I'm Only the Trombone Player

The Musical Note B# Sent Me A Message ---

And the note would like me to let you know that it is alive and well, living in the key of C#.

First, a little Sound of Music to set the mood;



Now that that earworm has been firmly planted in your mind — the reason I started there is what musicians call SCALES or as Maria sang; "Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti Do"

Actually, this is one type of scale musicians use, this is called a Major Scale. There are others like the sadder Minor Scale, but for our brief journey into Music Theory, we can stick to the Happier Major Scale.

Here's an octave (8 notes) worth of a piano keyboard;



As you can see each key has its name printed on it from the note C to the repeat of C eight notes higher.

The keys are white and black, for now, ignore the black keys, we'll get to them later.

If you played only the white keys, starting on the first C all the way up to the last C you would play a Major Scale in the Key of C.

Another way to think of it;

C = Do, D = Re, E = Mi, F = Fa, G = Sol, A = La, B = Ti, "Which will bring us back to ... " C = Do"

So there's your Major Scale, which is always named after the note it starts on!

Now take a look at the Black keys — they all have two names.

For example, the Black key between White Keys C and D is named either C Sharp or D Flat.

Back to the keyboard;



The music interval between every key on the keyboard is a musical Half step – again in other words C to C sharp is a Half step, C sharp to D is another Half step – C to D is a Whole Step.

The Whole Step/Half Step relationship is important, it's how we build Scales in other Keys Besides the Key of C.

A Major Scale Will Alway Follow This Pattern;

Whole Step - C to D, Whole Step - D to E, Half Step - E to F, Whole Step - F to G, Whole Step -G to A , Whole Step -A to B, Half Step - B to C

The half steps in the C Major occur naturally from E to F and B to C, for other scales we have to "force the issue" by using the Black Keys.

An example for the Key of F Major; (If you are a "Bread" fan, this is the Key that their love song "If" is in)

Whole Step - F to G, Whole Step - G to A, Half Step - A to B Flat*, Whole Step - B flat to C, Whole Step - C to D, Whole Step - D to E, Half Step - E to F

*You can't have A to A sharp in an F Major Scale, The Rule Is TO NEVER Repeat A Note Name!

Now take a look at this Keyboard; (A bit tricky it doesn't end on the higher C like before)



You will notice that now even some of the White Keys have two names (a notes multiple names is called "Enharmonics" in the language musicians speak)

We are going to build a C Sharp Scale; To expedite this # = sharp and b = Flat

Whole Step - C# to D#, Whole Step - D# to E#, Half Step E# To F#, Whole Step - F# to G#, Whole Step G# to A#, Whole Step - A# to B#*, Half Step - B# to C#*

*Remember that rule about not being able to repeat note names!

And Yes I have seen and played music in the Key of C# — because of vocal range requirements both in operatic and broadway show tune settings. And Yes it's nasty, often because both employ something called chromatic harmony that makes it even trickier by introducing DOUBLE SHARPS — a horror tale for another day.