B-flat Major & Minor Pentascale

Hello and welcome back. I'm Joseph Hoffman.
In this lesson we're going to learn how
to play the B flat major and B-flat minor pentascales.
Let's come to the piano to get started.
Let's briefly review the pattern that's used for any major
pentascale.
Remember, we always have a DO RE MI FA SO,
and those are connected by whole steps or half steps.
DO to RE, whole step, then another whole step, then
a half step between MI and FA,
last of all a whole step.
Now remember a whole step simply means a step where there's exactly one note in between.
So where is
a whole step above D? Can you point to it?
It would be right here. Why is this a whole step?
Well you'll see there's exactly one key in between. It could be black or white.
For example, where is a whole step above E?
Point to it.
If you're pointing here you're correct.
See how this time there's a white key in between, but this is still a whole step.
Where is a whole step above this key?
If you're pointing here, you're correct. One key in between.
How about a whole step above this key.
If you're pointing here you're correct.
This time there's a white key in between.
All of those are whole steps, and a half step is simply two keys so close together there's no key in between.
This is a half step.
This is a half step.
This is a half
step. No key in between.
Now if you hold up your hand like this, you have
here in your hand the pattern of whole steps and half steps. If here's DO RE MI FA SO,
you can see there's a key in between DO and RE,
a key in between RE and MI, no key in
between MI and FA,
one key in between FA and SO. Whole step,
whole step, half step, whole step.
Now my challenge for you is I want you to
figure out
the B-flat major pentascale using this pattern of
whole steps and half steps.
Here is your DO on B-flat,
and just using the
pattern of whole steps and half steps,
I'd like you to pause the video and see
if you can figure out the B-flat major pentascale.
You'll know you have it
correctly when you play it, and it sounds like
a major pentascale.
So pause the
video, try and figure out B-flat major,
then press play and we'll check it out together.
Here is the B-flat major pentascale.
Let's check it out. So DO to RE you see the whole step.
With one key in between. Here's another whole step with one key in between. This time a black key.
And MI to FA, there's our half step.
There's no key in between there, and then we have to
finish with another whole step from FA to SO.
That's exactly one key in between.
Can
you say the letter names for these notes with me?
Let's say it together. B-flat, C, D, E-flat, F.
Now let's try to play it.
You can use your right hand, or
left hand, or for a super challenge try both hands.
Find the B-flat major pentascale.
Remember when you're on black keys with your finger 5 or 1,
you want to move your hand in toward the keys so they can still rest comfortably.
You don't have to twist or contort your hand.
I just want to stay comfortable, so bring
your hands in on the keys like this,
and let's just step up and sing DO RE MI FA SO,
starting on DO, go:
DO RE MI FA SO
Now let's step down, go: SO FA MI RE DO
Pause the video if you need more time with that,
otherwise let's keep going.
Here's the B-flat major pentascale on the treble and bass staves.
Can you point to each note, choose treble or bass staff, and say the letter names by yourself? Go.
The correct answer is B-flat, C, D, E-flat,
F.
Now what if we want to turn B-flat major into B-flat minor?
Point to the key that we need to alter or change.
If you're pointing here you're correct. It's always the third note DO RE MI. MI has to go down a half step
to ME,
and then we get the B-flat minor pentascale.
By the way, B-flat major and B-flat minor
are called parallel keys.
So this is the parallel minor. If it has the same DO
going from major to minor we call those parallel.
Now what would we call this black key?
Should we call it a C-sharp or D-flat?
Well there's a few reasons we should call it D-flat.
Usually if we have other flats in a scale,
we like to stick with all sharps or all flats. We already have a B-flat and an E-flat,
so it would
make the most sense to call this a D-flat.
Another reason to not call it C-sharp is we already have a C.
So it would be a little awkward to have a C and a C-sharp,
and since we moved it from here, that's one more reason to call this D-flat in this case.
Let's try to play B-flat minor.
With your right hand or your
left hand, or for a super challenge both hands,
get ready in the B-flat mi ...