How to Play D Major Scale: Beginner Piano
Quick video for you guys today!
Sheet music for D major scale
As usual, we’re starting with 1 octave scales – as we progress, they will begin to get more difficult.
Other beginner scales
Below is a list of the other beginner scales we’ve made videos for so far – Everything on this list is 1 octave, and hands separate. For more scales, please visit the “Categories” page.
A natural minor scale (1 octave)
A harmonic minor scale (1 octave)
D natural and harmonic minor scale (1 octave)
Why scales?
Scales are often thought of as tedious and dry, but they’re extremely useful to know and understand as a musician. Knowing scales – and their individual flavors of sharps or flats – allows you to instantly understand key signatures (the sharps/flats that hover at the beginning of a line of music).
Most songs are based on a “key”. For example, if we say a song is in the “Key of C major”, what we’re saying is that it’s based off C major scale, and therefore has no sharps or flats (unless otherwise indicated in the music).
So in the case of D major scale, if you see a piece that has two sharps in the key signature, you can bet that the piece is based on D major scale.
(Unless it’s not: Every major scale has a minor counterpart. For more info on how that works, check out this video on Major and Minor doppelgangers.)
xo,
Allysia
[…] signature: Two sharps, which means we’re in either the key of D major (see this video on D major scale), and if you remember how to tell major and minor keys apart (major vs. minor keys), B minor. But […]
[…] in the key of D major, or B minor (see the videos how to tell major and minor keys apart, and D major scale) – the first couple notes suggest it’s D […]