A piano-first introduction to the small patterns behind every melody, chord, and progression.
An interval is simply the distance between two notes. On a piano, the keyboard makes that distance visible.
Move to the very next key—white or black—with no key in between.
C → C♯ is a half step. So are E → F and B → C—even though both keys are white.
Move two half steps. One key is passed on the way.
C → D is a whole step: C → C♯ → D. E → F♯ is also a whole step.
No key is skipped. C♯ is the very next key above C.
E → F is the first half step; F → F♯ is the second.
The white D sits between the two black-key endpoints.
Scales are the building blocks of chords & harmony, And, every major (and minor) scale follows the same sequence of whole and half steps no matter what note or key you start on. Change the starting note; keep the pattern.
No black keys are needed because the natural half steps E–F and B–C fall exactly where the formula needs them. It is VERY important to memorize this pattern of whole and half steps; This pattern never changes for any major scale; All 12 (13) of them!
Scales and their sequential pattern of notes let us describe musical relationships in any key*. The note names change; the numbers keep their meaning.
* “Key” will be explained further in a future lesson.
A triad is a three-note chord. Start on a root, skip a scale note, take the next note, skip again, and take the next.
The root names the chord. The third tells us whether it feels *major or *minor. The fifth gives stability—or changes the chord when lowered or raised, and in many chords is the weakest note and, in certain circumstances, may sometimes be eliminated altogether.
In F major, notes 1–3–5 are F–A–C. That creates an F-major triad.
These types form the basis for almost every other chord. Keep C as the root and change just one or two notes. Listen to how a tiny change transforms the chord’s color.
C–E–G
clear · stableC–E♭–G
dark · reflectiveC–E♭–G♭
tense · unstableC–E–G♯
bright · unsettledC major: C–E–G · 1–3–5
Each later module will reuse the visual language you learned here: distance, degree, formula, sound.
Build a triad on every scale degree: I, ii, iii, IV, V, vi, vii°.
Add the seventh and hear tension resolve.
See why roots moving by fourths feel inevitable.
Temporarily make any chord sound like home.
Compare jazz, pop, and classical harmonic choices.
Move each note smoothly from chord to chord.