Other Scales

Objectives

• Students will be familiar with artificial scales, such as the blues scale.
• Students will be familiar with non-heptatonic scales, such as pentatonic and octatonic scales.

Resources

Readings

• Wikipedia: Blues scale
• Ian Ring, A Study of Scales

Tools

• Syberen van Munster and Jackson Hardaker, Messiaen's Modes of Limited Transposition
  

Class Activities

• Discussion and definition of artificial and non-heptatonic scales
• Writing and playing a given artificial or non-heptatonic scale on a given note
• Composing or improvising a melody which uses and emphasizes the unique characteristics of a given artificial or non-heptatonic scale

Assignments

• Writing specified scales
• Identifying and analyzing scales used in written and recorded music