Playing, Part 1
Chapter 7: Major Scales and Keys
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Understand the building blocks of music: how major scales are built, what key signatures mean, and how to read accidentals.
Building Major Scales
Build a C major scale step by step using the whole-and-half-step formula, discovering why C uses only white keys while other starting notes mix in black ones.
Introducing Key Signatures
Discover how the sharps or flats at the start of a piece form a key signature that tells you which key you're in and which major scale a song is built on.
Using Accidentals
Step outside a key signature using sharp, flat, and natural signs called accidentals, and learn how long they stay in force within a measure.
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Key signature finder
Pick a mode and a key and see its sharps or flats drawn on the staff, the scale spelled out, and its relative key named — then hear it played.
Accidental calculator
Pick a key and a note letter and it tells you the sharp, flat, or natural that letter carries in that key, spells the note, and shows it on the staff.
Key signature trainer
A key signature appears on the staff, you pick the major key it belongs to, and you get instant feedback and a running score.
Scale finder
Pick a root note and a scale type — major, minor, the modes, pentatonic, blues — and see every note light up on the piano, spelled out for you.
Chord finder
Pick a root note and a chord type — major, minor, sevenths, suspended and more — and see the chord on the piano, named and spelled out for you.
Note finder
Pick a note and see every place it sits on the piano keyboard, named — and tap any key to hear it.