Hello and welcome back. I'm Joseph Hoffman.
Today we are reviewing half steps and whole steps,
and practicing all the pentascales we've learned so far.
So let's come over to the piano to get started.
Let's review what is a half step.
A half step is two notes that have no note in between them.
They're completely adjacent.
For example,
we have this E here.
What is a half step above E?
The answer is F.
What about if we started on F?
what is a half step above F?
The correct answer is F-sharp.
So it could be going from a white note to a white note as in the case from E to F, but sometimes
it's going from a white note to a black note,
or it could be going from a black note to a white note.
The important thing is that for a half step there can be no note in between.
For example, C to D
is not a half step
because we have this C sharp
in between.
So let's practice finding some half steps.
I'll place one note down, and you find a half step above it.
Point to the half step above this note.
If you're pointing here you're correct.
Now, point to a half step above this note.
If you're pointing here, you're correct.
Now let's do some half steps below.
Find the half step below this note.
If you're pointing here, you're correct.
Now find a half step below this note.
If you're pointing here, you're correct.
Last one.
Can you point to the half step below this E?
If you're pointing here to E-flat,
you are correct.
Now let's review what is a whole step.
A whole step basically is the distance of two half steps.
For example,
C to D is a whole step.
Another way to think about a whole step is you have to pass over exactly one note.
remember from here to here would be a half step,
and then from here to here is a half step so you add those up,
and from C to D makes a whole step.
Once again, the trick is to always pass over one note to make a whole step.
It could be a black or it could be a white.
For example, let's find a whole step above E.
We have to pass over F and go to F-sharp.
So from E to F-sharp is a whole step.
It can also be from a black to a black key.
For example, if we start on F-sharp,
what is a whole step above F-sharp?
Well, we have to pass over G
to go to G-sharp.
So F-sharp to G-sharp
is a whole step.
Now let's have you find some whole steps.
I'll place a note and you point to the whole step above.
Point to the whole step above A.
If you're pointing to B here, you're correct.
Now, point to a whole step above B.
If you're pointing here to C-sharp you're correct.
Now, can you point to a whole step above C-sharp?
If you're pointing here to D-sharp you are correct.
Now, can you point to a whole step above this note?
If you're pointing right here to F you are correct.
Now let's find some whole steps below.
Where's the whole step below A-flat?
If you're pointing here to G-flat you're correct.
What is a whole step below E?
If you're pointing here to D, you are correct.
Now let's talk about the formula for building a major pentascale.
A major pentascale you'll recall is made up of five notes.
DO is the lowest note of pentascale.
and then DO steps up to RE, steps up to MI.
And DO to RE, and RE to MI are both whole steps.
Then MI to FA is a half step
followed by FA to SO, which is another whole step.
So basically DO RE MI FA SO are all whole steps except
from MI to FA
Now let's try to apply that to finding pentascales on the piano.
If we want to build a major pentascale on C,
that means C is DO,
then we need to go up a whole step,
then another whole step,
then we need a half step,
and then finally another whole step.
So see that naturally
all of the notes fall on white keys
because
since there's no black key here we naturally have a half step
already between MI and FA.
But now if we want to put
the pentascale starting on D with D as DO,
now you'll see we need a whole step from DO to RE,
but then MI to FA we need to move
this note up to F-sharp in order to create a whole step here,
and then we have the half step where it belongs:
between F-sharp and G, on MI to FA.
Now let's try some trickier ones.
I'll place DO and see if you can
place your fingers on your piano
touching the correct keys of the pentascale.
For example, if I place this note here on A,
can you touch all of the notes that make the A major pentascale?
In a few moments the correct answer will appear.
These are the five notes of the A major pentascale.
I've made the half-step green to remind you where the half-step is.
The third to fourth note from MI to FA is always a half step.
Let's try another one.
I'll show you DO, and you try to touch on your own piano the keys
that make the major pentascale let's try the e major
Let's try the E major pentascale.
Here's the correct answer for E major.
We have E F-sharp G-sharp A B.
Let's try another one.
Can you touch the keys of the F major pentascale?
If you're touching these five notes you're correct.
Can you name them with me? F G A B-flat C.
Now recall that to turn any major pentascale into minor the trick is to simply move
the third note, which is MI, down a half step to ME.
And you'll notice that now the half step is
between the second and the third note. So I have to make those the green color.
So this would be the F minor pentascale.
Let's practice finding another minor pentascale.
Can you touch the notes that you need for the E minor pentascale?
If you're touching these five notes you're correct.
We have the half step here between the second and third note now.
All the other steps are whole steps.
Let's try one more.
Can you find and touch the notes of the C minor pentascale?
If you're touching these five notes you're correct.
C major would look like this.
To turn it into minor, we simply needed to take the third note in the scale
and move it down a half step from E to E-flat.
Now we're going to review all the major and minor pentascales we've learned so far in our lessons.
Starting with C major, we're going to do stepping and skipping in C major,
then C minor, then go up to D major, D minor,
E major, E minor, F, G, all the way up to A.
Let's play through all of them together.
Ready?
Get in position for C major.
We'll do stepping and skipping together.
And remember that we're going to do the I chord,
V7 chord,
I chord for each position.
Ready, go:
Now C minor.
Good, now move up to D major. Don't forget F-sharp, ready, go:
Now D-minor.
Now let's move up to E major.
Now we have an F-sharp and a G-sharp.
Ready, go:
Now E minor.
Then I'll come up to F major.
Don't forget the B-flat.
Now F minor.
Change A to A-flat.
Ready, go:
Now we come to G major. All white keys, starting on G, ready, go:
Now G-minor. Finger 3 moves to B-flat. Ready, go:
Now A major.
Finger 3 on C-sharp, ready, go:
Now we go to A minor, ready, go:
Great job working on all the major and minor pentascales we've learned so far.
At home, I'd like you to practice them by playing a little game.
You'll need a six-sided die for this game like this.
You'll roll the die, and if you roll a one,
you'll do C major and minor.
Two would mean D major and minor.
Three is E, four is F, five is G, and six would be A.
Try doing three different positions every day.
From our website, you can download activity pages that will help you review
half steps and whole steps in all the major minor pentascales even more.
Thanks for watching, and I'll see you next time.
Hey, I've got a good one for you!
Okay..
Three notes, D, F, and A, walked into a bar,
but the bartender said:
sorry you'll have to leave. We don't serve minors.
Hahaha
Classic, huh?
That's good, but you know, I don't know if the kids will get it.
Huh?