Question on Scale Degrees
Mon, 06/17/2019 - 13:36
Hi David!
Thanks for the music theory studies! I now have a better understanding of music than I have ever had before. But I have a small clarifying question;
When I hear a musician speaking of going up (or down), say a 5th, are they speaking then, of going up the scale to that next key? Say, from C going up to the G scale on their cording? (I recently watched a documentary on the making of an album by Cream, and I heard that mentioned a few times.)
Hello Barn0wl2K. I'm glad you're enjoying your studies. When they go up a 5th, they're going up five notes of the scale, based on the key they are in... they are not changing keys.
For example... if you're in the key of C, the 5th would be G.
If they say they're "going to THE 5," then they're speaking of chords, not scale degrees (individual notes). So if they say they're going to the "5," then they're going to the 5 chord. In music we write that with roman numerals, so it would be the V.