The white keys of the piano correspond to the C major scale. For example, a Bb clarinet playing a piece written in C major sounds in Bb major. Many transposing instruments sound in their original key when they play a part written in C major. Its relative minor is A minor and its key of the same name is C minor.īased on its notes, the major chords of its key are C major, F major, and G major, the minor chords are A minor, D minor, and E minor, and B is its diminished chord.Ĭ major is one of the most frequently used keys in music. The Key C major (also called Do M in Latin notation or Model Scale and C in Anglo-Saxon notation) is based on a major scale on the note C, consisting of the notes C, D, E, F, G, A and B (B). They are arranged in the circle of fifths: Major scale arranged in the circle of fifths If we take one of the 12 notes and use these distances, we get the 12 major scales that we will see below. Tone - Tone - Half Tone - Tone - Tone - Half Tone So the tonal scheme within the major scale is as follows: This scheme is observed in all major modes, regardless of their pitch. The intervallic distance between all steps is one tone, except between the III-IV step and the VII-VIII step, where it corresponds to a semitone.

The relationship between these sounds, which we will call degrees because of their functionality, creates a scheme depending on their intervallic distance, which in a way corresponds to the major or ionic mode.ĭo you want to produce your own music? Here we explain exactly what you need to do this! Starting from this tonic, the major scale is built up by a sequence of eight notes with a certain hierarchical structure. The Major key is formed from a note called the tonic. Every scale in our tonal system, in this case the major scale or Ionic mode, consists of two elements: tonality on the one hand and modality on the other.

E flat major scale e major scale