Major Scale
In this lesson we are going to learn about the Major Scale. It is the commonly used scale and it is the first thing you must learn as a piano or music student. It is made out of seven notes, which is: DO RE MI FA SO LA TI DO
In this lessons, we will refer to the "DO RE MI FA SO LA TI DO" as 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1
So...
DO = 1
RE = 2
MI = 3
FA = 4
SO = 5
LA = 6
TI = 7
DO = 8 or 1
The easiest major scale to play the C major scale because it doesn't consist of any sharp or flat notes. In other words its only have white notes. You can see the C major scale below.
Scale Formula
The pattern of notes for major scales is W-W-H-W-W-W-H (whole – whole – half – whole – whole – whole – half). This stands for whole step, whole step, half step, whole step, whole step, whole step, half step.
What do we mean by whole steps and half steps? Whole steps and half steps represent the distance between notes. For example, the distance between E and F is a half step because there is no note between E and F. The distance between B and C is also a half step.
And for a whole step we always skip a note... for example C to D; D to E and so on...
Once we know the general rule of constructing the Major scale, we can do this for all the 12 different keys
The 12 different Major Scales
C major scale
Notes: C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C
C# major scale
Notes: C#, Eb, F, F#, Ab, Bb, C, C#
D major scale
Notes: D, E, F#, G, A, B, C#, D
Eb major scale
Notes: Eb, F, G, Ab, Bb, C, D, Eb
E major scale
Notes: E, F#, Ab, A, B, C#, Eb, E
F major scale
Notes: F, G, A, Bb, C, D, E, F
F# major scale
Notes: F#, Ab, Bb, B, C#, Eb, F, F#
G major scale
Notes: G, A, B, C, D, E, F#, G
Ab major scale
Notes: Ab, Bb, C, C#, Eb, F, G, Ab
A major scale
Notes: A, B, C#, D, E, F#, Ab, A
Bb major scale
Notes: Bb, C, D, Eb, F, G, A, Bb
B major scale
Notes: B, C#, Eb, E, F#, Ab, Bb, B
3 => 4 = half note.... 7 => 1 = also a half note
The rest are whole notes!!!
You must know your major scale very very well because you will need it in next lessons!!!
Ready for next lesson?
