Reference · module 5
Scales
Everything this module explains, on one page.
The major scale
Build a major scale from its pattern of tones and semitones.
- A scale is a set of notes played in order from one note up to the same note an octave higher. Its first note, the tonic, is home: the scale sounds finished when it gets back there.
- Every major scale follows one pattern of steps: tone, tone, semitone, tone, tone, tone, semitone. The pattern, not the starting note, is what makes it major.
- C major uses only white keys: C D E F G A B C. Its semitones fall exactly where the keyboard has them, E–F and B–C, so no sharps or flats are needed.
The mistake you are about to make
major = only white keys
major = the step pattern
C major is the first scale most people learn, and it is all white keys. Other major scales need black keys to keep the same pattern of steps.
G major and F major
Build major scales that need a sharp or a flat, and read a key signature.
- Start the major pattern on G and the seventh step must sit a semitone below G, which is F♯, not F. So G major is G A B C D E F♯ G, with one sharp.
- Start on F and the fourth step must sit a semitone above A, which is B♭. So F major is F G A B♭ C D E F, with one flat.
- Instead of a sharp before every F, music writes it once at the start of each line: the key signature. One sharp there means G major; one flat means F major.
The mistake you are about to make
G major: G A B C D E F G
G major: G A B C D E F♯ G
Staying on the white keys of C major looks natural. From G that puts the E–F semitone in the wrong place; F♯ puts the pattern right.
The minor scale
Build a natural minor scale and find the minor that shares a major's notes.
- The natural minor scale has its own pattern: tone, semitone, tone, tone, semitone, tone, tone. The semitone arrives early, after the second step, which gives minor its darker colour.
- A minor uses the same white keys as C major but starts on A: A B C D E F G A. Scales that share notes like this are relatives: A minor is the relative minor of C major.
- The relative minor always starts on the sixth step of the major scale. Same notes, a different home, and the whole mood changes.
The mistake you are about to make
relative minor of C = C minor
relative minor of C = A minor
C minor sounds like the obvious partner of C major. They share a tonic, not notes; the minor with the same notes starts on A.