Music Theory Grade 2 – Part 2

Welcome back to music theory grade 2. In part 1 of grade 2, we looked at the bass clef, more note values and some more time signatures. We now move to the second part of grade two, where we will look at some new major key signatures, and introduce the minors.

You can check out the parts of grade 1 using the following links:

Music Theory – Grade 1 – Part 1
Music Theory – Grade 1 – Part 2
Music Theory – Grade 1 – Part 3
Music Theory – Grade 1 – Part 4
Music Theory – Grade 1 – Part 5

And Part 1 of Grade 2 here.

The Major Keys of A, Bb, and Eb

Grade 2 builds on the key signatures introduced in Grade 1 by covering signatures up to 3 sharps or 3 flats. Review grade 1 part 2 to refresh your memory on the C, G, D and F key signatures covered there. Remembering the mnemonic Father Charles Goes Down And Ends Battle to give us the order that sharps appear in key signatures, you should already be able to tell me what the key with 3 sharps is right? A major, as below:

In step with the mnemonic, the sharps in A major are F#, C# and G#. Remember that the last sharp is always a semi tone below the root note in a major key. Now, also remember that the same mnemonic can be reversed to give us the order of flats in flat key signatures and that the last flat is always a fourth below the root note. Alternatively, once the mnemonic is reversed to Battle Ends And Down Goes Charles Father the root note is one flat back from the last flat in the signature. To clarify, Bb Major has 2 flats which are Bb and Eb and the Eb Major Key has 3 flats, which are Bb, Eb and Ab. These are written as below:



Note how the sharps and flats are arranged on the stave. Sharps go ‘Down Up’ whereas flats go ‘Up Down’. Also remember that when these signatures are written in the bass clef, they look different as the notes on the stave are positioned differently, but the notes themselves are still the same.

The Minor Keys of A, E, and D

Now things start to get more interesting. Each major key has its relative minor key. The sixth degree of the major key is the relative minor. For example, C major has no sharps or flats. The relative minor of C major is A minor. A minor also has no sharps or flats – the notes are identical albeit arranged differently, so:

C Major – C D E F G A B and back to C

A minor – A B C D E F G and back to A

So by finding the sixth note of a major scale we find its relative minor. Now for the interesting bit – in music theory grade 2 we move from having no minor forms at all – to having three! The natural, the melodic and the harmonic. The harmonic minor raises the seventh scale degree by a semi tone which is straight forward enough. The melodic minor raises the sixth and seventh scale degrees by a semi tone when ascending (going up) but reverts to the natural minor when descending (going down) so we actually have a scale where the notes are different depending on which direction you’re going in… helpful. This was originally for vocalists who found the melodic minor harmonies unpleasant when descending the scale. The image below shows the harmonic and melodic forms of the A minor scale, with A natural minor and A major for comparison:

In addition to A minor, grade 2 also requires that we know E minor which is the relative minor of G major, and D minor which is the relative minor of F major. Just the same as A minor above, Em and Dm share the notes of their parent major scale (G major and F major) and so have 1 sharp or 1 flat respectively in their ‘natural’ forms. In grade 2 you do not need to know both forms of the minor scale, only one but it’s probably best to try to take in both while we’re here.

Remember that the harmonic minor sharpens the seventh scale degree ascending and descending, where the melodic sharpens the sixth and seventh scale degrees ascending, and reverts to the intervals of the natural minor when descending.

And that brings grade 2 part two to a close. Next time, you’ll be pleased to hear that we have an easier time of it with triplets and we’ll also look at grouping notes and rests… a welcome break after part 2! Until then, take time to go over the material above, go over the material in grade 1 and part 1 of grade 2 so you can tie it all together and ping me a message via Facebook or Twitter with any questions.