HOW T

O PLA

Y A

MAJOR S

CALE

A ST E P B

Y ST E P G

UI D

E

What is a major scale?

Scale: a sequence of musical notes going up or down

Major: A scale made up of eight distinct notes

Commonly known as “Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti Do”

To understand completely, you also have to know about the two types of steps.

Types of Steps:

Half Step: the interval between two adjacent notes

Whole Step: Two half steps

Whole Steps

Half Steps

Major Scale Step Pattern

Now start on any key, and follow this step pattern:

Whole – Whole – Half – Whole – Whole – Whole – Half

In other words, two wholes and a half, then three wholes and a half.No matter where you start, this pattern creates the major scale.

W-W-H, W-W-W-H

What’s in a key?

How do you know what major scale you played?

It all depends on where you started.

There are 13 distinct notes on the piano, and they’re all right here.

The white keys are named for the first 7 letters of the alphabet, and follow each other again and again.

C D E F G A B C D E

What’s in a key?

The black keys are sharps (#) and flats (♭). Sharp means higher, flat means lower.

The black key above C is C#. It’s also the key below D, so it’s called D♭. All black keys have two names, and they’re fairly interchangeable.

 

If you started on D# and played the right steps, then the scale you played was D# Major!

C D E F G A B C D E

C# D# F# G# A# C# D#D♭ E♭ G♭ A♭ B♭ D♭ E♭