what are scales
FROM WIKIPEDIA:
In music, a scale is a group of musical notes that provides material for part or all of a musical work. Scales are ordered in pitch or pitch class, with their ordering providing a measure of musical distance............
In many musical circumstances, a specific note of the scale will be chosen as the "tonic"--the central and most stable note of the scale. Relative to a choice of tonic, the notes of a scale are often labeled with numbers recording how many scale steps above the tonic they are. For example, the notes of the C diatonic scale (C, D, E, F, G, A, B) can be labeled {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7}, reflecting the choice of C as tonic. The term "scale degree" refers to these numerical labels. In the C diatonic scale, with C chosen as tonic, C is the first scale degree, D is the second scale degree, and so on.
IN PLAIN ENGLISH:
In Western oriented music, there are essentially 12 notes, A, A#/Bb, B, C, C#/Db, D, D#/Eb, E, F, F#/Gb, G, G#/Ab.
Where you see "#" that means SHARP. Where you see "b", that means FLAT. A# and Bb are basically the same note. What you call it and how you write it depends on what key you are in.
A KEY is basically a way of telling the musician what NOTES he/she has to select from and how to manage those selections when applying them to a SCALE. Every song has a KEY. Every KEY has a variety of SCALES. In the KEY of C, the notes are C, Db, D, Eb, E, F, Gb, G, Ab, A, Bb, B
A Major SCALE in the KEY of C would be C, D, E, F, G, A, B. It's a subset of the notes available to you in the KEY of C.
One Minor SCALE in the KEY of C would be C, D, Eb, F, G, Ab, Bb, C. A different subset of the notes available to you in the KEY of C.
Hope that helps.
Peace,
James
