The Chromatic Scale, the Major and Minor Scales, and the Musical Intervals By Sam Frantz © 2001

There are only twelve unique notes in the chromatic scale. The major scale sounds like ”Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti Do”,

and it contains only seven unique notes. The letter names of the notes are not important in determining the structure of a scale, only the relative distances between the scale steps. The piano keyboard is laid out such that the white keys form a major scale beginning with C. But a major scale can be constructed in any key by following the same relative spacing of scale steps. Specifically, from the starting point, go up 2, 2, 1, 2, 2, 2, and 1. Notice that this adds up to 12, which means you end up exactly where you started, only one octave higher.

Chromatic Scale

Major Scale Step

+1 +1

5 0 0 7

C A A A C C D D D E E E F F F G G G B B B

I II III IV V VI VII I II III IV V VI VII I II III IV V VI VII

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

1

2

3

4

6 8

9

10

11 0

1

2

3

4 5

6

7

8

9

10

11

13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 …

Perfe

ct U

nis

on

Majo

r Se

con

d

Majo

r Third

Perfe

ct F

ou

rth

Perfe

ct F

ifth

Majo

r Six

th

Majo

r Se

ven

th

Perfe

ct O

cta

ve

Ma

jor N

inth

Ma

jor T

en

th

Pe

rfect E

leve

nth

Pe

rfect T

welfth

(min

or s

eco

nd)

(min

or th

ird)

(dim

inis

he

d fifth

)

(min

or s

ixth

)

(min

or s

eve

nth

*)

0 2 4 5 7 9 11

1 3 6 8 10

C

In common usage, perfect and major intervals are referred to by their simple numeric names – “second”, “third”, “fourth”, “fifth”, “sixth”, “octave”. The minor intervals are referred to by their full names (“minor third”, etc.). The exception is the seventh, where the minor uses the simple name, and the major is called “major seventh”.

+2 +2 +2 +2 +2

Note that the minor scale can also be played on the white keys of a piano. The starting note is three semitones lower than the starting tone for the major scale, so the structure looks like this:

Musical Intervals

An interval describes the distance

between two notes. Interval names are based on the scale step numbers, but

are measured in (chromatic) semitones.

+1 +2 +2 +2 +2 +1 +2

A A C D E F G B

Major and Minor Chords in the Context of the Major Scale

C Major D minor E minor F Major G Major A minor

B diminished (G dominant 7th) +3=

+3=

+3=

+3=

+3=

+3= +3=

+4=

+3= 0 4 7

2

4

5 9

7 11

12 9 5

7 11

9 12

14

16

14 17 11

I II III IV V VI

0 4 7

2 5 9

4 7 11

5 9 12

7 11 14

9 12 16

+4=

+4=

+4=

+4=

+4=

(no perfect fifth)

I Major

II minor

III minor

VI minor

IV Major

V Major

A major chord consists of a major third and a perfect fifth. Major chords can be formed with the root note on the I, IV, and V step of the scale.

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 …

A minor chord consists of a minor third and a perfect fifth. Minor chords can be formed with the root note on the II, III, and VI steps of the scale.

0 4 7 0 3 7

I II III IV V VI

5 0 7

1

2

3

4

6 8

9

10

11 5 0 7

1

2

3

4

6 8

9

10

11

I II III IV V VI

5 0 7

1

2

3

4

6 8

9

10

11