Answer:
6. Major Scales
6.1 Introduction
The example below shows the beginning of the first movement of a piano sonata.
Example 6–1. Maria Hester Park, Piano Sonata (Op. 7), I. Allegro spirito, mm. 1–8.
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Consider the gesture found in mm. 1–2. Starting on a low C, a series of sixteenth notes sweeps up through three full octaves, one staff position at a time (with an extra middle C halfway through). This type of figure is known as a scale—more specifically, a major scale.
The major scale is a cornerstone of pitch organization and structure in tonal music. It consists of an ordered collection of seven pitch classes. The sound of a major scale is one with which you are very likely quite familiar. The following example shows a reduced version of the scale found in Example 6–1:
Example 6–2. C-major scale.
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The beginning (and end) of a scale is referred to as the tonic or keynote. We refer to the major scale found in these examples as a C-major scale because it begins and ends on the keynote C. All of the other notes in the scale are organized around this note.
The high C that ends the major scale in Example 6–2 can also act as the beginning of its own major scale. The following example demonstrates:
