This lesson teaches the major scale (all 8 degrees).
Before taking this lesson, you should know the first 5 degrees
of the major scale. You can test yourself with
Lesson 12: Major 1-5 Games.
Below are the distances between degrees 1-8 of the major
scale, adding degrees 6-7-8 to degrees 1-5 which you already know.
Note, a major scale only has 7 different pitch names; degree 8
is just a repeat of degree 1, but it's traditional to "finish off"
scales this way by returning to the starting note (an octave higher).
1
whole- step
2
whole- step
3
half- step
4
whole- step
5
whole- step
6
whole- step
7
half- step
8
These new distances are simple: 5-6 and 6-7 are more
whole-steps, but 7-8 has to be a half-step in order to
end on degree 8 (because degree 8 is the same pitch-name as
degree 1).
Now study the following examples. Make sure you understand why these scales
contain these exact pitches:
B♭ major scale 1-8: B♭-C-D-E♭-F-G-A-B♭
B major scale 1-8:
B-C♯-D♯-E-F♯-G♯-A♯-B
D♭ major scale 1-8:
D♭-E♭-F-G♭-A♭-B♭-C-D♭
For reference, here are the pitches in the common major scales:
