After playing all those major scales, you’re probably thinking, “Wow, that was easy. Musical patterns are basic.” And of course, you would be right. But you might have also noticed something strange in the last post. I mean, what’s up with the order of major scales? Why is the C major scale followed by G major … then D

So the chromatic scale is simple. And the most common example of this 12-note pattern is a piano keyboard. Only, you don’t actually play the chromatic scale in music. Instead, musicians use it to make smaller and more interesting patterns. And they do this using “intervals.” Intervals are the gaps or spaces between notes—and they’re basically what

In music, the first and most basic pattern to know is the chromatic scale. It’s actually so basic you might even say it’s the mother of all note patterns. Every scale and every chord comes from the chromatic scale. And nearly all instruments are based on this pattern of notes. The most common example of

So, it seems like color might help us see music patterns. But before we check it out, we should answer a couple of questions. I mean, we don’t want to waste our time if this isn’t going to work. The first question is, “Why haven’t we seen this before?” If color is really that obvious, then color

So how can we see sound? What do music patterns look like? At first, you might think, “Music notation, of course! It shows what notes look like. And it lets you see how patterns rise and fall as you move through a song.” In a way, that’s right—but also wrong. If you’ve ever seen a page

I like patterns. There’s something mysterious about them—but also something natural and basic. Maybe that’s because we’re surrounded by patterns every day, all the time. Some of them we can see—like railroad tracks, trees lining the street, or the windows in a building. And other patterns we can hear—like the tick of a clock, the

A while back, I stumbled upon a great way to play music. Apparently, you can see sound using a special pattern of colors. Of course, I was skeptical about this at first because I thought the idea was impossible. But it’s true—color and music follow the exact same patterns. And this connection is known as

I think we need a breather. I mean, the chromatic scale is cool and all. But all this talk about notes, and sharps, and flats makes me want to relax … at least for a minute or three. It turns out, musical patterns are easy. (How hard can it get with only 12 notes?) But sometimes