A Minor Scale

Play A-B-C-D-E-F-G-A. Its steps are whole, half, whole, whole, half, whole, whole. B-C and E-F are the half steps. Compared with A major, the third, sixth and seventh notes are lower: C instead of C sharp, F instead of F sharp, and G instead of G sharp.

You can locate A on the piano as the white key between G and B. Go up through the white keys to the next A. Start slowly enough to name each note; speed adds nothing if you have lost your place.

C major has exactly the same seven pitch names. The difference is which note the phrase treats as home. Hold a low A and play A-C-E-G-A above it. Now hold a low C and play C-E-G-B-C. The notes come from the same collection, yet the bass and ending change the center you hear.

This is why "all white keys" is not a complete definition of A minor. It tells you the available notes, but not which one has the strongest pull as a resting point.

Stack alternate scale notes to make three-note chords. On A, that gives A-C-E, or Am. On B, it gives B-D-F, or Bdim. Continue and the seven triads are Am, Bdim, C, Dm, Em, F and G.

Try Am-Dm-Em-Am. Then replace Em with E major, E-G sharp-B. The G sharp falls outside natural minor but leads by a half step to A; that is a common sound in music in A minor. A Harmonic Minor explains the raised note.

Play the scale up once and down once, ending on A both times. Then play just A-C-E, the A-minor chord, followed by G-A. Ask whether the ending feels settled. If you want more pull into A, change G to G sharp and compare without changing any other note.