Knowra Major scale Major scale A seven-note diatonic scale with the interval pattern whole, whole, half, whole, whole, whole, half steps. Its first, third, and fifth notes form a major triad.
Diatonic scale : A seven-note scale organized into five whole steps and two half steps within an octave. The major scale is one of the principal forms of this seven-note scale.
Major triad : A three-note chord built from a root, major third, and perfect fifth. Taking alternate notes from the major scale produces its tonic major triad.
Natural minor scale : A seven-note diatonic scale with the interval pattern whole, half, whole, whole, half, whole, whole. It shares the major scale’s diatonic structure but lowers its third, sixth, and seventh degrees.
Solfege : A system for singing pitches with syllables such as do, re, mi, and fa. Movable-do solfege maps syllables onto the major scale’s degrees.
Guido of Arezzo : An eleventh-century Italian music theorist associated with influential systems of musical instruction and notation. His solmization tradition helped teach pitch relationships later applied to major-scale singing.
Interval (music) : The distance in pitch between two notes, measured by steps, semitones, or scale degrees. Whole and half steps specify the major scale’s characteristic sequence of intervals.
Key signature : The sharps or flats placed at a staff’s beginning to indicate a key’s usual altered notes. Key signatures encode the note changes needed to realize major scales on the staff.
Harmonic minor scale : A minor scale with a raised seventh degree, creating an augmented second between its sixth and seventh notes. Its altered seventh contrasts with the major scale’s regular whole- and half-step pattern.
Major key : A musical key whose tonic and characteristic pitch collection are based on a major scale. A major key applies the scale’s notes and tonic-centered relationships to a composition.
Jean-Philippe Rameau : An eighteenth-century French composer and theorist who systematized tonal harmony. His theory treated major and minor triads as foundations of tonal music built from scale degrees.
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