DEGREES OF THE SCALE

All major scales are made up of the same pattern of tone and semitones.

Here is the pattern: Tone – Tone – Semitone – Tone – Tone – Tone – Semitone

And here is a scale of C major:

As you can see, there are seven notes within a scale with the eighth note being a repeat of the first but an octave higher.

Each note in the scale has a specific relationship to the key note (called the tonic). It doesn’t matter what key we are in, the relationships remain the same. This is why we can give the notes names according to their relationship to the tonic.

• Each note of a scale has a special name, called a scale degree.
• The first (and last) note is called the tonic. (Its letter name, in this instance C, is also the name of the key we are in)
• The fourth note is called the subdominant
• The fifth note is called the dominant.
• Notice that the subdominant is the same distance below the tonic as the dominant is above it (a perfect fifth).
• The prefix sub is Latin for “under” or “beneath”.
• We now have the three perfect intervals in place (perfect 4^th, 5^th and octave). When we build triads on these notes we will also have the three primary chords.

• The third note is called the mediant since it is in the middle of the tonic and dominant.

• Likewise, the sixth note is called the submediant since it is in the middle of the upper tonic and subdominant.

• The second note is called the supertonic. Super is Latin for “above”.
• While the scale degrees for the first six notes are the same for both major and minor scales, the seventh one is special.

• If the seventh note is a half step below the tonic, it is called a leading note. Play the C Major Scale, notice how the seventh note wants to lead into the tonic.
• Leading tones also occur in harmonic minor and melodic minor.

• In natural minor (or Aeolian Mode), the seventh note is a whole step below the tonic. In this case, the note is called a subtonic. Play the C Natural Minor scale, notice how the seventh tone lacks the desire to lead into the tonic.

· The first (and last) note is called the tonic. (Its letter name, in this instance C, is also the name of the key we are in)

· The fifth note is called the dominant.

· The fourth note is called the subdominant

the dominant is above it (a perfect fifth).

If we centre the Tonic in the middle of the scale, it is easier to view the basic polarity of the Dominant and Subdominant, each a fifth away from the Tonic, and the relative position of Mediant and Submediant.

For more on harmonic polarity I recommend that you to read two excellent chapters in Forrest Tobey’s A Feeling For Harmony web site:

http://legacy.earlham.edu/~tobeyfo/musictheory/Book2/FFH2_CH6/6A_SecondaryDominants.html

http://legacy.earlham.edu/~tobeyfo/musictheory/Book1/FFH1_CH3/3A.1_HarmonicPolarity.html