Major Scales

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elise
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Posts: 1540
Joined: Mon May 17, 2021 12:19 pm

piano Major Scales

Post by elise »

Major scale: TONE TONE semitone TONE TONE TONE semitone

major c d e f.png
major g a b c.png
major 3.png

C: C D E F G A B C
C#/Db: C# D# E# (F) F# G# A# B# C# / Db Eb F Gb Ab Bb C Db
D: D E F# G A B C# D
D#/Eb: D# E# (F) F## (G) G# A# B# (C) C## (D) D# / Eb F G Ab Bb C D Eb
E: E F# G# A B C# D# E
F: F G A Bb C D E F
F#/Gb: F# G# A# B C# D# E# F# / Gb Ab Bb Cb (B) Db Eb F Gb
G: G A B C D E F# G
G#/Ab: G# A# B# C# D# E# F## (G) G# / Ab Bb C Db Eb F G Ab
A: A B C# D E F# G# A
A#/Bb: A# B# (C) C## (D) D# E# (F) F## (G) G## (A) A# / Bb C D Eb F G A Bb
B: B C# D# E F# G# A# B (Cb: Cb Db Eb Fb Gb Ab Bb Cb)

Fingering: 1 = thumb | 2 = index | 3 = middle | 4 = ring | 5 = pinkie
LH = Left hand | RH = Right hand
elise
Site Admin
Posts: 1540
Joined: Mon May 17, 2021 12:19 pm

Re: Major Scales

Post by elise »

The intervals and steps are important to learn - these are always the same for scales in a specific category.
This helps you a lot until you have memorised all the scales and vice versa: you don’t need to memorise them if you know the intervals. The nature of the intervals labels the Major Scale as a diatonic scale.

Understand the names
Some of the scales have two names divided by a slash (e.g. C# and Db), because they can be played in two different keys. The notes are, however, the same on the keyboard. As an example, C#, D#, E#, F#, G#, A#, B#, C# and Db, Eb, F, Gb, Ab, Bb, C, Db (as in C# / Db scales) are the same notes but partly written differently. In some cases, there are double-sharps (e.g. F##) which just means to go up two semitones (F## = G).

Scales and chords
As soon as you know a certain major scale, you can easier grasp the chords in the same key. That is because you can randomly choose three different notes from a scale and you will get a triad. In the key of C, for instance, the standard chords being used are:

C Major (notes: C - E - G)
D Minor (notes: D - F - A)
E Minor (notes: E - G - B)
F Major (notes: F - A - C)
G Major (notes: G - B - D)
A Minor (notes: A - C - E)
B Diminished (notes: B - D - F)

An easy way to start improvising on the piano is to play major scales together with the chords that use the same notes. To explain further: you can play chords like C, Em, F, G and Am together with the C Major Scale. Preferable is to play chords with your left hand and notes from the scale with your right.
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