As we covered in our beginner’s guide to musical scales, a scale is a group of notes arranged in ascending or descending order of pitch. There are lots of different kinds of scales, with some sounding happy and some sounding sad.
In this post, we’re going to look at one type of scale called the major scale, which is probably the first scale most people learn.
Table of Contents
What is a Major Scale?
The major scale is one of the most widely used types of scale in western music.
You would have heard it hundreds of times, maybe without realizing it.
When you first start learning an instrument, a major scale is typically the first thing that you’ll learn to play.
If you’ve not seen the film The Sound Of Music, then the song Do-Re-Mi explains the major scale very well!
The song Do-Re-Mi is constructed using a system called Solfa or solfege.
Put simply, it’s just another way of describing the degrees of the scale.
Major scales are a type of diatonic scale this means that they contain seven notes and are made up of five intervals of a tone and two intervals of a semitone.
How do you Form a Major Scale?
To make a major scale, we just have to follow a very simple formula of semitones and tones (whole steps and half steps) between each note.
That formula is:
T – T – S – T – T – T – S
Or in whole and half steps, a major scale would be this formula:
W – W – H – W – W – W – H
Using this combination of intervals, we can then make a major scale starting on any note. Let’s try it.
Making C Major Scale
We’re going to start on the note C and make a major scale by following the order of semitones and tones mentioned above.
So from C, we need to go up one tone (whole step) to D:
From D, we go up another tone (whole step) to E:
From the E,w we have to go up one semitone (half step) to F:
Next, we go up a tone (whole step) to G:
From the G we go up another tone (whole step) to A:
Almost there now, from A we go up a tone (whole step) to B:
And lastly, from the B we go up one semitone (half step) to C:
There we have
C major is the only major scale that doesn’t need any sharps or flats.
Major Scale vs Ionian Mode
The music modes are a series of scales based on the major scale.
The first mode is called the ionian mode and it’s exactly the same as the major scale.
There is no difference at all, other than the name!
Overview of all Major Scales
Below are all the different major scales, with examples in the treble clef.
C Major Scale
Here is C major scale, which uses the notes: C D E F G A B.
For more information about this key, see our in-depth post about C major scale here.
G Major Scale
Here is G major scale, which uses the notes: G A B C D E F#.
For more information about this key, see our in-depth post about G major scale here.
D Major Scale
Here is D major scale, which uses the notes: D E F# G A B C#.
For more information about this key, see our in-depth post about D major scale here.
A Major Scale
Here is A major scale, which uses the notes: A B C# D E F# G#.
For more information about this key, see our in-depth post about A major scale here.
E Major Scale
Here is E major scale, which uses the notes: E F# G# A B C# D#.
For more information about this key, see our in-depth post about E major scale here.
B Major Scale
Here is B major scale, which uses the notes: B C# D# E F# G# A#.
For more information about this key, see our in-depth post about B major scale here.
F-Sharp Major Scale
Here is F-Sharp major scale, which uses the notes: F# G# A# B C# D# E#.
For more information about this key, see our in-depth post about F-Sharp major scale here.
C-Sharp Major Scale
Here is C-Sharp major scale, which uses the notes: C# D# E# F# G# A# B#.
For more information about this key, see our in-depth post about C-Sharp major scale here.
F Major Scale
Here is F major scale, which uses the notes: F G A Bb C D E.
For more information about this key, see our in-depth post about F major scale here.
B-Flat Major Scale
Here is B-Flat major scale, which uses the notes: Bb C D Eb F G A.
For more information about this key, see our in-depth post about B-Flat major scale here.
E-Flat Major Scale
Here is E-Flat major scale, which uses the notes: Eb F G Ab Bb C D.
For more information about this key, see our in-depth post about E-Flat major scale here.
A-Flat Major Scale
Here is A-Flat major scale, which uses the notes: Ab Bb C Db Eb F G.
For more information about this key, see our in-depth post about A-Flat major scale here.
D-Flat Major Scale
Here is D-Flat major scale, which uses the notes: Db Eb F Gb Ab Bb C.
For more information about this key, see our in-depth post about D-Flat major scale here.
G-Flat Major Scale
Here is G-Flat major scale, which uses the notes: Gb Ab Bb Cb Db Eb F.
For more information about this key, see our in-depth post about G-Flat major scale here.
C-Flat Major Scale
Here is C-Flat major scale, which uses the notes: Cb Db Eb Fb Gb Ab Bb.
For more information about this key, see our in-depth post about C-Flat major scale here.
