About the Scale Palette
The Scale Palette serves several functions. First, it gives you a
complete overview of all 12 keys for any scale. You can use the
Scale Palette as a reference to see how tones function in different
modes and keys.
The Scale Palette also provides the means to set the context of your
chords. You can define the key to which a chord belongs and which
note in that key will serve as the root note of the chord (and
that determines how the chord is named).
Finally, you can use the Scale Palette to add tones and triads to
your chords by double and triple-clicking.
Palette Features
- Current Mode / Scale
- There are 10 scales available: the 7 modes of the Major
Scale, Harmonic Minor, Melodic Minor, and Oriental. The color of
the scale's name indicates that the scale is Major, Minor, or
Diminished.
- Scale Arrows
- Use these arrows to change scales.
- Scale Heading
- These are the tones of the Current Mode as they relate to the Major Scale.
These are color coded to indicate the type of chord harmony
that extends from each scale degree. There are four types indicated: Major,
Minor, Diminished, and Other (in gray).
- Key Column
- The twelve keys are arranged by default in the order of the Circle of
Fifths. You can click and drag in the Key Column to move the
Scale Cursor between keys without affecting the horizontal
position.
- Scale Box
All the scales are laid out here for you to see and interact with.
You move the Scale Cursor by clicking in this box. You can also:
- Double-click to add a tone to the Current Chord.
- ⌥ Double-click to subtract a tone from the Current Chord.
- Triple-click to add a triad to the Current Chord.
- ⌥ Triple-click to subtract a triad from the Current Chord.
- Scale Cursor
-
You use the Scale Cursor to browse tones in the scale and to
select a root tone for the Current Chord. A yellow border
indicates that a tone is the root of the Current Chord.
- The ⌥↑ ⌥↓ ⌥← ⌥→ key combinations move the Scale
Cursor.
- ⌥ Tab adds the Scale Tone to the Current Chord and moves
the Scale Cursor up a third.
- Illumination Button
- Click this button to toggle tone illumination. When enabled,
tones in the Current Chord are illuminated in the scale, and
only the illuminated tones ring out when you click on them. When
disabled all tones ring when you click on them.
- Tone Modifier
-
The tone modifier gives you access to tones outside the
current keyscale by raising or lowering the tone at the
Scale Cursor. The tone modifier remains in effect until you
select a new chord or perform some operation that updates
the chord root.
Chords and Scales
Chords are customarily built from three or more tones. (Two tones are
called a harmony.) So
to build a complete C triad start with the Root
(C), add its third (E), and the next third (G). You can add a triad
in a single step by triple-clicking on any note in the scale or by
using the Triad Button.
Scales and chords are intimately related. A chord is said to
"belong" to a scale if it contains only tones that appear
in that scale. Any particular chord may fit into more than one key,
which is what makes it possible to move between keys. The more notes
a chord has the fewer keys it will fit.
Every 7-tone scale has 7 basic chord harmonies
from which all its other chords are built. Each harmony is built
from three successive thirds starting from its
position in the scale. (A third corresponds to three steps in the
scale, so for example if we want to find the tone a third up from F
in the Ionian Scale we count F-G-A, which tells us that A is a third
away from F.)
The seven harmonies of the key of C are shown here:
Degree | Chord | Tones |
I | C | C E G |
II | Dm | D F A |
III | Em | E G B |
IV | F | F A C |
V | G | G B D |
VI | Am | A C E |
VII | Bo | B D F |
|