Arturia KEYSTEP PRO User Manual page 91

When playing a C major scale starting on the fifth step, it's a Mixolydian scale.
Creating Scales in this way is an age-old trick. Scales created this way are referred to as
church modes, forgotten for centuries but rediscovered by jazz musicians in the sixties. They
are now widely used in western music.
5.5.1.1. Selecting Scales
If you select a scale with the SHIFT + Scale Key option everything in the currently selected
track, what you play on Keystep Pro keyboard, the track sequence, the track arpeggio will
play in that scale; it's a Track setting.
Note: You can use this feature to your advantage by creating Tracks with different Scale and
Root settings. By muting and unmuting track, you can drastically change the tonal effect of
your performance.
The Scale option works as a filter. It selects eight notes from the chromatic scale. For every
scale, it's a different set of notes. In technical terms, it quantizes the default chromatic scale
(C, Db, D, Eb, E, F, Gb, G, Ab, A, Bb, B) to either the:
• Major scale (C, D, E, F, G, A, B)
• Minor scale (C, D, Eb, F, G, A, Bb, B)
• Dorian scale (C, D, Eb, F, G, A, Bb)
• Mixolydian scale (C, D, E, F, G, A, Bb)
• Harmonic Minor scale (C, D, E, F, G, Ab, B)
• Blues scale (C, D, Eb, F, Gb, G, Ab, A, Bb)
To hear (and see) the effect of selecting a scale on your Keystep Pro, switch it on if it isn't
on already (do you ever turn it off?) and select a preset on your external synth with a fairly
simple sound.
Press SHIFT + Scale Key B to select the "Major scale". When you now play the "white" keys
you'll hear the major scale. The odd thing is that the "black" keys also play the major scale.
The first black key which normally plays C# now plays "C". All "black" keys are stripped of
there normal pitch and have been lowered a semitone to fit in the C major scale. Whatever
chord you play on the keyboard, it will always be a major chord!
Let's explore these scales. Press play to activate the Arpeggio and, starting from "C", hold
down the first, third, and fifth steps of the scale; you're playing a C major chord. Press SHIFT
+ Scale Key to select other scales; you'll hear the third step changing when you select the
Minor scale, the Dorian scale or the Blues scale
Note: A nifty trick is to start an arpeggio or sequence in a certain scale, then select another
scale with the SHIFT +ScaleKey option. You'll hear you arpeggio or sequence change scale
on the fly. Remember, the Keystep Pro has three arpeggiators
TIP: Use the Bend strip to change the pitch of your arpeggio.
Arturia - User Manual Keystep Pro - Making Tracks 85