[prvc]

I think this makes a simple topic needlessly complex. Only the mnemonic "Father Charles Goes Down And Ends Battle" might be worth memorizing, and the rest follows easily. Even that can be replaced by "just go up by fifths starting with F".

[robbrown451]

Strange comment. The site is interactive and allows you to explore a whole lot of music theory. A mnemonic, uhhh... doesn't.

[zozbot234]

The point is that, if you know the mnemonic (and the surrounding tricks), you can do the exact same exploring by noodling at the keyboard (or the fretboard, for that matter) and be sure to get it right. From there, it's easy to explore other parts of music theory, or to develop one's musical audiation skills.

[robbrown451]

If that works for you, ok. I have my keyboard connected to my computer, so I am actually at my keyboard as I use the site. Its still nice that I can click around quickly and hear different chords and scales and such, without having to be held back by my limited piano skills.

Could it be improved if it supported web midi and encouraged you to actually use your keyboard? Maybe. (I actually do web apps that do that) But I'm curious why you can't see its value for what it is, which guides learning rather than just basically saying "figure it out on your own."

[na85]

>and the rest follows easily.

For you maybe. None of music theory makes even a smidgen of sense to me. Absolutely none of it.

FTA:

>First, a reference chart of the major scales, with keys in order of 5ths, as with the circle of fifths. This illustrates that there's just one note difference (at the 7th scale degree) between scales formed from keys that are separated by a fifth.

Uh.. nothing about the circle of fifths illustrates anything. Also it's plain to hear that all those scales have different notes given that they all start on different notes, so clearly they differ by more than just the seventh degree.

I dunno, I hate music theory

[zozbot234]

> Uh.. nothing about the circle of fifths illustrates anything.

Work it out on music paper, keeping in mind the pattern of whole- and half-steps that defines the diatonic scale. You'll see that it works out. It's not directly illustrated by the circle of fifths, as I point out in a sibling comment. But it works.

The musically-relevant consequence is that you can transpose stuff by separately considering diatonic shifts (depending on the interval you're transposing) and chromatic alterations. It's pretty nifty and intuitive.

> Also it's plain to hear that all those scales have different notes given that they all start on different notes, so clearly they differ by more than just the seventh degree.

Nitpicking, the scales are different in how they assign scale degrees but the sets/collections of pitch classes that define the diatonic scale (hence the key signature) differ by one note as described.

[zozbot234]

Well, you need a few tricks to fully internalize the diatonic scales from that mnemonic.

Such as the fact that the circle of fifths also determines the type of sharps or flats found in the matching key signature, and that the last-added "sharp" in the key signature pertains to the leading tone in major (G major has an F#, and so on) or the second scale degree in minor. Conversely, the last-added flat in a key signature pertains to the fourth scale degree in the major mode, and the next-last (if any) to the tonic.

[kzrdude]

I've never had any use for such a mnemonic, it's a needless intermediate