How do you play a scale "in sixths" or "in thirds"?
I have developed a new interest in music after many years, so I am brushing up on old stuff that I have long forgotten.
I'm watching some instructional videos which discuss "playing a scale in sixths" or "playing a scale in thirds". The videos also refer to "fourths" and "fifths" in other lessons.
What do these terms refer to? Does it mean the length of the note (in beats)?
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Thirds and sixths are what are called intervals. They measure the distance between two pitches. When you count an interval, we count both the first pitch and the last pitch, so C up to E is a third (C is 1, D is 2, E is 3).
When the two pitches of an interval are played at the same time, we call it a harmonic interval. When the two pitches are played separately, it is a melodic interval.
So a C-major scale played in harmonic thirds would be C-E played together followed by D-F, E-G, F-A, etc.
We can also play a scale using melodic thirds, which would just be C E D F E G F A G B A C B D C.
(I would guess he means the latter definition, but the video was too long for me to find out.)
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