Originally Posted by: isadovhi,
english is not my native language so forgive my mistakes....

learning scales C major (C) and A minor (Am) I've noticed that they have the same notes on the fret board, from that i saw that they share the same scale chords. (and its so for all major and minor scales)

that raised some questions for me:

is it correct to say that Am scale is the same C scale just starting in a different note (with the formula shifted 2 steps) ?

why are we looking at them that way and not just as C scale ?

what scale is a certain chord progression like C - Am - F - G ?

when will i refer to that progression as C or as Am ? or when it will have a sad (minor) sound and when it will have a happy (major) one ?

and a lot more...
if some one can help me understand this
10X

itay

Scales can be tricky at first, but I'm confident that once you start to understand things everything will fall into place :)

It is true that CM and Am have the same notes. EVery note in the C major scale actually has its own scale when it is used as the tonic note!! In this case the A note in the C scale is the tonic note A minor, which is C major's relative minor scale. (A relative scale is a scale that shares the same notes as another scale)

We look at scales this way because when A is used as the tonic note in music, it tends to lead to a darker, less energetic sound than if emphasis was given to the C note (in the c major scale, at least). We look at it this way to organize it better in our minds when it comes time to write songs.

That chord progression would most likely be a C major progression, though in all techinicality since all of the same notes in C major are in A minor, you could play an A minor scale over this progression and it would still sound fine. The reason it might sound more major is because the progression starts on the C major chord (the 1 chord of the scale) and most of the other chords used are major, leading to a happier sound.

However, I'm glad you asked that next question. A scale will sound more minor (sad) or more major (happy) depending on how much emphasis you give to each chord within that progression. If I play a progression with C- Am - F - G, and play the C for 3 measures, and then play the Am, F, and G chords only one measure each, the progression will sound much more "major" or happier because listeners will have heard the C Major chord the longest, and thus, it has been given it the most emphasis. However, if I did the same thing, except played the Am chord for 3 measures instead of the C chord, the progression will sound much sadder. Furthermore, the more emphasis you put on all of the major chords compared to all of the minor chords overall in a progression will help determine whether that progression sounds happy or sad. If I play that same progressoin, C-Am-F-G, and i play each chord for a measure, the progression will sound happier because overall, there will be three measures of major chords, and only one minor chord. Also, the notes.melody you play over this chord progression can help it sound more happy or sad, but it is best to understand the chords and scales individually before you rush into putting them together! Keep in mind, these are all very basic rules, as you learn more theory you will find there may be a few exceptions to these. For now, though, these are some good general rules to follow!


Hopefully this helped!! If you have any more questions or need clarification on anything, feel free to ask :)