Scales, Keys & Modes

Major Scale

Definition

The major scale is a seven-note scale built from the step pattern whole, whole, half, whole, whole, whole, half. Its bright, settled sound is the basis of most Western melody and harmony.

The major scale is the scale you sing when you sing do re mi fa sol la ti do. On the piano, the easiest one to find is C major: play the white keys from C up to the next C.

Treble clef in 4/4. Quarter notes climb C D E F G A B C from middle C and fall back to a half-note middle C. Curved lines join E to F and B to C on the way up, and C to B and F to E on the way down. Scale-degree numbers 1 to 8 and back to 1 are written under the notes. — The C major scale up and down, with its scale-degree numbers. The curved lines join the half steps: 3–4 (E–F) and 7–8 (B–C), in both directions. Every other step is a whole step.

The step pattern: W–W–H–W–W–W–H

Every major scale, in every key, uses the same pattern of whole steps (W) and half steps (H):

W – W – H – W – W – W – H

In C major that gives C–D (W), D–E (W), E–F (H), F–G (W), G–A (W), A–B (W), B–C (H). The two half steps fall between degrees 3 and 4 and between 7 and 8. The keyboard shows why C major needs no black keys: E–F and B–C are the two pairs of white keys with no black key between them.

C major on the keyboard. The coral keys are the two half steps, E–F and B–C: the only places where two white keys sit side by side with no black key between them.

Major scales in other keys

Start the same pattern on another note and you need sharps or flats to keep it. From G, the step from E up to the 7th note must be a whole step, so F becomes F♯, and F♯ to G is the closing half step. From F, the 4th note must sit a half step above A, so B becomes B♭. Those sharps and flats are collected at the start of each line as the key signature: G major has one sharp, F major has one flat.

Two treble-clef examples in 4/4. First, G major with a one-sharp key signature: quarter notes G A B C D E F-sharp G. Second, F major with a one-flat key signature: F G A B-flat C D E F. In both, curved lines join degrees 3–4 and 7–8, and degree numbers 1 to 8 are written underneath. — The same W–W–H–W–W–W–H pattern starting on G and on F. G major needs F♯ and F major needs B♭; the key signature at the start of each staff shows that one sharp or flat once, for the whole line. The curved lines join the half steps, 3–4 and 7–8.

Each letter name appears exactly once in a major scale. That is why the 7th note of G major is written F♯ and not G♭: the letter G is already taken by the tonic.

A useful shortcut: the pattern splits into two identical four-note groups, W–W–H, joined by a whole step. These groups are called tetrachords. The upper tetrachord of C major (G A B C) is the lower tetrachord of G major, which is how neighboring keys link around the circle of fifths.

Degrees and their names

The seven notes are numbered as scale degrees 1 to 7, and each has a name: tonic, supertonic, mediant, subdominant, dominant, submediant and leading tone. The half step from the leading tone up to the tonic gives the major scale its strong pull home.

Playing it on the piano

The usual C major fingering is 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 in the right hand going up, with the thumb passing under the third finger after E, and 5 4 3 2 1 3 2 1 in the left hand, with the third finger crossing over the thumb after G. Thumb-Under: the Full Scale walks you through the move, and Scales in Every Key gives the fingering for all twelve major keys.

Common questions

What is the formula for a major scale?

Whole, whole, half, whole, whole, whole, half (W–W–H–W–W–W–H). Start on any note, follow that pattern of whole and half steps, use each letter name once, and you have spelled its major scale.

Why does C major have no sharps or flats?

Because the white keys from C fit the major-scale pattern exactly. The two half steps it needs, E–F and B–C, are the two places where white keys sit side by side with no black key between them.