Major Scale – Relative Minor Scale
A little background is needed for our next discussion of musical principles. Most of our music during the last few
centuries has used a structure of relationships between notes that has become a recognizable series of WHOLE
STEPS and HALF STEPS. We use these to construct MELODIES (notes played or sung in succession) and notes
played in HARMONY (notes which sound at the same time). Our ears have become accustomed to hearing this
relationship of musical tones. As a result, we perceive certain combinations within this structure or “ladder” of
tones as sounding CONSONANT— which is to say: pleasing, correct or belonging with each other, and other
combinations we perceive as being harsh, conflicting or DISSONANT. It is this perception that contributes to
our sense of musical tension and resolution— the feeling or sense of musical unrest and the musical sense of rest
or resolution, by a return to the note or notes which form a composition’s TONAL CENTER.
There are different combinations of these WHOLE STEP and HALF STEP ladders of tones, or SCALES, to
which our ears have become accustomed. In fact, the word Scale is derived from the Latin word scala, or ladder.
In our current studies, we will focus on the MAJOR SCALE and 3 variations of MINOR SCALES. However, you
should be aware that there are many other scale patterns: e.g. the Chromatic Scale, Whole Tone Scale, Pentatonic
Scale, Blues Scale and various Modes.
THE MAJOR SCALE
For each Major Scale, the note which forms its TONAL CENTER, its ultimate pitch of resolution or rest, is
considered to be the first note of the scale, also referred to as that scale’s TONIC note. Scales are named after
their Tonic, thus the Tonic of the scale of C is the note C. The formula for a Major Scale, beginning with the
Tonic note and counting higher in pitch is: Whole Step – Whole Step – Half Step –Whole Step – Whole Step –
Whole Step – Half Step (W-W-H-W-W-W-H. This returns us to a note named the same as the Tonic, but sounds
one OCTAVE Higher– in other words, a note of the same name which vibrates at twice the frequency of the
lower note with the same name). Because all Half Step intervals on an instrument are proportionally equal, a
Major Scale can begin on any of the 12 notes, using the Whole-Whole-Half-Whole-Whole-Whole-Half Step
formula.
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The relationship between these notes may be most easily seen in the C Major Scale, which is the only scale that
follows this formula without using any Sharp or Flat keys.
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You will also note that we’ve given names to the each of the specific scale steps. The Tonic, as we learned, is the
first Scale note, the foundation of our Major Scale. 2 – Supertonic, 3 – Mediant, 4 – Subdominant, 5 – Dominant,
6 – Submediant, 7 – Leading Tone, and 8 returns us to the Tonic note of the scale. As we are also learning to sing
and to hear the notes of a Major Scale using Solfège syllables, Tonic of the Major scale (scale step 1) corresponds
to the syllable – Do, 2 – Re, 3 – Mi, 4 – Fa, 5 – Sol, 6 – La, 7 – Ti, (8 – repeats Do).
Each Major Scale will contain one note for each line and each space. This means that each of our musical letters,
A–G, will also be used once in every Major Scale. If we base the Major Scale on any note other than C, we will
have to add some number of sharps or flats in order to maintain the W-W-H-W-W-W-H relationship of tones.
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Using the exact same set of notes found in any Major scale, if the Tonal Center is perceived as being established
# # # (or the Major scale’s 6th step) and the song uses harmonies which reinforce the dominance
on the#Submediant
#
# we# will perceive a different flavor– an MINOR tonality to the composition. Major tonalities are
of&
that sound,
RELATIVE MINOR SCALE
often referred to as ‘happy’ while MINOR tonalities are described as sounding ‘sad’. The series of Whole Steps
and Half Steps which make up this form of NATURAL MINOR SCALE are rearranged in order: Whole Step –
Half Step – Whole Step – Whole Step – Half Step –Whole Step – Whole Step (W-H-W-W-H-W-W).
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A Major Scale and Minor Scale which share the exact same formula of Sharps or Flats (or KEY SIGNATURE,
which we will cover shortly) are said to be RELATIVE to each other. For instance, we just looked at an example
of the C Major Scale… If we begin a Minor Scale on the 6th scale step– A (or if you find it easier, count 11/2 steps
down from the tonic, C
C) then we
D find that
E the series
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Related information
Non-essential to your coursework.
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3
In 1547, Heinrich Glarean, (also called Glareanus) a Swiss music theorist, published Dodecachordon (literally,
&4
“12-stringed instrument”) in which he described the commonly used medieval scale formations known as
Submediant Leading Tone
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‘modes’, which were used in Gregorian chant and other forms of plainsong dating back to the 6th century. It
is interesting to note that the Ionian Mode and Aeolian Mode which he described are the equivalent of our
Major and NATURAL
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b so Ffar as to say
C Minor Scales.
D
G that Ionian
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The CHROMATIC
SCALE makes use of ALL
12 Pentatonic
of the Semitones
Commonly,
the notes which
Whole Mode
Tone Scale
Major
Scale or Half Steps.
Blues
Scale
Ionian
Dorian
Mode
Phrygian
Mode
have enharmonic equivalents are notated using sharps when ascending and using flats when descending.
&4
OTHERS
& Whole
22 Tone Scale
&8
98
&
Major Pentatonic Scale
There are MANY different forms of Scale patterns– here are examples of just a few others mentioned in this PDF.
& w w w #w #w #w w w w w w w w
12
2
&4
& 8
w
b
w
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Blues Scale