Patterns & skip countingGrades 4–6

Twelve notes on a clock

Music counts to twelve and starts again, just like a clock. Step round by ones and twos and watch the pattern of a major scale appear.

SequencesArithmetic

Music counts to twelve and then starts again, exactly like a clock face. One step round is a semitone. Two steps is a tone. Skip round in the right pattern and a major scale appears.

Tap any note on the circle to start from there.

take a step — and listen

started on C · walked +0 steps · now on C

Keep going. Twelve steps gets you back to the note you started on.

the Scale Rule

Build C major

2tone2tone1semi2tone2tone2tone1semi

2 + 2 + 1 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 1 = 12

Seven steps, and they add to twelve — a whole lap of the circle. That is why the eighth note of a scale has the same name as the first one.

C0D2E4F5G7A9B11C12

the small numbers are how many steps you have taken so far: 0, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, 12

From the NSM syllabus

“Notes on the Piano, Fretboard & Note Circle with Semitones & Tones (up & down)”
“Formation of the Major Scale with the Piano Worm and Scale Rules”

Skip counting, out loud

Counting in twos round the circle — 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 — hits only half the notes and gets you home after six jumps. Counting in ones takes twelve. Same circle, different stride.

A pattern, not a list

Nobody memorises twelve separate scales. You memorise one pattern — 2, 2, 1, 2, 2, 2, 1 — and start it anywhere on the circle. That is what a rule is for.

Round and round

Pass twelve and the names start again, just as a clock passes 12 and returns to 1. The note sounds higher, but it wears the same name.

For the classroom

Learning goals

Skip counting on a circle of twelve: steps of 1 and steps of 2, forwards and backwards, with the landing point predicted before it is checked.
Reading and continuing a fixed pattern — 2, 2, 1, 2, 2, 2, 1 — and adding it to confirm that seven steps cover all twelve places.
Running totals: 0, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, 12 as a cumulative sum built one step at a time.

Try this

1.Start on C. Ask the class to predict where +2 then +2 then +1 lands before pressing anything, then check by ear.
2.Build C major, then B♭ major. Ask what stayed the same (the pattern, and the total of 12) and what changed (every single note name).
3.Count round in twos from C and list where you land. Ask why you never land on C♯ — and what happens if you start the twos from C♯ instead.