Natural Minor Scale
La Ti Do Re Mi Fa So La
"Natural Minor Scale" is a cornerstone of Western music, distinguished by its sequence of whole and half steps that infuse it with a poignant and introspective mood. Foundational to compositions spanning diverse genres, it imparts a melancholic quality that resonates with listeners.
The natural minor scale is sung as "La-Ti-Do-Re-Mi-Fa-So-La", and the order of intervals is "W-H-W-W-H-W-W".
In contrast to the major scale, the natural minor scale's third, sixth, and seventh degrees experience a decrease of half a step. This nuanced shift is instrumental in crafting its distinctive minor key atmosphere, invoking sentiments of wistfulness, reflection, and enigma.
Compositions artfully employing the natural minor scale yield an interplay of tension and resolution when harmonized with chords aligning to its tonality. While it finds a frequent home in classical compositions, its presence also reverberates throughout an array of contemporary genres, offering composers and musicians a palette to articulate a spectrum of emotions through its evocative tonal palette.
Example of Natural Minor Scale
Common Related Scales
| Tonality | Solfège |
| Major | Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti Do |
| Harmonic Minor | La Ti Do Re Mi Fa Si(#) La |
| Melodic Minor (A) | La Ti Do Re Mi Fi(#) Si(#) La |
| Melodic Minor (D) | La So Fa Mi Re Do Ti La |
| Natural Minor | La Ti Do Re Mi Fa So La |
| Pentatonic | Do Re Mi So La |
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Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven, German composer, the predominant musical figure during the transition between the Classical to Romantic eras. He occupies an unprecedented dominance in the history of Western music history, and has been widely regarded as the greatest, most influential and most popular musician who ever lived.
Beethoven's music inherited the artistic atmosphere of Haydn and Mozart, penetrated the desire for dignity, vented the anger tortured by fate, and demonstrated his determination to fight with fate.
Compared to other musicians, Beethoven is effectively to interact the philosophy of life with audience through music. Although he was not a romantic, he had become the object followed by other romantics.
As a musician, Beethoven suffered from ear diseases. However, he was unwilling to succumb to fate, vowing to take fate by the throat, and continue to complete his career. In the last ten years of his life, without hearing any sound, his compositions influenced the development of music for nearly two hundred years.