| As a beginner, I think the first thing you should learn to | | | | Following this pattern we can easily play the C |
| play the scales. Jumping into a piano piece is like | | | | harmonic minor like so: C, D, D#/Eb, F, G, G#/Ab, B and |
| jumping into the deep end. You have to learn to walk | | | | C. |
| first before you can run. The same goes for learning | | | | - Melodic Minor |
| how to play piano. We must start with the basics and | | | | In this minor the sixth and seventh notes are raised half |
| learn from there. | | | | a tone. There is a tricky bit to this melodic minor. It is |
| The minor scales are pretty simple to learn if we | | | | only when you go up the scale that you raise the two |
| break them up into its parts and learn the patterns. The | | | | notes by half a tone. When going down the scale you |
| patterns that make up scales are made up of half and | | | | just play a normal natural minor. |
| whole tones. A half tone or half step is the distance | | | | The pattern for the melodic minor is like so: |
| between a key and the next key on the piano. A key | | | | WHWWWWH |
| can either be black or white. | | | | A more advanced look at this minor is thinking of it as |
| So a half tone is like playing from C to C#/Bb. This is | | | | two tetrachords separated by a whole tone. A minor |
| moving from the white C key to the next black key | | | | tetrachord is WHW and a major one is WWH. |
| called C sharp or B flat. Now that we know that a half | | | | Combining this minor and major tetrachord with a |
| tone is a step between two keys a whole tone is | | | | whole tone in between we can see that it forms the |
| equivalent to two half tones. So if we move two keys | | | | melodic minor. |
| up or down we are playing a whole tone. | | | | As we can see the three minor scales are pretty |
| In this article when I explain the different patterns that | | | | similar at the beginning. There are slight variations to |
| make up different minor scales I will be using the | | | | the natural one in the harmonic and melodic with |
| following notation. Half tone - H and Whole tone - W. | | | | note(s) raised half a step. We need to remember the |
| There are three types of minor scales. Each one will | | | | patterns for each of the scales in minor. By following |
| be explained in more detail. | | | | these patterns we can easily play any scale in minor |
| - Natural Minor | | | | starting at any key. |
| This is the easiest of the three minors. To play this we | | | | The key to learning how to play piano is starting with |
| just follow this pattern: WHWWHWW. An example of | | | | the easy skills like scales and moving on to playing |
| this pattern is to play the A natural minor. This is simple, | | | | chords and then eventually whole piano pieces. I don't |
| you just press all the white keys starting at A up till the | | | | recommend people take shortcuts when they are |
| next A. Simple right. If we start at a different note then | | | | learning how to play piano for the first time. |
| the story is a lot different. We still follow the pattern | | | | In conclusion, for those looking to learn how to play the |
| and we should be alright. | | | | piano, you should first start off we learning how to play |
| - Harmonic Minor | | | | the scales and going from there. This article provides a |
| The harmonic minor is slightly more difficult that that of | | | | good insight into playing scales in minor. Remember to |
| a normal one. The seventh note is raised by half a | | | | continually practise your scales every single day. |
| tone. So the pattern is like this: WHWWHWH. | | | | Practise makes perfect. |