The term "Major scale" (Major scale - singular) is used deliberately to emphasise the fact that there may be 12 possible starting notes for it but that the pattern of interval steps is exactly the same, regardless of the starting note. Column I lists these 12 possibilities. Each row thus becomes the Major scale from C (C Major), the Major scale from F (F Major), from Bb (Bb Major), etc. and takes its name from the note in column I.
Some Music Theory Trivia
The Major scale rows for Gb Major and F# are separated from the rows above and below purely to highlight that the notes used in both are exactly the same. It is also done to draw attention to a common misconception - that sharps and flats are "the black keys". This is partly true but it's to your advantage to understand that sharps and flats perform a special function. They are symbols to indicate that a written note, whatever it's name, is to be "altered" - i.e., a sharp instructs the player to play the note a half-step higher than the one written; a flat says play the note that is a half-step lower than the one written.
For example, in the Gb Major scale, step IV is Cb. The flat sign here refers to a white key (B). So, why name it Cb and not B? Because in the (theoretical) construction of Major scales, the 7 note name letters can only be used once and the note name B is needed to name Bb (step III of Gb Major). The same is true for seemingly weird notes such as E#.
Major Scale Construction Formula
At first glance the Major scale might appear to be constructed of 8 notes, labelled using the Roman numerals of I through VIII and coloured pale blue in the illustration above. The pale yellow columns indicate where the notes not needed for each Major scale are located. The red column is used for a note not used in the Major scale which is located exactly half way between Step I and Step VIII. It should be visually apparent that the Major scale is actually created using two identical 4 note patterns - i.e., steps I, II, III and IV have the same pattern as steps V, VI, VII and VIII. More on this below.
The Relationship of Intervals to the Major Scale
The names of the intervals are listed in the second row of the illustration above. Each of them relates to the column in which they appear and they all take their name depending on their distance higher than the note (or sound) in column I. Because intervals occur between sounds, two notes are required in order to create an interval. The first of these is then used as a reference point and can be thought of as "Doh" where Doh is any of the notes in column I.
Naming the 12 Intervals
One note sound following another can only be one of three things:- the same sound
- higher in pitch, or
- lower in pitch
When one sound follows another and it's the same, it's called a Unison.
If the second sound is higher than the first, the Interval is "ascending" and it can be located using the "Relationship to Major Scale" column and named using one of the "Interval Names (Ascending)"
If the second sound is lower than the first, the Interval is "descending" and it can be located using the "Inverse (Descending)" column and named using one of the "Inverse Interval Names".
For example, if the first note is C and the next note is an E that is higher than C, then C is I and E's relationship to it is III - i.e., E is a Major 3rd higher than C.
If the the first note is C and the next note is an E lower than C, then C is VIII and the lower E's relationship is still III, but the interval drop is a Minor 6th.
Trivia:
The sum of an ascending interval with its corresponding descending inverse adds up to 9. Furthermore, an ascending interval's quality is also inversed by its corresponding descending partner. Examples:
- an ascending Major 3rd (C up to E) is the same note as a descending Minor 6th (C down to E)
- a descending Minor 7th (C down to D) is the same note as an ascending Major 2nd (C up to D)
- an ascending Perfect 4th (C up to F) is the same note as a descending Perfect 5th (C down to F)
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