Scales
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Whistle Tutorial - Lesson 1.7
Keys and Scales
The sequence of notes that you played on the last page (Lesson 1.6) is actually a scale played in the key of D major. It would be rather dull if every tune was in the same key; indeed when playing a number of tunes together in a set, changes of key can sound very dramatic and lift the music. When we talk about keys in music we're usually talking about what scale is being used. I'll be talking about different types of scales later, but for now we're only concerned with the major.
The major scale is exactly the same as the doh-ray-mi-fa-soh-lah-ti-doh scale. If the key of D is mentioned, it is actually D major that is being talked about. The scale of D major starts and finishes with the note D.
The D major Scale
Although it may seem particularly boring, scales are actually very good for practising technique. It's a good idea to be able to play scales in various keys, and also to memorise the notes of the scale. Try to memorise the notes of the D major scale