melodies is how the different notes or chords interact. In a basic 4-4 time signature piece you're going to want your melody to begin somewhere (this is your tonic, and the key of the tune) its then going to ideally travel through a 'tonal journey' and finally resolve at the end of the 16th bar (4*4=16).
This concept of
resolution is an extremely important thing in writing music with any kind of melodic flow. Its technically known as
Cadence, which by definition means:
"a melodic or harmonic configuration that creates a sense of repose or resolution."
To use Cadences effectively in music its very helpful to understand the relationship each 'degree' of a given scale has to the other notes in that scale. Knowing this enables you to placed Cadence, suspense, movement, discord and all manner of other things in your melody as it moves through your overall composition.
Each Degree of a given scale has a specific name and also a specific tonal relationship with the Tonic of that scale. This is why
keys are so important. To take a quote from a very well written guide on music theory:
"When it’s said that a song is in the key of C major, this means that the note C acts as the melodic
centre of the song, and that the chord C acts as the harmonic centre. If a song is in the key of Bb
minor, this means that Bb is the melodic centre of the song, and that the chord Bbmi acts as the
harmonic centre. It’s not that the key note or chord is necessarily the most frequent note or chord, or
even played louder than other chords. To proclaim the key of a piece of music means that you’re
anchoring the music on a certain note and tonality (major/minor).
To state a key is to invoke a matrix of relationships between the key note and all other notes, and the
key chord and all other chords. Every note you play is then of that key, and every chord you play is
also of that key, because using those relationships and that structure all of the music in a particular
key points tacitly back towards the key note and the key chord."
So knowing this we can look at the different degrees of a scale how they relate to eachother:
Tonic — First scale degree (This defines the Key of the scale);
supertonic — second scale degree (the scale degree immediately "above" the tonic);
mediant — third scale degree (the "middle" note of the tonic triad);
subdominant — fourth scale degree (a fifth "below" the tonic);
dominant — fifth scale degree (the most "pronounced" harmonic note after the tonic);
submediant — sixth scale degree (the "middle" note of the subdominant triad);
leading tone (or leading note) — seventh scale degree (the scale degree that "leads" to the tonic, this is also referred to as subtonic);
subtonic - also seventh scale degree, but applying to the lowered 7th found in the natural minor scale.
As well as having these Names and meanings (yes its about to get overly complicated) each scale degree has an alternate name and way of describing its relationship to the other notes in a scale. This way is much more universal these days and you may have heard some of the terminology yourself.
To be honest the easiest way of explaining this to you is you copying over word for word a section from the Raven Spiral Guide here so you can read it. Its written extremely well and explains this concept very clearly:
The root note is known as the tonic, because it is this note that is the fundamental tone.
Playing two tonics one after the other is more a thing of rhythm than of melody.
The major second is known as the supertonic, since it's one note above the tonic. Super is Latin for
above. If it's a minor second, then it's a minor supertonic. Both supertonic intervals grate against one
another somewhat played in unison, moreso the minor than the major.
The major third is called the mediant, being as it is right between the root and all-important fifth. It's
from the Latin word medio, in the middle. The minor third is identified as the minor mediant. The full
mediant over the tonic has a strong and happy quality, while the minor mediant over the tonic has a
sombre quality to it.
The fourth is called the subdominant, and the fifth is called the dominant. What these names refer to is
that if you go up five notes on a normal scale from the root note, you come to the fifth. The fifth is
indeed the dominant note of the scale after the root. Thus the fourth, being one note below the
dominant, is the subdominant. Sub is the Latin word for below and has nothing to do with healthy
sandwiches or underwater vessels. The subdominant over the tonic has a sort of planted strength to it,
while the dominant over the tonic has a more forthright strength.
Between the dominant and the subdominant lies the diminished fifth. It's this naming system that gave
it the name tritone, because it's three whole tones (six semitones) away from the root. Remember, the
tritone relationship between two notes is symmetrical. A tritone over the tonic sounds floaty and weird.
The major sixth is called the superdominant, since it's one note up from the dominant, or the submediant,
since it's the exact same amount of notes downward from the root note as the mediant is
upward. If it's a minor sixth, it's the minor submediant. The major submediant over the tonic has an
almost lilting quality, while the minor submediant is somewhat spooky.
The major seventh is called the leading note, because it leads into the tonic so naturally. The leading
note is an interval unlike any other in sound, even more striking than the tritone when played over the
tonic!
The minor seventh is so important compared to the other flattened intervals that it's got a special
name for itself: the subtonic. The subtonic has a suspended, unresolved quality over the tonic.
If you get to know these relationships well enough you will begin to notice certain unique qualities in the relationships between the different degrees. One of the first things you'll notice is how important the
perfect fifth is in relation to the tonic. And how specifically in building cadence, having the perfect fifth follow into the Tonic at the end of a phrase is a very
consonant cadence (or strong resolution).
Not only that but when writing melody or music in general, using this underlying framework of tonal relationship between the different degrees of a scale will grant you total control over how your music evolves, how it feels, indeed, every aspect of the sonic journey through which you take the listener.
Scales are a fundamental aspect of this, as i hope from reading this you understand.
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Well, i'm pooped from writing all this stuff. I hope its been of help to you and i know i could have written it a bit more clearly, so if you have any questions about any of it please feel free to leave a response and i#ll get back to you as best i can.
Peace.
Listen to your tune & listen to the pattern that you are using. Think if you can simplify it & make each note longer (My personal strategy). My track in sig is an example of this, i started with a larger scale, more notes, and shorter duration. After close listening, it became a shorter scale, less notes, longer duration. I think it sounds a lot better.