Practical Music Theory 1c:
The Major Scale

Please note, some of this same material appears on the page entitled "Introduction to the Modes."

The major scale can be thought of as the most basic building block of Western music. The sound of it is recognizable to pretty much anybody, even non-musicians. Check it out:

Listen to a C major scale

The C major scale is the easiest one to visualize on the piano because it is the only major scale that is played on all white keys, from C going up to the next C. Visualize it on the keyboard:

If we look at the intervals between the notes (in other words, the distance from each note to the next one), you can see that most of the time, there is a black key between the two white keys--for example, the note C# (a.k.a. Db) is between the C and the D. But there are two places where there is NOT a black key between the white keys--between E and F, and also between B and C. When there IS a black key between the white keys, the interval is a WHOLE STEP (which translates to two frets on the guitar--D is two frets away from C on the neck of the guitar). When there is NOT a black key in between, the interval is a HALF STEP (which translates to ONE fret on the guitar--notes that are a half step apart are on adjacent frets, as in C# to D).

Now, as we go through the C major scale, look at the pattern of whole steps and half steps created by the scale (W=whole step, H=half step):

C to D = W
D to E = W
E to F = H
F to G = W
G to A = W
A to B = W
B to C = H

This pattern of whole steps and half steps (WWHWWWH) is the defining characteristic of a major scale. In other words, it makes the major scale sound the way it sounds (listen again). This pattern is unique to the major scale--all other scales have different arrangements of half steps and whole steps.

We can spell out a major scale in any key using this pattern. Try plugging in this pattern starting on E (look at the above keyboard diagram for reference), which gives us an E major scale:

E-w-F#-w-G#-h-A-w-B-w-C#-w-D#-h-E
Listen

 

Now let's take a look at ALL of the major scales. Again, if you plug in the pattern WWHWWWH beginning on any note, you will have a major scale. But the chart below will save you all that work.

Table of Major Scales
(read across)

I "root"	II	III	IV	V "dominant"	VI	VII "leading tone"
C	D	E	F	G	A	B
C# (Db)	D# (Eb)	E# (F)	F# (Gb)	G# (Ab)	A# (Bb)	B# (C)
D	E	F#	G	A	B	C#
Eb	F	G	Ab	Bb	C	D
E	F#	G#	A	B	C#	D#
F	G	A	Bb	C	D	E
F# (Gb)	G# (Ab)	A# (Bb)	B (Cb)	C# (Db)	D# (Eb)	E# (F)
G	A	B	C	D	E	F#
Ab	Bb	C	Db	Eb	F	G
A	B	C#	D	E	F#	G#
Bb	C	D	Eb	F	G	A
B	C#	D#	E	F#	G#	A#

Note that the top row of the table is labeled with Roman numerals--this is typical in music theory. Now, when we talk about the different notes of the scale, we refer to them as the "degrees" of the scale, or sometimes the "steps" of the scale, according to the number at the top of the chart. So, for example, D is the 2nd degree of the C major scale, and G is the 5th degree. Db is the fourth degree of the Ab major scale, E is the 6th degree of a G major scale, etc.

The "I", a.k.a. the "root" note of the scale. More formally, this note is called the "tonic." The root note can be considered "home base" of the scale. There is an effect that I think of as "musical gravity", where all of the notes in a scale seem to "pull" you toward the root. Here is a short example of a more or less random passage in the key of C major, using a C major scale. It begins on a C note, and doesn't return to a C until the end of the passage. Notice how the passage sounds "resolved" when the last note is played.

Random passage in C

Here is the same exact passage, except that it is played in the key of E, using an E major scale. Notice that the passage sounds more or less the same as it does in C, except somewhat higher. And now, the "root" note, i.e. the note that sounds like "home base" is an E:

The same random passage in E

The "V", a.k.a., the "dominant." I have no idea WHY they call it the "dominant," but the V (5th) degree of the scale is second in important only to the root. We will study this more in depth when we get to chords in lesson 2, but suffice it to say for now that the note (or chord) that very often preceeds the I is the V.

The "VII", a.k.a. the "leading tone." This is also a very important part of the scale--the sound of the 7th degree of the scale (which is 1/2 step below the root note) pulls VERY strongly toward the root. The same "random passage" has been changed in the following example so that it ends on a B, the 7th degree of the C major scale. Notice how it sounds like it is not quite done:

Random passage in C that ends on B

And now listen to what happens when we add a C note at the end of that example:

Random passage in C that ends on C

Tension and Resolution. The audio examples above are examples of what we call "tension" and "resolution." When you play a passage in C major that ends on B, you have created "tension" because that B note wants to pull so badly to the C note. When you finally do play the C note (as in the second example), you "resolve" that tension. It could be said that the entire study of Western harmony is based on the fact that B wants to go to C (or the 7th wants to go to the root). This is something we'll explore a little deeper when we get to the study of chords.

 

Move on to the next section:
Theory 2 Introduction: Chords

 

Practial Music Theory Table of Contents (Pages will be linked as they are completed) Introduction to Practical Music Theory I. Notes & Scales 1a-The chromatic scale 1b-Intervals 1c-The major scale II. Chords Introduction to Chords 2a. Triads 2b. Seventh chords 2c. Extended chords 2d. Other Chords III. Chord Progressions Introduction to chord progressions 3a. The chord scale 3b. Root movement 3c. Common chord progressions IV. Modes Once you know the basics above, click here to go to the HCG Mode Workshop V. The Great Beyond Where it all leads from here. Will be added eventually.