Naturally Occurring 3s and 4s
Found in: Scale & Key Signature
Megan F., Nebraska
Would someone please explain exactly what “naturally occurring 3’s and 4’s” means? I’ve watched videos in which this concept is mentioned, but maybe I’ve missed something along the way. Is it breaking down a scale into groups of three and four notes? Do you start on the tonic of the scale? I’m also a little confused about key signature shapes. Is there a diagram of this somewhere or are we supposed to map out the shapes as we see them?
Neil Moore
Hi Megan, not sure if you have the “Time For More Music” Teacher Training Program? It’s additional source material that you use after getting the Reading Program (Rhythm and Pitch). The ‘key signature shapes’ you mention, as well as the Naturally Occurring 3s & 4s, are addressed in detail in the Key Signature and Scale section of that training program. You also mentioned that you have ‘watched the videos’. Was it the videos that I have just mentioned?
Megan F., Nebraska
Yes, I guess I was just confused because the key signature shapes don’t necessarily match up with the Naturally Occurring 3s & 4s, correct? For instance, in the example you give of G flat, the notes are in groups of five and two when you map it out visually. I watched the video again and it’s beginning to make more sense to me (I think). However, I’m still a little fuzzy on how to map out the scale journeys. Could there could be various ways to see the patterns? Using G flat as an example again, could someone see it as two curved lines instead of an arch and a straight line?
Mark M., New York
In TFMM, the steps are clarified — we first make a map of the visual/geography of the scale on the keyboard, which doesn’t necessarily relate in any particular way to the fingering. Then we do a different map for the NO 3 & 4 to make that geography practical, and that NO 3 & 4 in turn does not necessarily relate in any particular way to the tonic of the scale.