6: Constructing Major and Natural Minor

Scales are the building blocks of Western music on both melodic and harmonic levels. At their simplest, scales are collections of notes that move in the same direction that run through all 7 letters of the musical alphabet: A B C D E F G. (This itself is an important scale, which we will discover by the end of this post).

At the highest level, there are two kinds of scales, major and minor. Traditionally, Western ears hear major scales (and therefore things written that use their notes) as “happy” and minor scales (and things written using their notes) as “sad,” but this is purely psychological conditioning and does not reflect any inherent properties of those scales.

Scales and intervals are inseparable concepts. Intervals are the distances between notes. For example, from A up to D is a fourth, because A B C D is four letter names. Likewise, D down to F is a sixth because D C B A G F is six letter names. This reveals one of the fundamental rules of intervals which we will talk much more about later, the rule of 9. Notice for now that when you “flip” the direction of an interval, the “regular” interval’s size plus the “flipped” interval’s size always sum to 9. Consider this: A B C D is a fourth, but D E F G A is a fifth; E F is a second, but F G A B C D E is a seventh; G G is a unison (we count “not going anywhere” as a distance of 1) but G A B C D E F G is 8 notes away, an octave. In any case, 1+8, 2+7, 3+6, 4+5, or the symmetries of these pairs, they sum to 9.

Let’s start with a major scale; for simplicity’s sake, let’s do C major.

All twelve possible notes are as follows: C C# D D# E F F# G G# A A# B C (an octave up, and the pattern repeats)

To form a major scale built on C, we first, naturally, begin on C.
C
then we move 2 notes higher
CD
then 2 more notes higher
CDE
then one
CDEF
then two
CDEFG
then two
CDEFGA
then two
CDEFGAB
then one
CDEFGABC
and we’ve come back to the C, so the pattern starts over again.

This “2-2-1-2-2-2-1” pattern is the fundamental formula for the major scale. Pick any starting note, called the “root” or “tonic” of the scale, and you will get the major scale.

Another example, this time on D:

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

· The first note (the first “degree”) is D

· The second degree is E (D, skip D#, land on E)

· The third degree is F# (E, skip F, land on F#)

· The fourth degree is G (F#, land on G)

· The fifth degree is A (G, skip G#, land on A)

· The sixth degree is B (A, skip A#, land on B)

· The seventh degree is C# (B, skip C, land on C#)

· The first degree (again) is D (C#, land on D)

To build the scale moving downward (although by convention, you spell them moving upward—but nothing concretely prevents otherwise), simply reverse 2212221 into 1222122.

Finally, an example in Ab major:

Ab A Bb B C Db D Eb E F Gb G Ab

· Ab

· Ab Bb

· Ab Bb C

· Ab Bb C Db

· Ab Bb C Db Eb

· Ab Bb C Db Eb F

· Ab Bb C Db Eb F G

· Ab Bb C Db Eb F G Ab

This formula holds for any major scale.

Now, let’s move on to minor. There are technically four minors, but let’s cover the simplesty one now, and the other three later.

The formula for minor (without qualification, or with the qualification “natural” minor) is: 2122122.

Let’s use A minor as our first example:

A Bb B C Db D Eb E F Gb G Ab A

· The first degree is A, since this is A minor

· Then B (move 2)

· Then C (move 1)

· Then D (move 2)

· Then E (move 2)

· Then F (move 1)

· Then G (move 2)

· Then A (move 2) and optionally keep going.

To reverse and build downward, simply use 2212212.

And now E minor:

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

· E

· F#

· G

· A

· B

· C

· D

· E

And G minor:
G Ab A Bb B C Dd D Eb E F Gb G

· G

· A

· Bb

· C

· D

· Eb

· F

· G

Each scale degree has a special name:

In major

· 1st: Tonic

· 2nd: Supertonic

· 3rd: Mediant

· 4th: Subdominant

· 5th: Dominant

· 6th: Submediant

· 7th: Leading tone

In natural minor:

· 1st: Tonic

· 2nd: Supertonic

· 3rd: Mediant

· 4th: Subdominant

· 5th: Dominant

· 6th: Submediant

· 7th: Subtonic

Each time I’ve been showing you how to spell out a scale, before we’ve gone through that process, I’ve given you every possible in-between note from one occurrence of the tonic to the next and shown you which 7 unique ones of the 12 possible ones we’re going to pick to formulate the scale. When you list all twelve notes in order as I have been doing, this is called a “chromatic” scale and is neither major nor minor.

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