How to Play a Major Scale

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By Brooke Hart
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It's the basis of all music, and yet, the major scale often gets looked over or put in the closet.
It's time to bring it out and back to life!
Once you know how to put together a major scale, you have a foundation for putting together almost any type of composition or song.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Step 1

Think of everything in half steps or whole steps. A half step will be the very next note played. A whole step will be two half steps combined.

(Reference a piano. A half step is the white note to the black note. A whole step is a white note to a white note - with a black note in between).

(Reference a guitar. A half step is from one fret to the next. A whole step is one fret then skip a fret).
Step 2

Find a 'foundation' or center note. This will be the scale that you are playing. For instance, if you start on C, it will be the C scale that you are playing. This is always the note you will start and stop on.
Step 3

Count up each note by either a half step or whole step from the last note. If you are on C, go up a whole step to D.
Step 4

Your order of steps should be:
1. whole step
2. whole step
3. half step
4. whole step
5. whole step
6. whole step
7. half step

The C major scale would be: C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C.

Tips & Warnings

Know the exceptions to the rule! The E to the F and the B to the C are both half steps. If you can find these on the piano, you will notice that there are no black notes in between. This is based off of the pitch that is being played.
With this exception to the rule, your whole steps will go up 2 notes. For example, if you are on a B and need a whole step, the C will be the half step and the C# will equal the 2nd half step, meaning B to C# is the whole step.
The whole steps that are in a different key signature will sometimes go to a black note (# or b). For instance, if you are on an E and need to go up a whole step, your next note will be F# (the black note above F).