Introducing the natural minor
Introduction | The sound of natural minor | Teaching major and minor | Which subjects does this apply to?
Minor changes to the syllabus
From 2012, we will be introducing the natural minor as a requirement for all Bowed Strings at Grade 1 and as an extra option (in addition to the harmonic and melodic forms) for all instruments at Grades 1 and 2, where applicable. Here, Nigel Scaife, ABRSM’s Syllabus Director, shares his thoughts on why the easiest minor scale is so useful in teaching.
For some time now we’ve been debating the role of the natural minor scale in teaching and learning, something that was sparked by the idea of introducing this scale for string players at Grade 1. The reasoning is that through having the easiest minor within the scales at the earliest grades, a student’s understanding of the minor mode, very much linked to its relative major, can begin to be encouraged both aurally and theoretically.
Until now, the strings weren’t introduced to the minor modality until Grade 2, because the technical challenges of melodic or harmonic scales are too great until this stage, especially with the finger stretches they demand. However, there are usually a few minor key pieces in the repertoire from the very beginning, as the finger patterns can be limited to conform to the technical level. So while non-string players get to grips with major and relative minor scales on the first rung of the graded ladder, string players are currently left behind. It does seem to make sense to have a minor scale when there are always pieces in the Grade 1 Violin Exam Pieces book in a minor key. It then seemed a logical next step to introduce the natural minor as an additional option for all instruments at Grades 1 and 2, where applicable.
Grove’s definition
For many the whole idea of ‘natural minor’ will be completely new, because these words have not been used in ABRSM theory materials (although interestingly, they do appear in the materials offered by LCM and Trinity Guildhall). So to be clear, let me quote the ultimate authority in all things musical - the famous Grove’s Dictionary of Music and Musicians:
‘There are three ways of conceiving the minor scale in tonal theory. The natural minor (ex.1) consists simply of the ascending or descending sequence of tones and semitones given under the scale from A to A in Table 1.
Example 1
The melodic minor (ex. 2) has raised sixth and seventh degrees ascending, but is the same as the natural minor descending. This scale can be abstracted from the characteristic movement of minor key melodies where the raised seventh acts as a leading note in the ascending direction (the sixth is raised to avoid an augmented interval between the sixth and seventh degrees).
Example 2
The harmonic minor scale has a raised seventh in both directions, but the sixth is left unaltered. In this way it becomes the product of the three primary harmonic functions, being generated from the triads of the tonic, subdominant, and dominant (with raised third), as illustrated in ex. 3.’
Example 3
Similarly, if you type ‘minor scale’ into Wikipedia (the world’s most popular online dictionary) the first scale to be covered is the natural minor, and this is also the case with the vast majority of other music theory resources, both online and in print. To a piano teacher in the USA, it would be almost unthinkable to introduce the minor modality without starting with the natural minor. Virtually all American tutor books use the natural minor as the starting point for introducing the concept of major and relative minor. So perhaps this omission in ABRSM materials, dating back to the days of William Cole’s little white books of Questions and Exercises on Theory of Music, needs to be revisited. Perhaps Cole considered this first minor to be something too easy and pre-Grade 1 to be worth including?
Introduction | The sound of natural minor | Teaching major and minor | Which subjects does this apply to?