This article assumes you have a reasonable understanding of the terms interval, semi-tone, tone and the twelve notes of the chromatic scale. If you are not sure about any of these pre-requisites, have a look at chord theory 1: 12 notes
In chord theory 2: the C major scale, I state that the defining feature of the major scale is that it is eight notes long, with the following interval pattern.
| tone | tone | semi-tone | tone | tone | tone | semi-tone |
If we draw a large table of all of the notes, we can apply this scale pattern, and derive the major scale for each of the twelve notes in the chromatic scale. This is a good exercise, and at the end of the article, there is a plain version of this table for you to print and fill in.
| Root | A | Bb | B | C | C# | D | D# | E | F | F# | G | G# | A | Bb | B | C | C# | D | D# | E | F | F# | G | G# | A |
| A | A | B | C# | D | E | F# | G# | A | |||||||||||||||||
| Bb | A | Bb | B | C | C# | D | D# | E | F | F# | G | G# | A | Bb | B | C | C# | D | D# | E | F | F# | G | G# | A |
| B | A | Bb | B | C | C# | D | D# | E | F | F# | G | G# | A | Bb | B | C | C# | D | D# | E | F | F# | G | G# | A |
| C | A | Bb | B | C | C# | D | D# | E | F | F# | G | G# | A | Bb | B | C | C# | D | D# | E | F | F# | G | G# | A |
| C# | A | Bb | B | C | C# | D | D# | E | F | F# | G | G# | A | Bb | B | C | C# | D | D# | E | F | F# | G | G# | A |
| D | A | Bb | B | C | C# | D | D# | E | F | F# | G | G# | A | Bb | B | C | C# | D | D# | E | F | F# | G | G# | A |
| D# | A | Bb | B | C | C# | D | D# | E | F | F# | G | G# | A | Bb | B | C | C# | D | D# | E | F | F# | G | G# | A |
| E | A | Bb | B | C | C# | D | D# | E | F | F# | G | G# | A | Bb | B | C | C# | D | D# | E | F | F# | G | G# | A |
| F | A | Bb | B | C | C# | D | D# | E | F | F# | G | G# | A | Bb | B | C | C# | D | D# | E | F | F# | G | G# | A |
| F# | A | Bb | B | C | C# | D | D# | E | F | F# | G | G# | A | Bb | B | C | C# | D | D# | E | F | F# | G | G# | A |
| G | A | Bb | B | C | C# | D | D# | E | F | F# | G | G# | A | Bb | B | C | C# | D | D# | E | F | F# | G | G# | A |
| G# | A | Bb | B | C | C# | D | D# | E | F | F# | G | G# | A | Bb | B | C | C# | D | D# | E | F | F# | G | G# | A |
| A | A | Bb | B | C | C# | D | D# | E | F | F# | G | G# | A | Bb | B | C | C# | D | D# | E | F | F# | G | G# | A |
In the next article, I will take look at the CMajor chord, played on the guitar, and see how it relates to C major scale, to see if we can derive a rule for what makes a major chord.
exercise
Unformatted table of notes – fill in the major scale for the note on the leftmost column
| tone | tone | semi-tone | tone | tone | tone | semi-tone |
| Root | A | Bb | B | C | C# | D | D# | E | F | F# | G | G# | A | Bb | B | C | C# | D | D# | E | F | F# | G | G# | A |
| A | A | Bb | B | C | C# | D | D# | E | F | F# | G | G# | A | Bb | B | C | C# | D | D# | E | F | F# | G | G# | A |
| Bb | A | Bb | B | C | C# | D | D# | E | F | F# | G | G# | A | Bb | B | C | C# | D | D# | E | F | F# | G | G# | A |
| B | A | Bb | B | C | C# | D | D# | E | F | F# | G | G# | A | Bb | B | C | C# | D | D# | E | F | F# | G | G# | A |
| C | A | Bb | B | C | C# | D | D# | E | F | F# | G | G# | A | Bb | B | C | C# | D | D# | E | F | F# | G | G# | A |
| C# | A | Bb | B | C | C# | D | D# | E | F | F# | G | G# | A | Bb | B | C | C# | D | D# | E | F | F# | G | G# | A |
| D | A | Bb | B | C | C# | D | D# | E | F | F# | G | G# | A | Bb | B | C | C# | D | D# | E | F | F# | G | G# | A |
| D# | A | Bb | B | C | C# | D | D# | E | F | F# | G | G# | A | Bb | B | C | C# | D | D# | E | F | F# | G | G# | A |
| E | A | Bb | B | C | C# | D | D# | E | F | F# | G | G# | A | Bb | B | C | C# | D | D# | E | F | F# | G | G# | A |
| F | A | Bb | B | C | C# | D | D# | E | F | F# | G | G# | A | Bb | B | C | C# | D | D# | E | F | F# | G | G# | A |
| F# | A | Bb | B | C | C# | D | D# | E | F | F# | G | G# | A | Bb | B | C | C# | D | D# | E | F | F# | G | G# | A |
| G | A | Bb | B | C | C# | D | D# | E | F | F# | G | G# | A | Bb | B | C | C# | D | D# | E | F | F# | G | G# | A |
| G# | A | Bb | B | C | C# | D | D# | E | F | F# | G | G# | A | Bb | B | C | C# | D | D# | E | F | F# | G | G# | A |
| A | A | Bb | B | C | C# | D | D# | E | F | F# | G | G# | A | Bb | B | C | C# | D | D# | E | F | F# | G | G# | A |
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