scales in a KEY

i have lessons on keys.like for eg. in the KEY OF C.........da notes are of C MAOJOR scale...but ppl tell me dat there are 3 scales in a key.....can u ppl help me out wid how to find out the three scales of a key??

Well, if you play in the key of C, you can just play that C major scale. It will sound good even if you change chords (C-F-G), because the F lydian scale and the G mixolydian scale have the same notes as the C major (Ionian) scale.

But you just have to experiment using also notes in between them, that sound good. Different musical styles use different scales. Just go with what sounds good.

you mean C minor ,C major and C chromatic?

The natural minor scale is just a mode of the diatonic scale. The melodic minor and the harmonic minor are two seperate scales. But then there's indeed still the chromatic scale (as mightydave said), diminished scale, pentatonic scale, whole tone scale and a whole lot of exotic other scales. So I think there should be more then just three scales for each key. But don't worry too much about them :)

Well in the Key of C there are alot of scales (more than 3). There is the C Major scale (Ionian) the A minor scale (Aeolian) then there are the pent scales... F and G pent major and E,D and A pent minor. These all fit into the Key of C.
Also the C Major scale is made up of the scales C ionian, D dorian, E phrygian, F Lydian, G mixolydian, A aeolian, and B locrian.
The chromatic wouldn't actually be one of the scales. That is the scale that all other scales are derived from.

ah, i was reading these posts..and i was waiting for someone to say what bodom said...if ur playin in any key, there are seven different modes you can play in...which means at the very least you have seven different scales to choose from...basically what bodom said...and after you have those seven scales down (which i should add- are simply variations of the root scale, which is the ionian mode [first mode or first position] of whatever key you are in) you can find many variations of those scales...there are so many variations of scales that you could write a book longer than the bible...

Playing a c minor over a major chord progression doesn't sound bad... it has a nice weird sound that I'd liken to the start of a show or album.

Hey Ash!
Look in the 'lessons' section of this site - there's a whole lesson on MODES written by this really cool, intelligient guy called Afro_Raven. Check it out - it should help to answer some of your questions!

Afro

I'll make sure I read that myself. I understand what modes are, and what they're for... but I don't know the names and their order.