Music Scales

I was practicing my scales up until last night when I ever so smartly cut the tip of my finger. Now I can't play until the skin grows back. Oh, well.

But before that, I was practicing my major scales. I now finally understand the Circle of Fifths/Fourths. Basically, starting with C, you can move clockwise to determine the number of sharps or counterclockwise for the number of flats you'll have in the major scale. Moving clockwise, you determine the next note by the fifth of the previous note. So, from C, you get D (2), E (3), F (4), G (5). The scale of G has one sharp in it. Which note is sharp, then, you ask?

Well, the scale always takes the form of whole, whole, half, whole, whole, whole, half intervals. On the C scale, which has neither flats or sharps, this is: C D EF G A BC. See? C >> D >> E > F >> G >> A >> B > C, where >> is a whole interval and > is a half interval.

Let's do the same with G: G >> A >> B > C >> D >> E >> F# > G. Two wholes, one half, three wholes, one half. Since E to F is normally a semitone, we have to use F# instead to make a full interval. Thus G has one sharp, and that sharp is F#.

Similarly, going backwards in fourths from C, the next note in the circle (going counter clockwise is F: C (1), D (2), E (3), F (4). F has one flat in it: F >> G >> A > Bb >> C >> D >> E > F. Normally, B to C is a semitone. But to get from A to "B?" (where ? is either normal, flat or sharp), you must use a half interval, which is the note of A#/Bb. Since you have already used up the letter A in the scale alphabet, it is more clean to use Bb.

An additional point to not forget is that the circle progresses forward based on the the previous note. So in the above examples, the next note to consider from F is Bb (the fourth note) and from G is D (the fifth note) and that each progression adds an additional flat or sharp.

Here's an interesting tidbit: in musical notation, you can tell which key you are in by the number of sharps or flats that are drawn next to the clef symbol. Of course, you have to know which notes will be flat or sharp, but I haven't figured out how to easily memorize all of that yet. I just understand the patterns.