Hello and welcome back. I'm Joseph Hoffman,
and in this lesson we're going to learn how to play a two octave B minor scale and arpeggio.
We'll also check out the diatonic chords for B minor. Let's come to the piano to get started.
To figure out our key signature for B minor, we can use the ladder of fifths.
Remember, for major keys we start with C major and then just go up fifths.
Every time we go up a fifth, we add a sharp.
Same for minor.
The minor ladder of fifths begins on A minor, with zero sharps.
If we go up a fifth to E minor, we get one sharp, then we go up another fifth to B minor, now we'll have two sharps.
And what are those two sharps? We have an F-sharp and a C-sharp.
So what is the relative of B minor?
Remember, a relative key means the same key signature,
and that relative is D major. They have the same key signature because both use F-sharp and C-sharp.
So let's start with our right hand, and we'll play the B natural minor scale.
And let's work in groups.
So place finger 1 on B,
and we'll use our standard fingering for two octave scales. So we start with a group of three, play this with me,
then we do a group of four.
And then we do a group of three.
Try this with me, then a group of four, and then our finger 5 plays B on the top,
then we come back to a group of 4, group of 3, group of 4.
Group of three.
Okay, and now if we play that one note at a time we get 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5
and then we go back with the same fingering.
Pause to work on the right hand B natural minor scale,
up and down two octaves, then press play to go on.
Now how would we change the natural minor scale into harmonic minor?
Can you point to the note we should change?
It's always the seventh note of the scale, so if you're pointing right here you're correct. Seventh note is just one before DO.
And so we take this note, we raise it a half step,
and now it's harmonic minor.
We can use the same fingering as before.
So we have 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5
and then back down with the same pattern.
Pause the video and work on right hand B harmonic minor, then press play to go on.
Now, in a lesson the other day I also mentioned melodic minor. There are actually three forms of minor.
There's natural minor,
there's harmonic minor, melodic minor you also raise the sixth note of the scale by a half step. You raise both
the sixth and the seventh
to form melodic minor. So this is the melodic minor.
That will sound like this:
That's a really cool sound.
Now, melodic minor I'll throw in as a bonus. If you'd like to practice it also great, but if you'd rather save it for later that's fine too.
It's up to you.
Now let's check out the left hand fingering for B natural minor.
If you try to use the
standard, basic fingering for scales, you'll find that finger 1 lands on this F-sharp and then you've got to
cross over a finger 3 to a white key, which is very awkward.
And will slow you down as you get to faster speeds.
So, we're going to use an alternate fingering
that's made specially for B minor. You start on a finger 4, and what that does is it times it so
your finger 1 lands on a white key, and your finger 4 can cross over to a black key, which is a lot more comfortable.
So actually do two groups of four to start out. Let's try this together now.
Place your finger 4 on B, finger 3 on C-sharp, finger 2 on D, finger 1 on E.
Just play them all together in a cluster, in a group,
then try this group of four. So two groups of four in a row, then a group of three, then you finish with a group of four.
Then repeat that group to come down.
Group of three, group of four.
And then we finish with one more group of four. So you're poor
finger 5 left hand, sorry you don't get to play this time.
All right, now let's try it one note at a time. 4 3 2 1 4 3 2 1 3 2 1 4 3 2 1.
Pause the video and practice the left hand natural minor scale,
and then press play to go on.
We can use the same fingering for harmonic minor. 4 3 2 1
Now I just went up, but I'd like you to go up and down. Pause the video and practice the left hand
harmonic minor.
B harmonic minor scale, then press play to go on.
And of course as a bonus, you can also do melodic minor.
But totally bonus, up to you if you want to also practice that third form of minor, melodic minor.
Now let's check out the arpeggio, and since we've been doing our left hand let's go ahead and start
with the left hand for arpeggios. the fingering is 5 4 2 1 on that
tonic triad. Remember, arpeggios are just a I chord played in broken form B D F-sharp B D F-sharp B.
Now pause the video and work on your left hand B minor arpeggio, then press play to go on.
Let's check out the right hand.
1 2 3 1 2 3 5 3 2 1 3 2 1
Pause to work on your right hand B minor arpeggio, then press play to go on.
Now let's play through the diatonic chords for B minor.
Remember, when you're doing diatonic chords, all you're doing is taking each note and moving up by a step
to get all the possible chords for that key. Our I chord is built
on B D F-sharp can you try this with me?
You can play just right hand or just left hand or you can try both hands
together, and we're going to name these chords out loud like this: B minor I chord.
Now, sometimes as we get more black keys in the key signature, it's easy to forget
which note to step up to, so I like to think
of certain notes as hot lava, where I'm not allowed to touch them
or play them in this case. So remember because C and F are both sharped,
it's helpful to think of these white keys as hot lava.
So when I go up to my next chord,
these two keys would normally step up to here, but because C is hot lava, I have to go to C-sharp.
Okay, and because F
was hot lava, I actually started here and so then my next key will be G.
So there's my ii chord and it's a diminished triad, so we'd say C-sharp diminished ii chord.
And then when I step up again, because F is hot lava, I have to use the F-sharp.
D major III chord. Try this with me, play it and name it.
D major III chord,
and then when we step up next, can you figure it out? Play the iv chord.
If you played this, you're correct.
There's no hot lava keys this time.
Now for the v chord,
I would step up to here, but because F and C are hot lava, I'm going to play this F-sharp minor v chord.
Then G major VI chord.
Now, can you figure out the VII chord?
If you played this, you're correct.
A major VII chord, and then we're back to B minor i chord.
Then for harmonic minor we actually have another hot lava key.
Because remember A becomes A-sharp.
So we have three hot lava keys. C, F-sharp,
and A-sharp.
Or C, F-sharp, and A are the hot lava because they have to become these black keys.
Okay, so then here's the i chord. Try harmonic minor with me,
and let's name them. B minor i chord.
C-sharp diminished ii chord.
Now, here we have two notes we need to sharp, so we get D augmented III chord.
Remember, when we have this weird sound, remember D major is like this. If you
raise the top note of a major chord by a half step it becomes augmented.
D augmented III chord,
E minor iv chord, and now check this out:
All three have to be sharp.
So the V chord is all black keys: F-sharp major V chord.
G major VI chord, and now we have two hot lava keys so we come to A-sharp diminished vii chord.
And then B minor i chord.
Now, I'd like you to pause the video and on your own practice naming and playing all of those
keys one more time. Remember, these that I've marked are the hot lava keys.
Now, what's the whole point of learning diatonic chords?
It's so you can make music with those chords. So let's do a common chord progression for minor keys, which is the i chord,
try this with me. Left hand can play the root of the chord, right hand can play the triad.
So B minor i chord, then A major VII chord we're going to use the natural minor,
then G major VI chord,
and then F-sharp major
V chord, and for this one I'm using the harmonic minor because the V chord usually sounds best with harmonic minor.
Unless you're writing Russian choral music, which uses a lot of the minor v. Most music uses the major V in minor.
And then you can make up some fun rhythms.
See if you can make up some rhythms.
Have some fun improvising some rhythms with that chord progression.
Pause to practice that chord progression on your own improvise some rhythms, and then press play to go on.
So as you're practicing this week, I'd like you to keep working on the B minor scale.
Remember the metronome can be a great tool.
When you're first learning it, one note per click is just fine, and then as you get better,
you can switch to two notes per click.
And then the arpeggio.
Can also be one note per click.
If you want a real challenge try two.
One tip I want to mention as you practice your scales, is to use a smooth wrist and arm motion.
You don't want to flap your elbow a lot, which I see sometimes beginner students doing.
You want a smooth motion as you play scales
Let your wrist kind of glide along, and let your thumb pass under smoothly and you can
help by leading. Think of leading with your arm and elbow pulling your hand to the side.
Just kind of let it float
and glide.
And same thing with your arpeggios. Try to work on as smooth floating. There will be a little bit of motion.
You shouldn't ever hold it stiffly. There will be a little bit
of adjustment as you bring your thumb under, but avoid a lot of like vigorous motion. It should be smooth and gentle.
Great work learning how to play scales, arpeggios, and diatonic chords in B minor today.
Thanks for watching and learning with me, and happy practicing!
Hey Chef, what do you get when you cross Mozart with Cinderella?
I don't know, what?
Mozzarella!
[Laughter]
That was pretty cheesy you know.
Ah, I thought it was grate.
[Laughter]
Now you're trying to milk it.
[Laughter]