The Complete Book of Scales, Cadences & Arpeggios

In Western Music of the 17th, 18th, and 19th Centuries, the Tonic was historically the most important of all the tones which a composer used in a piece of music. Most pieces began with that note or chord, developed with a series of themes and progressions, and then typically ended with it as well.

This generally accepted form of the day gave the listener a strong sense of beginning, middle, and end. In musical form and analysis, we often refer to these sections of a composition as the Exposition, the Development, and the Recapitulation.

The great composers of the day were masters of developing a piece to its full potential as they told a story through their music while taking the listener on a journey to the outer limits and then back again.

The Complete Book of Scales, Cadences and Arpeggios is designed to give the student this same sense of the Tonal Center in every key, and through careful attention to scales, arpeggios, and chord progressions, open the door to the infinite possibilities of what might occur at the beginning, throughout the process of development, and when the piece is finally concluded.