Theory Project 7: Writing the Major Scales with Sharps

David Raleigh Arnold

Time to complete: ?

Writing the Major Scales with Sharps

Starting with C

Write the notes from c to c’ in half notes, filling 85pct of each staff. Put w between the notes c and d. Is c to d a whole step? Yes.

Write a w between the notes d and e. Is d to e a whole step? Yes.

Write an h between the notes e and f. Is e to f a half step? Yes.

Write a w between the notes f and g. Is f to g a whole step? Yes.

Write a w between the notes g and a. Is g to a a whole step? Yes.

Write an h between the notes b and c’. Is b to c’ a half step? Yes.

Done!

The Next Scale

Of course, that was our model, so there aren’t any sharps or flats.

Label the dominant with a “V” below the note. It is a g. That will be the first note of the next scale. Proceed as before, always writing the w or h before you determine what the present size of the scale step is. If you don’t have wwhwwwh, you have to make it wwhwwwh.

Draw the notes as as before, but this time it’s from g to g’. Write a w between g and a. Is g to [a] a whole step? Yes.

Write in the next w. Is a to b a whole step? Yes.

Write in the h. Is b to c’ a half step? Yes.

Keep going... Is e’ to f’ a whole step? No! It has to be a whole step, to be wwhwwwh, a major scale. How to you make it a whole step? You have to sharp the f’. Now, e’ to f♯’ is a whole step and therefore f♯’ to g’ is a half step. Put in the h.

Done!

Start each scale in the range from c to b

Now you start with the dominant of the scale you just finished, and make it wwhwwwh just like the others. Keep every starting note in the range from c to b. If the dominant is above [b], move it down an octave to stay within a decent range.

Continue until you have all the major scales with sharps. Each time you write another scale you add another sharp. You end with all seven notes sharp, because that’s as sharp as a scale can get.

What scale will that be?

How many scales will there be, not counting the C you started with?

Many things in music theory are self checking like this. Again, if you mess up, find the error and fix it. Play it all. If you find mistakes, fix them. You learn a lot more that way.

Check your work

Write the key signatures.

Instead of writing in accidentals for each scale as you did in this project, one usually provides a list at the left of each staff, immediately following the clef and preceding the time signature. The list is called a key signature. A chromatic sign in a key signature applies to the indicated pitch in every octave, not just the note that follows on the same line or space. At a bar, an accidental altered pitch reverts to the pitch of the key signature, not necessarily to a natural note.

The sharps are always placed in the same order and manner from left to right, so by checking this scale, the last one, you can see how to do each key signature. It should be the seventh scale you wrote, not counting the C Major scale you started with. If it isn’t, figure out why. Write the correct key signature for each scale in the space you left free on the right end of each staff.

Write the name of each key

After the Key of C Major, the next was the Key of G Major. The key note is the one the scale started with. The last, the example, should be the Key of C♯ major. Write the name of each key above its key signature. The scales themselves are really all in the key of C, with accidentals.

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