About this exercise
Natural Minor Scale
Half of the songs you love are in a minor key, and the natural minor scale sounds different enough from the major that singers who only drill major go flat on minor melodies without knowing why. The lowered third, sixth, and seventh each sit a half step below where a major-trained ear expects them, so the exercise trains the ear as much as the voice. This exercise plays the natural minor scale and follows your pitch up and down through it, marking the degrees where you drifted toward the major note. Most singers find the lowered sixth the hardest to hold, which is exactly the note that gives minor melodies their pull. A few minutes here makes the next minor-key song feel like it is in a key you actually know.
How to do it
- Sing the natural minor scale up and down.
- Hear how it sounds darker than major.
- Use "la" on each note. Each round starts a half step higher.
Minor keys run through lots of popular music. Singing them in tune gives you a darker, sadder color to use.
What the app listens for
with headphones, your pitch in cents against each note, and whether you held it in tune.
What comes next
Compare major and minor scales within your comfortable range, then practise the lowered third and sixth as individual intervals.
If singing hurts, stop. Pain, hoarseness, extra effort, lost range or constant throat clearing for more than a day? See an ENT or laryngologist, or a speech therapist who works with singers. Don’t practice harder.
What is the relative minor?
Every major key has a relative minor that shares the same notes but starts on the 6th degree. C major → A minor. G major → E minor. Songs often switch between them for emotional contrast - verse in minor, chorus in major.
What are scale degrees?
Numbers 1-7 assigned to each note of a scale. 1 = root (home), 3 = the note that determines major/minor, 5 = the power note, 7 = the leading tone that wants to resolve to 1. Singers use these to understand melody structure.
What is a musical interval?
The distance between two pitches. Measured in half steps (semitones). A half step is one fret or one piano key. Common intervals: minor 3rd (3), major 3rd (4), perfect 4th (5), perfect 5th (7), octave (12).