Lesson 3
Scales/
Major scales

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scale building
ID major keys
WriteKeysig
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8

Tonality

Much of the music we encounter is "tonal." Tonality (or key) refers to a relationship among the pitches in a composition in which one pitch is central or more important than the others. This note is called the tonic (or keynote or key center) and is the first note of the scale. Playing a D major scale or a piece using this scale means playing in the key of D major.

Among the other pitches there is a hierarchy of of relationships. Therefore, it is helpful to know how a specific pitch functions within a key by learning the following scale-degree names:

Scale-degree name:
1 tonic (first note of a scale)
the central pitch that the other pitches "gravitate" toward
2 supertonic (second note of a scale)
the note above ("super") tonic; often moves down one step to tonic in melodies
3 mediant (third note of a scale)
the note midway between tonic and the dominant above
4 subdominant (fourth note of a scale)
the note below ("sub") the dominant; often moves up to the dominant
5 dominant (fifth note of a scale)
after tonic, the most important pitch of a key; often moves directly to tonic
6 submediant (sixth note of a scale)
the note midway between tonic and the subdominant below
7 leading tone (seventh note of a scale)
the note 1/2 step below tonic; often "leads" directly to tonic

scale-degree names for the major scale

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