Major Scales and Key Signatures
Senior 2 · Music
Major Scales and Key Signatures
Lesson 2 of 5
22 min
Sing the sol-fa ladder d r m f s l t d' (doh, ray, me, fah, soh, lah, te, doh). You have just sung a major scale. Most hymns, school songs and popular songs are built from its notes. A scale is a set of notes arranged in order of pitch, step by step, from a starting note up to the same letter an octave higher. The starting note is the tonic, or key note, and it gives the scale its name.
Play or sing from C up to the next C using only white keys. The steps between neighbouring notes are not all the same size:
The pattern is T T S T T T S (T = tone, S = semitone). The semitones fall between degrees 3 and 4 (E–F) and between degrees 7 and 8 (B–C). It is this pattern, not the letters, that makes a scale major.
Worked example 1
G major. Letters: G A B C D E F G. G–A is a tone, A–B a tone, B–C a semitone, C–D a tone, D–E a tone: all correct. E–F is only a semitone, but the pattern needs a tone, so F is raised to F♯. The last step, F♯–G, is then a semitone, as required. G major is G A B C D E F♯ G.
Worked example 2
F major. Letters: F G A B C D E F. F–G and G–A are tones, as required. A–B is a tone, but the pattern needs a semitone here, so B is lowered to B♭. B♭–C is then a tone. C–D and D–E are tones and E–F is a semitone, all correct. F major is F G A B♭ C D E F.
Why not write A♯ instead of B♭ in F major? A♯ sounds the same, but the scale would then read F G A A♯ C D E F: two A's and no B. Each letter must appear exactly once, so the correct name is B♭.
Each note of a scale is a degree. Degrees are numbered upwards from the tonic, and each has a technical name and a sol-fa name. In tonic sol-fa the tonic of every major key is doh, so the sol-fa names move with the key. (In French the same degrees are sung do, ré, mi, fa, sol, la, si.)
| Degree | Technical name | Sol-fa | In C major | In G major |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | tonic | d (doh) | C | G |
| 2 | supertonic | r (ray) | D | A |
| 3 | mediant | m (me) | E | B |
| 4 | subdominant | f (fah) | F | C |
| 5 | dominant | s (soh) | G | D |
| 6 | submediant | l (lah) | A | E |
| 7 | leading note | t (te) | B | F♯ |
| 8 | tonic (an octave higher) | d' (high doh) | C | G |
The leading note is only a semitone below the tonic, so it seems to lead the ear back home. The dominant, five notes above the tonic, is the most important note after the tonic, and the subdominant sits one step below it.
Tip
Two halves joined by a tone. Split the scale into two groups of four notes: C D E F and G A B C. Each group has the pattern T T S, and a tone joins them: (T T S) T (T T S). Chant it: "tone, tone, semitone; tone; tone, tone, semitone".
Try each question first, then check the worked solution underneath.
Build the scale of D major.
Solution: D E F♯ G A B C♯ D. From the letters D E F G A B C D, the step E–F must be a tone, so F becomes F♯; B–C must be a tone, so C becomes C♯, which also makes the last step C♯–D a semitone.
Name the dominant of F major.
Solution: C. Counting F G A B♭ C, the fifth degree is C.
What is the leading note of G major?
Solution: F♯, the seventh degree, a semitone below G.
Which degree is the subdominant, and what is its sol-fa name?
Solution: The fourth degree; its sol-fa name is fah (f).
A student writes E major as E F♯ G♯ A B C♯ D♯ E. Is it correct?
Solution: Yes. The steps are E–F♯ T, F♯–G♯ T, G♯–A S, A–B T, B–C♯ T, C♯–D♯ T, D♯–E S, which is T T S T T T S, and each letter is used once.
Remember
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