scale theory question

Hey there,
I just joined up and I'm having a great time looking through all the posts. I was wondering something. I'm learning this tune by ear and I've been told it is in F major and its relative minor, D minor..... so I'm wondering how do I know when the scale changes, since the notes are the same in both scales?

Thanks, Amy

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 08/18/2009 15:10:10

OK, So I asked a friend of mine who has played guitar forever. Here is what he said. First if there are chords, and you can recognize them by ear, then you would notice they would change from F based chords to D based chords. (Actually, having read the theory lesson, the root of the chord is the correct way to describe it...chords with a root of F or a root of D). I can't tell the chords by ear yet. But the melody changes in the same way and I can hear that well enough. My friend said that the major scale sounds brighter and the minor scale sounds darker so if you listen to the melody, you can hear the part that sounds a bit more ominous and there it is. It works for me.

Amy

Hi Amy - if you look on any Lessons page there's a Theory Lesson available. I know that doesn't sound like much fun, but it's been carefully written with bluegrass in mind, and there is much to be learned about relative minors and why they act the way they do.

Andy

Thanks Andy,
I checked out the theory lesson and decided to download because it seems to be a great resource. I guess if you want to go to college you have to study a little !