Scales Root and Transpose questions

#1

So I am a bit of musical luddite. But am starting to teach myself more about musical scales

When selecting a scale on Scales, and then using the Root menu to select a root. What function does that actually serve aside from highlighting the root note? I understand a short press will transpose the scale… but if I do a long hold, is there any functional difference, aside from simply highlighting the root note? This may be a dumb question, but as I said, luddite.

Now as for Transpose… I am looking to set up an A-Minor scale. I think that that is not factory programmed into Scales (I know I can easily set it up myself, but this works towards my question). But I notice that Aeolian in C is. So I select that, and then change the Root to A (from C), with a short press… It does not transpose to A-minor though, as far as I can tell. I assume I am thinking about this all wrong. Maybe someone can set me straight or direct my to some literature that might be helpful. It’s also possible that my question is from such a place of ignorance that it makes no sense at all. lol.

Thanks!

#2

Long-press on scales changes the “reference pitch” of the scale pattern. Then a short press can be used to transpose that pattern to whatever root note you wish, by moving the reference position to the pressed note.

All the preset scales use C as their reference pitch, so if you want to have A aeolian then yes, you should select the Aeolian pattern and then push A with a short press to transpose it.

1 Like
#3

You might find this video useful to make more sense of the ROOT function: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lx_IFBSn6I

2 Likes
#4

Thanks for this! So, starting in C Aeolian (factory preset). Hitting Root then short pressing A, I get to my A Minor Aeolean Scale, but then clicking the Root button again reverts me back to C. Is there anyway to make that Root selection stick when going back out of the Root menu. I’d like to then be able to remove certain notes while I am playing, which is not possible within the Root menu.

Better to just set up a custom scale without using the Root function?

#5

The scale should not reset to C when you leave the Root menu.

1 Like
#6

I’ll dig back into this and see if it’s user error. I’ll report back. Thanks!

EDIT: I was originally testing it without the sequence running. With the sequence running, it works as expected! Thanks so much y’all for helping me sort this out.

1 Like