Notes & Scales
You don't need to read sheet music to produce. But knowing how notes and scales work lets you write melodies, basslines and chords that sound right on the first try, instead of clicking around the piano roll until something fits. This lesson covers everything you need, using the piano keyboard you already see in your DAW.
The 12 Notes
Western music uses just 12 different notes. After the 12th, the pattern repeats, higher or lower. On a piano they look like this:
- The 7 white keys are named with letters: C D E F G A B.
- The 5 black keys sit between them and take their names from their neighbors.
One octave, from C to B
Notice there's no black key between E and F, or between B and C. That gap makes the pattern of 2 black keys then 3 black keys, which is how you find your way around any keyboard. C is always the white key just left of the group of two black keys.
Sharps and flats
A sharp (♯ or #) raises a note by one key. A flat (♭ or b) lowers it by one key. So the black key between C and D can be called C# ("C sharp") or D♭ ("D flat"). They're the same key with two names. Your DAW will usually show sharps.
Octaves, MIDI Numbers and Frequency
An octave is the distance from one note to the next note with the same name, for example C to the next C up. Going up an octave doubles the frequency (see What is Sound?).
To tell octaves apart, notes get a number: C4 is "middle C", near the center of a piano. C5 is one octave higher, C3 one octave lower.
In MIDI, every note also has a number from 0 to 127. Each step up is one key.
| Note | MIDI number | Frequency |
|---|---|---|
| C2 | 36 | 65.4 Hz |
| C3 | 48 | 130.8 Hz |
| C4 (middle C) | 60 | 261.6 Hz |
| A4 (tuning reference) | 69 | 440 Hz |
| C5 | 72 | 523.3 Hz |
Not every DAW agrees on octave numbers. Most call MIDI note 60 "C4", but Ableton Live labels it "C3" and FL Studio labels it "C5". The note and its frequency are the same; only the label differs. If something seems an octave off, this is usually why.
Semitones and Whole Tones
The distance between any two neighboring keys (white or black) is a semitone, also called a half step. It's the smallest step in Western music.
Two semitones make a whole tone, or whole step.
- C → C# = 1 semitone (H)
- C → D = 2 semitones = 1 whole tone (W)
- E → F = 1 semitone (no black key between them)
There are 12 semitones in an octave. In a piano roll, every row is one semitone, so you can count steps just by counting rows.
The Major Scale
A scale is a set of notes chosen from the 12, played in order. Most songs use the notes of one scale. The first note is the root (or tonic): the "home" note where the music feels resolved.
The major scale sounds bright and happy. It follows this pattern of steps:
Major scale formula
Start on any note, follow the same steps, and you get the major scale for that note. G major is G A B C D E F# G. Notice it needs one black key (F#) to keep the pattern.
Press "Play the scale" and listen to how the last C feels like coming home. Then change the root note. Every major scale sounds equally "major", just higher or lower.
Minor, Pentatonic and Blues Scales
Natural minor
The natural minor scale sounds darker, sadder or more serious. It's the most common scale in EDM, trap, drill and many film scores.
Natural minor formula
Compared to major, the 3rd, 6th and 7th notes are each one semitone lower. The lowered 3rd is what makes it sound "minor".
Pentatonic scales
Pentatonic means "five notes". These scales leave out the two notes most likely to clash, so almost any order of notes sounds good. They're a beginner's best friend for melodies and solos.
- Major pentatonic: degrees 1 2 3 5 6 of the major scale. C major pentatonic = C D E G A.
- Minor pentatonic: degrees 1 ♭3 4 5 ♭7. A minor pentatonic = A C D E G.
Blues scale
The blues scale is the minor pentatonic plus one extra "blue note": the ♭5. A blues = A C D D# E G. That extra note adds a gritty tension, heard in blues, rock and a lot of hip-hop samples.
| Scale | Semitones from root | Example (root C) | Mood |
|---|---|---|---|
| Major | 0 2 4 5 7 9 11 | C D E F G A B | Bright, happy |
| Natural minor | 0 2 3 5 7 8 10 | C D E♭ F G A♭ B♭ | Dark, sad |
| Major pentatonic | 0 2 4 7 9 | C D E G A | Open, sunny |
| Minor pentatonic | 0 3 5 7 10 | C E♭ F G B♭ | Bluesy, cool |
| Blues | 0 3 5 6 7 10 | C E♭ F G♭ G B♭ | Gritty |
| Harmonic minor | 0 2 3 5 7 8 11 | C D E♭ F G A♭ B | Dramatic, "exotic" |
Modes
A mode uses the notes of the major scale but starts on a different note, which shifts the "home" note and changes the mood. There are seven. You only need a few to start.
| Mode | White keys from | Compared to major/minor | Sound |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ionian | C to C | Same as major | Happy |
| Dorian | D to D | Minor with a raised 6th | Minor but hopeful, soulful. Funk, house, Daft Punk's "Get Lucky" |
| Phrygian | E to E | Minor with a lowered 2nd | Dark, Spanish, metal |
| Lydian | F to F | Major with a raised 4th | Dreamy, floating. Film music |
| Mixolydian | G to G | Major with a lowered 7th | Bluesy major. Rock, funk |
| Aeolian | A to A | Same as natural minor | Sad |
| Locrian | B to B | Diminished 5th | Unstable, rarely used |
The piano demo above includes Dorian and Mixolydian in its Scale menu. Try them on the same root and compare them with major and minor.
Keys: Choosing One
A key is the scale a song uses plus its home note. "A minor" means the song mostly uses the notes of the A natural minor scale, and A feels like home.
How to pick a key
- For a singer: pick the key that puts the melody in their comfortable range. Move the whole song up or down a few semitones until it fits.
- For a sample: use the sample's key. Many sample packs label it in the file name, or use a key detection tool.
- For bass weight: the key sets the lowest bass note. In club music, keys like F, F# and G are popular partly because their root notes (around 44–49 Hz in the octave most sub basses use) hit a powerful sub range.
- Otherwise: just pick one and start. Any key works.
Relative major and minor
Every major key shares all its notes with one minor key, called its relative minor. The relative minor starts on the 6th note of the major scale, which is 3 semitones below the major root.
Relative pairs (same notes, different home)
The difference is which note feels like home. A song that keeps returning to A and A minor chords sounds minor, even though it uses the same notes as C major.
If you're new to theory, use only the white keys. Make C your home note and you're in C major. Make A your home note and you're in A minor. You can't play a wrong note. Once your idea works, your DAW can transpose it to any key: select all the notes and move them up or down.
- Create an instrument track with a piano or pluck sound and open the piano roll.
- Turn on scale highlighting if your DAW has it [Ableton: the Scale button in the clip view · FL Studio: Piano roll menu › Helpers › Scale highlighting · Logic: Scale Quantize or the Key setting in the piano roll].
- Set the scale to A minor. Draw an 8-note melody using only highlighted keys, starting and ending on A.
- Now select all the notes and move them up 3 semitones. The melody is now in C minor. Same shape, new key.
- Undo, then move just the 3rd note of the scale (C) up one semitone to C#. Hear how the mood flips toward major.
There are different notes in Western music.
A4 is tuned to Hz, and middle C (C4) is MIDI note number .
The relative minor of C major is .
1. Which is the major scale formula?
- W – H – W – W – H – W – W
- H – W – W – W – H – W – W
- W – W – H – W – W – W – H
- W – W – W – H – W – W – H
Whole, whole, half, whole, whole, whole, half. The first option is the natural minor formula.
2. C# and D♭ are...
- The same key with two names
- One octave apart
- A whole tone apart
- Two different black keys
Sharps and flats are two ways to name the same black key between C and D.
3. How many notes are in a pentatonic scale?
- 7
- 12
- 4
- 5
"Penta" means five. Pentatonic scales drop the two notes most likely to clash.
4. What is the relative minor of G major?
- G minor
- E minor
- D minor
- B minor
The relative minor starts on the 6th note of the major scale: G A B C D E. E minor shares all of G major's notes.
5. Dorian mode is best described as...
- Major with a lowered 7th
- Major with a raised 4th
- Minor with a raised 6th
- Minor with a lowered 2nd
Dorian is natural minor with the 6th raised by a semitone, giving a hopeful, soulful minor sound.