The major scale¶

The major scale is the reference point for almost everything else in Western harmony. Intervals are named relative to it, chords are built from it, and the other common scales are described as changes to it. Learn this one well and the rest get much cheaper.

The formula¶

A major scale is seven notes built from a fixed pattern of whole steps (W, two frets) and half steps (H, one fret):

W  W  H  W  W  W  H

Start on any note, apply the pattern, and you land back on the starting note an octave higher. Starting on C:

C major has no sharps or flats, which is why it is the usual teaching example. The pattern is what matters, not the letter names. G major follows the same steps and gets an F♯; F major gets a B♭.

Scale degrees¶

Each note has a number, its degree, counted from the root. Degrees are how musicians talk about a scale without committing to a key. "The 3^rd" means the same thing in every major scale.

Two degrees do most of the work:

• The 3^rd decides whether a scale or chord sounds major or minor. In the major scale it sits two whole steps above the root (a major third).
• The 7^th sits one half step below the root and pulls strongly back toward it. That pull is a big part of why the major scale feels resolved when you land on 1.

The two half steps in the pattern fall between degrees 3 and 4 and between 7 and 8. Those are the only places adjacent scale notes are a single fret apart on the same string.

One position on the fretboard¶

Here is C major in one position, starting from the C at the 8^th fret of the low E string and climbing two octaves to the C at the 8^th fret of the high e string. The roots are red; every other dot is labelled with its scale degree.

Play it slowly, say the degree numbers out loud (1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1), and listen for where the half steps are: 3 to 4 and 7 to 1 are the only places two scale notes sit one fret apart on the same string. The other positions, and how they connect, will live in the Fretboard section.

Why it matters¶

• Intervals are measured against it. A major third is the distance from 1 to 3; a perfect fifth is 1 to 5.
• Diatonic chords come from stacking scale notes. Degrees 1, 3, and 5 give the tonic triad (C, E, G in C major).
• Modes are the same seven notes started from a different degree.
• The minor scale is the major scale with the 3^rd, 6^th, and 7^th lowered a half step.

Each of those gets its own page. This one is the foundation they refer back to.