My goals for my musical growth learning plan revolved around me wanting to develop a strong foundation in music rather than just learning to play songs based on memory. It required a lot of extra time and work at the beginning but once I developed a solid understanding the rest of the learning process flowed quite nicely. Upon developing an understanding of what the notes of the chromatic scale were and how they relate to each other I had the foundation to confront scales.
Scales were quite easy because I understood how notes related to each other and therefore familiarizing myself with major and minor scales was as simple as applying the corresponding interval pattern to the note I wanted my scale to be in. All of the dots were connecting and music theory only made more and more sense. Concepts that at first scared me and overwhelmed me at first glance were now approachable and digestible.
Developing a thorough understanding of scales helped me with my music literacy too because key signatures made sense to me! I understood the circle of fifths instead of just memorizing it. I knew what the “circle of fifths” referred to – being the “perfect fifth” interval of each scale and I understood why sharps and flats exist as well as how many and where to find them in each scale/key. I understand why songs are in different keys as well as how to identify them. I also figured out tips and tricks for working with key signatures.
After mastering scales I moved onto chords! Stay tuned Blog Post 3!