The major scale is the most important scale in Western music: the series of seven notes on which most melodies and harmonies are built, in classical and popular music alike. This page explains what it is, how it is formed with its pattern of whole steps (UK: tones) and half steps (UK: semitones), and what the fifteen major scales and their key signatures are. Further down you will also find the four types of major scale studied in conservatories.
What is a major scale?
A major scale is an ordered series of seven notes (plus the octave, which repeats the tonic) separated by a fixed pattern of whole steps and half steps. That pattern gives the major scale its bright, happy character. It stays the same wherever you start, so there is a major scale starting on each of the twelve notes. It helps to be clear about intervals and the names of the scale degrees before you go on.
Can you tell by ear whether a melody is in a major or a minor key, without looking at the score? Test your ear with the listening exercise Major or minor?
Structure: the pattern of whole steps and half steps
Every natural major scale follows this pattern of intervals between consecutive degrees:
Whole · Whole · Half · Whole · Whole · Whole · Half
That is, the two half steps always fall between degrees 3–4 and 7–8; every other step is a whole step. In C major, the only major scale with no accidentals, the pattern is easy to see: C–D (whole), D–E (whole), E–F (half), F–G (whole), G–A (whole), A–B (whole) and B–C (half).
How to build a major scale from any note
- Write the seven natural note names starting on the chosen tonic, in order and without repeating any letter (one for each degree).
- Measure the distance between each pair of consecutive notes and compare it with the pattern W–W–H–W–W–W–H.
- Add the sharps or flats needed so that every step matches the pattern exactly.
For example, on G: G–A–B–C–D–E–F–G. Every step fits except the last one: F–G would be a whole step, but the pattern needs a half step up to the tonic. So F is raised to F♯, and the key signature of one sharp appears. The result is G major: G–A–B–C–D–E–F♯.
The 15 major scales and their key signatures
There are only twelve different pitches, but in written music fifteen major scales are used. Three of them can be written in two enharmonic ways (B/C♭, F♯/G♭ and C♯/D♭). Each scale has its own key signature, whose sharps or flats appear in the order of sharps and flats.
Could you recognize them by ear? In the listening exercise recognize the major key you hear a reference A4 and a melody, and you have to say which major key it is in. When you master that, try telling them apart from their relative minors in recognize the key: major and minor.
| Major scale | Key signature | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| C major | — (no accidentals) | C D E F G A B |
| G major | 1♯ (F♯) | G A B C D E F♯ |
| D major | 2♯ | D E F♯ G A B C♯ |
| A major | 3♯ | A B C♯ D E F♯ G♯ |
| E major | 4♯ | E F♯ G♯ A B C♯ D♯ |
| B major | 5♯ | B C♯ D♯ E F♯ G♯ A♯ |
| F♯ major | 6♯ | F♯ G♯ A♯ B C♯ D♯ E♯ |
| C♯ major | 7♯ | C♯ D♯ E♯ F♯ G♯ A♯ B♯ |
| F major | 1♭ (B♭) | F G A B♭ C D E |
| B♭ major | 2♭ | B♭ C D E♭ F G A |
| E♭ major | 3♭ | E♭ F G A♭ B♭ C D |
| A♭ major | 4♭ | A♭ B♭ C D♭ E♭ F G |
| D♭ major | 5♭ | D♭ E♭ F G♭ A♭ B♭ C |
| G♭ major | 6♭ | G♭ A♭ B♭ C♭ D♭ E♭ F |
| C♭ major | 7♭ | C♭ D♭ E♭ F♭ G♭ A♭ B♭ |
The 4 types of major scale in conservatories
Besides the natural major scale described above, Spanish conservatories study four types of major scale: the natural major, the Mixolydian, the "principal mixed" (called the harmonic major in most English-language sources) and the "secondary mixed" (the melodic major scale, also known as Mixolydian ♭6, Aeolian dominant or Hindu scale). Each variant starts from the natural major scale and lowers one or two degrees to get a different sound color. To see them side by side with their interval patterns, go to the comparison table of the 4 types of major scale. To study each one separately, choose here:
Types of major scales
Frequently Asked Questions
The major scale is only one of many: discover them all in types of musical scales.