Major scale

The major scale (or Ionian scale) is one of the most commonly used musical scales,
Major scale
especially in Western music. It is one of the diatonic scales. Like many musical
scales, it is made up of seven notes: the eighth duplicates the first at double its Modes I, II, III, IV, V,
frequency so that it is called a higher octave of the same note (from Latin "octavus", VI, VII
the eighth). Component pitches

The simplest major scale to write is C major, the only major scale not requiring
C, D, E, F, G, A, B
sharps or flats: Qualities
Number of pitch 7
classes
Maximal evenness
0:00 Forte number 7-35
Complement 5-35
The major scale had a central importance in Western music, particularly in the
common practice periodand in popular music.

In Carnatic music, it is known as Dheerasankarabharanam. In Hindustani classical music, it is known as Bilaval.

Contents
Structure
Scale degrees
Triad qualities
Relationship to major keys
Broader sense
See also
References
Further reading
External links

Structure
A major scale is a diatonic scale. The sequence of intervals between the notes of a
major scale is:

whole, whole, half, whole, whole, whole, half The pattern of whole and half steps
characteristic of a major scale
where "whole" stands for a whole tone (a red u-shaped curve in the figure), and
"half" stands for a semitone (a red broken line in the figure).

A major scale may be seen as two identical tetrachords separated by a whole tone. Each tetrachord consists of two whole tones
followed by a semitone (i.e. whole, whole, half).
The major scale is maximally even.

Scale degrees

The scale degrees are:

1st: Tonic
2nd: Supertonic
3rd: Mediant
4th: Subdominant
5th: Dominant
6th: Submediant
7th: Leading tone

Triad qualities

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The triads built on each scale degree follow a distinct pattern. Theroman numeral analysisis shown in parentheses.

1st: Major triad (I)

2nd: minor triad (ii)
3rd: minor triad (iii)
4th: Major triad (IV)
5th: Major triad (V)
6th: minor triad (vi)
7th: diminished triad (viio)

Relationship to major keys

If a piece of music (or part of a piece of music) is in a major key, then the notes in the corresponding major scale are considered
diatonic notes, while the notes outside the major scale are considered chromatic notes. Moreover, the key signature of the piece of
music (or section) will generally reflect theaccidentals in the corresponding major scale.

For instance, if a piece of music is in E♭ major, then the seven pitches in the E♭ major scale (E♭ , F, G, A♭ , B♭ , C and D) are
considered diatonic pitches, and the other five pitches (E♮, F♯/G♭, A♮, B♮, and C♯/D♭) are considered chromatic pitches. In this case,
the key signature will have three flats (B♭, E♭, and A♭).

The figure below shows all 12 relative major and minor keys, with major keys on the outside and minor keys on the inside arranged
around the circle of fifths.
The numbers inside the circle show the number of sharps or flats in the key signature, with the sharp keys going clockwise, and the
flat keys counterclockwise from C major (which has no sharps or flats.) The circular arrangement depends on enharmonic
relationships in the circle, usually reckoned at six sharps or flats for the major keys of F♯ = G♭ and D♯ = E♭ for minor keys.[1] Seven
sharps or flats make major keys (C♯ major or C♭ major) that may be more conveniently spelled with five flats or sharps (as D♭ major
or B major).

Broader sense
The term "major scale" is also used in the names of some other scales whose first, third, and fifth degrees formmajor
a triad.

The harmonic major scale[2][3][4] has a minor sixth. It differs from the harmonic minor scale only by raising the third degree.

0:00

There are two scales that go by the namemelodic major scale:

The first is the fifth mode of the jazz minor scale[5], which can be thought of as the major scale (Ionian mode) with a lowered sixth
and seventh degree or thenatural minor scale (Aeolian mode) with a raised third.

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The second is the combined scale that goes as Ionian ascending and as the previous melodic major descending. It differs from
melodic minor scale only by raising the third degree to a major third.[6]
 0:00

The double harmonic major scale[7][8] has a minor second and a minor sixth. It is the fifth mode of theHungarian minor scale.

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See also
Ionian mode
Major and minor

References
1. Drabkin, William (2001). "Circle of Fifths". InSadie, Stanley; Tyrrell, John. The New Grove Dictionary of Music and
Musicians (2nd ed.). London: Macmillan Publishers.
2. Rimsky-Korsakov, Nikolai (2005). Practical Manual of Harmony. Carl Fischer, LLC. ISBN 978-0-8258-5699-0.
3. Milne, Andrew. "The Harmonic Major Scale"(http://www.tonalcentre.org/Harmonicma.html). Tonal Centre. Andre
Milne. Retrieved 27 March 2017.
4. Tymoczko, Dmitri (2011). "Chapter 4".A Geometry of Music. New York: Oxford.
5. Milne, Andrew. "The Melodic Scales" (http://www.tonalcentre.org/Melodic.html). Tonal Centre. Andre Milne. Retrieved
27 March 2017.
6. "Archived copy" (https://web.archive.org/web/20140311205933/http://www .musicstudents.com/archive01/093.html).
Archived from the original (http://www.musicstudents.com/archive01/093.html) on 2014-03-11. Retrieved
2014-03-13.
7. Stetina, Troy (1999). The Ultimate Scale Book. p. 59. ISBN 0-7935-9788-9.
8. Milne, Andrew. "The Double Harmonic Scales"(http://www.tonalcentre.org/Doubleha.html). Tonal Centre. Andre
Milne. Retrieved 27 March 2017.

Further reading
Bower, Michael (2007). "All about Key Signatures". Modesto, CA: Capistrano School (K–12) website
. Retrieved
17 March 2010.
Jones, George Thaddeus (1974).Music Theory: The Fundamental Concepts of T onal Music Including Notation,
Terminology, and Harmony. Barnes & Noble Outline Series 137. New Y
ork: Barnes & Noble. ISBN 9780064601375.
Kennedy, Michael (1994). "Key-Signature". InBourne, Joyce. Oxford Dictionary of Music(2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford
University Press. ISBN 0-19-869162-9.
Yamaguchi, Masaya (2006).The Complete Thesaurus of Musical Scales(Revised ed.). New York: Masaya Music
Services. ISBN 0-9676353-0-6.

External links
Listen to and download harmonised Major scale piano MP3s
The major scale for guitarin one position, with derivation
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This page was last edited on 19 May 2018, at 12:45.

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