Scales vs Keys vs Modes vs Ragas - Music Theory 🎼

Learn how Scales, Keys, Modes, Ragas & Key Signature work and the similarities and differences between them with this Detailed Music Theory lesson.

What are the differences between a Scale and a Key in music? What in the world are Modes? Are Ragas and Scales the same thing? Let's dive in and unravel these vital music theory fundamentals! For additional learning, make sure to check out other videos from our YouTube channel explaining these subjects in greater detail.

All of our content on the Circle of Fifths:

More videos we've done on Modes:

An Overview of Subset Scales

🎓 Learn Music With Nathaniel School of Music & Jason Zac:

Chapters:
00:00 Performance
00:40 Introduction
02:52 Scales vs. Keys
06:02 What are Key Signatures?
07:45 Let's Look at the Key of C
15:17 What are Modes?
16:49 Relative Modes
22:19 Parallel Modes
24:06 What are Ragas?
26:14 Revision and Conclusion

📞 [phone] (Mobile & WhatsApp)

[Eliminator]

Sir
I respect your patience in teaching us all these lessons
Much appreciated.

[jean.marion]

For anyone wondering, the dreamy mode starting on F is called Lydian.

[Loïc-lc]

You are one of the rare person that answer to the "Why?". Most of people just describe what scales are which can be very confusing for beginner like me. Thank you!

[Pianuaria]

What a fantastic overview on these four concepts. Thank your for taking the time. Greetings from Pianuaria, Spain.

[JitendraWagh]

found someone with much searching. Truly a great teacher, a great teaching technique.

[ahallekatti]

very nice Nathaniel. drawing parallels and relations with these four elements is such fun, and the way to understand and evolve in music.🙏🙏🙏

[reziahamed]

Loving these so so so much .... These Modal interchanges with these techniques are inspiringly jaw dropping stuff. Much Love Dear Jason Sir... :)

[markkestner]

Wow, you’re really good at teaching this in a very easily understandable way with all these analogies. This really helped!

[DaBaSoftware]

Wonderful lesson! You helped me bridge a gap in my improv knowledge with your explanation of going from c major to a minor while running to a different mode. It just clicked. Thanks professor!

[robertpien]

Jason Loved the breakdown it makes music so much more reachable to beginners to understand and enjoy it. It takes the complacency down of how it use to be taught very useful.

[PascuBlaham]

This has to be one of my favourite lessons out there!

[eli-shulga]

That was so eye opening! A lot of things finally clicked. Parallel and relative modes really cleared understanding of modes.
Playing around a lot lately with getting out of the diatonic "cage" and this lesson helps a lot in clarifying how to use modes for that.

Still not fully understand how one determine a song key if there is a lot of modes used and you don't start on the tonic?

Spending a lot of hours on your teachings and practicing them.
A gold mine of knowledge no less. Incredible contribution to online aspiring pianist and musicians
Thanks you!

[billhasty]

Always interesting content to learn from. Never stale. Thank You Jason.

[rashminbhatt]

Really took Great efforts to teach in very simple manner, ,Thanks .

[manusen]

Thank you sir. You are an awesome communicator!!!

[tomgleason]

This is the best use of my time. Thanks!

[ivanquish]

A future lesson could be about:
When is it better to attach chords to the bassline or rather to the upper voice? For example to harmonize a melody, inventing a unique, homophonic chord progression, learning the diatonic inversions over scale tones, for ear training (figuring out harmony) or singing exercises... Greetings

[MusicDive-exmi]

Many thanks, finally I think I understood. What misled me until now were the phrases like "C major scale" and alike, while actually it is somewhat inaccurate shortcut of "major scale in C key".

[veeraraghavuluarigela]

Goodmorning Sir, Very Nice Explanation of the Concept of Key, Scale,Mode and Raaga .Thank you Sir.

[Lucifer-p]

I'm always waiting for your lesson because your lesson so helpful😊Thank you sir