The Major Scale – Bass Clef
The Major scale is the reference for Western music harmonization. All scales, chords, and intervals use the Major Scale to define their structure.
Each degree of the Major Scale is numbered in sequence. Here is C Major with the degrees numbered.
C Major is ideal to use for reference as it contains only natural notes. The Major Scale is used to define every interval, chord, and scale by comparing their degrees to the Major Scale degrees.
Here is a C Natural Minor Scale with the degrees and how they differ from the Major Scale.
By comparing the degrees of the Major Scale, the structure of the Minor Scale can be easily understood. The parallel Natural Minor contains all the same note degrees, but the distance from the root (1) has been decreased by one half step for the 3rd, 6th, and 7th degrees. In other words, the 3rd, 6th, and 7th degrees are “flatted” (b).
Here for the Major 7th Chord, none of the degrees are altered from their Major Scale counterparts.
In this case, the structure consists of only a selection of notes from the Major Scale, but the degrees present match the degrees of the Major Scale.
Here, the Augmented 5th and the Minor 6th intervals are defined by their degrees in relation to the Major Scale Degrees.
The Augmented 5th (A5) is defined by the root plus the 5th raised by a half step, or “sharped” (#). The Minor 6th (m6) is defined by the root plus the flatted 6th. These two intervals are enharmonic (written differently, but sound the same). The choice of which to use is mainly determined by their function in the music, but such choices can be ambiguous or boil down to personal preference.
Select Your Free Weights and Machines for Today’s Workout!
Once You’re Comfortable With the Major Scale, Try Some of These Play-Alongs
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