If you’ve ever taken music lessons, you’ve probably encountered major scales. They’re the foundational building blocks of Western music and are essential to learning how to play an instrument effectively and understand music theory. But if you’re wondering how many major scales there are, that indicates you may still need a better understanding of what they are.
Spoiler alert: there are 12 major scales, one for each note in western music.
In this article, we’ll dive into the world of major scales and explore how many of them exist within the twelve-tone Western music system. We’ll take a look at what major scales are, how they’re constructed, and the importance of understanding them. So grab your instrument to fiddle along with us, and let’s get started!
Understanding Major Scales
Before we can explore how many major scales there are, let’s first define what a major scale is. In Western music, a major scale is a series of seven notes that are arranged in a specific pattern of whole and half steps. These whole and half steps take place on the repeating cycle of twelve notes, and so there are a finite number of major scales that we can construct before we start repeating ourselves. This pattern of steps creates a particular sound or “color” that we recognize as a major scale.
To identify a major scale, you can use the following pattern of whole and half steps: whole, whole, half, whole, whole, whole, half. This pattern is also known as the “W-W-H-W-W-W-H” pattern. For example, the C major scale consists of the following notes: C, D, E, F, G, A, B, and then back to C. If you count the steps between each note, you’ll find that they follow the W-W-H-W-W-W-H pattern.
To go from C to D, we need to skip the black note C#. Similarly, to go from D to E, we skip the black note D#. Between E and F, however, there is no black note, and it only requires a half step to get to the next note of the C major scale. As you can see, Starting on C and only playing white notes provides a template for how to construct any major scale.
How Many Major Scales Are There?
So, how many major scales are there in Western music? The answer lies in the twelve-tone music system. Within this system, there are twelve unique pitches, which can be used to create a major scale in any key. This means that there are twelve unique major scales that can be created, one for each of the twelve notes in the Western music system.
Examples of different major scales include C major, D major, E major, and so on. Each major scale has a unique sound and is used in different musical genres and compositions. Knowing how to identify and play different major scales is an important skill for any musician. While you do not need to have absolute pitch to be able to identify the sound of a major scale, it usually does require perfect pitch to identify which major scale is being played.
If you want to identify major scales by ear, here’s a trick: major scales tend to sound happy, grandiose, large or bright. That’s quite different from the timid, melancholic sound of minor scales.
There’s a catch though. If you would count notes from outside of the Western music system, or would simply alter the pitch of the root, you could theoretically construct an infinite amount of major scales. Although there are talented artists like Jacob Collier have been succesful at micro-tonal modulations, thinking about major scales in this way is very rare though and for all practical purposes, we can say there are only 12 major scales.
Importance of Knowing Major Scales
Understanding major scales is crucial for anyone interested in learning music theory, composition, or playing an instrument. Major scales are the first scales we learn for a good reason. Major scales are the foundation of Western music and form the basis for chord progressions, melodies, and harmonies. By knowing how to identify and play different major scales, you can better understand how music works and how different musical elements fit together.
Major scales are also used extensively in different musical genres, from classical to jazz to pop. Jazz musicians tend to add extra notes on top of the major chords, making the chord more complex, but still the major triad is the foundation for most of these chords. Many songs and compositions are based on major scales. There are many more songs composed in major than in minor, and especially in pop music minor scales are much rarer.
Conclusion
In conclusion, major scales are a fundamental part of Western music and are essential for anyone interested in music theory, composition, or playing an instrument. While there are only twelve unique major scales in the twelve-tone Western music system, these scales form the basis for countless compositions and musical genres. By knowing how to identify and play different major scales, you can take your musical knowledge and skill to the next level.