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Whats this?…..GFEDCBA
If you said “I dont Know” you would be like me a few minutes ago.Well, here is a clue. Count to 10. Now count back to 1. Easy Peasy. now do the letters of the scale forwards. easy peasy. Now backward . UHHHH that is a lot harder. But If you did something like this G FED CBA it would be memorized in a flash. Especially if you make it into an easy statement. For me that was Government Federal CBA(oil). I admit that I got the idea from a British site but made up my own mnemonic (I had to look up the word mnemonic). So immediately I can use it to help memorize the fretboard. Another small tool in the toolbox of learning through tac
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10 Replies
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I would say those are the notes used to play a descending Am scale!😱
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Hey @Mrfredsporty
My suggestion is if you are going to memorize the letters for music, memorize them in the proper order. F, C, G, D, A, E, B. Then if you go backwards, B, E, A, D, G, C, F. The first one is the order of notes or chords by 5ths. The second one is the order of notes or chords by 4ths. If you can memorize this sequence, you will never need the circle of 5ths or any other chart.
To understand this, go to N-Light Music Theory on YouTube.
MG 😀
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Father Charles goes down and ends battle.Battle ends and down goes Charles father
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That’s a great tool you’ve found there Mrfredsporty! Great win! 👏🎸😎
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I know this approach with some people, but I always remember that “in fourteen hundred and ninety-three Columbus sailed the deep blue sea”. Must be one of those “right brain – left brain – no brain” issues. I guess I should just accept the group I’m in.
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we are special🙃
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Great memory aid and learning aides @Mrfredsporty and @N-lightMike !
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TY,KM!
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I think it’s good to know both the circle of 5ths forward, backwards and upside down, as well as to know the descending scales in order of scale degree.
I have a really cool clock that has the circle of fifths instead of the usual numbers 1-12, so I am always looking at that. For the scales, try doing verbal exercises. Say the letters backwards for 2 octaves: G F E D C B A G F E D C B A
Then start with the next letter and go 2 octaves: F E D C B A G F E D C B A G
Keep it going: E D C B A G F E D C B A G F
D C B A G F E D C B A G F E
C B A G F E D C B A G F E D
B A G F E D C B A G F E D C
A G F E D C B A G F E D C B
This will get your brain super familiar with saying the scale backwards from any starting note without thinking. Very useful during a song.
Another useful mental drill is to do the same thing but in thirds. (Both ascending and descending). This helps with chords, harmonies, and if you get pulled over you can really turn the cards around… hahaha!!!
C E G B D F A C
C A F D B G E C
G B D F A C E G
G E C A F D B G
Etc etc etc.
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Hey @Carol-3M-Stillhand Carol;
These are great exercises. It’s really good to be able to work with these letters intuitively, automatically. It really helps in our playing.
However, GFEDCBAGFEDCBA isn’t 2 octaves. It’s missing the 2nd octave. So it’s 1 octave + 7th. It’s really important in music to recognize that the whole musical system is based on G to G, or whatever note you are playing using as your root. The 1st and 2nd overtones of your root are the 1st and 2nd octave. That’s the basis of everything else. The notes in between are just that, they were derived based on their relationship within the octave.
That was my point above. Doing mental gymnastics with the musical letters is a wonderful thing to do, but do it musically, not grammatically.
MG 😀
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