My studio recital is today. I have mostly piano students right now, one vocal student. I've been hard at work making musical scale bracelets to display after the recital. Musical scale bracelets are similar to the Piano Keyboard bracelet from last post. The most obvious difference is color; musical scale bracelets can be any color combination.
Despite what the keyboard looks like, the white and black keys are equal. White keys with a black key between them are actually farther apart than white keys without. Two notes of any color which are right next to each other are called a half step. When there is one key in between them, it's called a whole step. This string of half and whole steps, in the exact order illustrated by the white keys on the piano, is the musical scale. I prefer the non-keyboard scale bracelets because it isolates the pattern from the keyboard. After all, the pattern is what it's all about; white and black keys are just a distraction. You can start anywhere and just as long as you keep to the pattern, you get the scale. You can also start anywhere on the pattern, and although you will still get a 7 note pattern, each one will be different. Here's what it looks like (twice) when you're getting a Major scale:
* * ** * * ** * ** * * *
On my musical scale bracelets, each of the larger beads is a note in the scale. The pattern only has 7 notes in it, and then it repeats indefinitely. Each set of 7 is called an "octave." Some of my bracelets have only 1 octave around your wrist, others have 2 or 3. On some of them, the distances are exaggerated, with the whole steps very far apart.
Why do I make jewelry based on this pattern? That's for another post! I've been waiting to write about this until I have an efficient, effective way of explaining it, and that moment is still not here! Until then, we'll just have to make do with my 4 am babblings above, and a few pictures...
Eyes are closing... Just a little peek into my etsy favorites before I'm gone.
Good night!
Anne-Marie
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