Working out what scale i'm in?

Chords, scales, harmony, melody, etc.
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Hey folks,

If I've got say 2 bars of music wrote out, just random keys I've pressed on the keyboard and I then wanted to figure out what scales those notes fall into what's the first step to achieving this?

I understand how scales are made up and I've wrote pieces based on a certain scale before but i'd like to try to work out a melody the other way. My end goal would be to go to a keyboard, start hitting notes, make something i like, then understand what I've wrote scale wise and take it further from there.

Any tips would be great.

Cheers folks.

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You'll just have to solve the puzzle of what scale(s) fit your random notes. Could be (much) more than one, and not all notes need to be in the scale (these are accidentals I think). But you should start with finding a root. Use your musical instinct for that, what the "center of gravity" is for your limited set of notes.
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BertKoor wrote:You'll just have to solve the puzzle of what scale(s) fit your random notes. Could be (much) more than one, and not all notes need to be in the scale (these are accidentals I think). But you should start with finding a root. Use your musical instinct for that, what the "center of gravity" is for your limited set of notes.
It sounds like what you're saying is that it's based more on what scale you want it to be in rather than what scale it's supposed to fit into.

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There are only so much scales that use, let's say, F# and C# simultaneously. Use basicmusictheory.com and work it out by exclusion. Sometimes hearing the root is not very hard, too. Beware: sometimes your scale might change over course of as little as one bar, example:

E natural minor scale; (e f# g a b c d)
progression:
Em G C B

You can note that every chord complies with the row we've listed above, except B (which is b d# f#). So you augment your 7th degree and then drop it back down. Be aware of different scales if you play "from your heart". :) But I do like your approach, it really works.
topbanana wrote:It sounds like what you're saying is that it's based more on what scale you want it to be in rather than what scale it's supposed to fit into.
Are you familiar with related keys? :)
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- Find the root note of your song. Usually the bass plays the root note on the first beat either at the start of the intro or at the start of the verse/chorus (but not always), and most songs end with the bass playing the root as well. Melody almost always finishes on the root note (and often starts on the root, third or fifth).

- When you play a note a third above your root note, is it a major third or a minor third?
-> Major third: Major key (or something close like mixolydian mode)
-> Minor third: Minor key (or something close like the dorian mode)

Reference:
Key of C: major 3rd = E, minor 3rd = Eb
Key of D: major 3rd = F#, minor 3rd = F
Key of E: major 3rd = G#, minor 3rd = G
Key of F: major 3rd = A, minor 3rd = Ab
Key of G: major 3rd = B, minor 3rd = Bb
Key of A: major 3rd = C#, minor 3rd = C
Key of B: major 3rd = D#, minor 3rd = D

Key of Db/C#: major 3rd = F, minor 3rd = E
Key of Eb: major 3rd = G, minor 3rd = Gb
Key of F#: major 3rd = A#, minor 3rd = A
Key of Ab/G#: major 3rd = C, minor 3rd = B
Key of Bb: major 3rd = D, minor 3rd = Db

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