The Complete Idiot''s Guide to Music Theory

Warning

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Chapter 3:
Scales
The Intervals of the Major Scale
Note
Half Steps to Next Note
Tonic
2
Second
2
Third
1
Fourth
2
Fifth
2
Sixth
2
Seventh
1
Put another way, the intervals in a major scale go like this: whole, whole, half,
whole, whole, whole, half.
If you start your major scale on C (the C Major scale), you end up playing all
white keys on the piano. C Major is the only major scale that uses only the
white keys; all the other scales have black keys in them.
To make things easier for you, the following table shows all the notes in the 15
major scales:
The 15 Major Scales
Scale
Notes
C Major
C-sharp Major
D-flat Major
D Major
E-flat Major
E Major
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continues

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Part 1:
Tones
The 15 Major Scales
(continued)
Scale
Notes
F Major
F-sharp Major
G-flat Major
G Major
A-flat Major
A Major
B-flat Major
B Major
C-flat Major
Note that several of these scales are enharmonic. (Remember that word from
Chapter 1? It means two notes that are identical, but spelled differently.) So 
C-sharp Major and D-flat Major are just different ways of describing the same
notes, as are F-sharp Major and G-flat Major, and B Major and C-flat Major.
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Chapter 3:
Scales
31
Minor Scales
Minor scales sound a little less “up” than major scales. This is partly because
the third note of the minor scale is a minor interval, whereas the third note of
the major scale is a major interval. That little half step between a minor third
and a major third makes all the difference in the world!
Not to confuse you; however, whereas there was a single type of major scale,
there actually are three types of minor scales: natural, harmonic, and melodic.
We’ll look at each scale separately.
Natural Minor
The easiest minor scale to construct is the 
natural minor
scale. You can think of
the natural minor in terms of its corresponding major scale. When you start
and end a major scale on the sixth note, instead of the tonic, you get a natural
minor scale.
Here’s an example: Play a C Major scale (C D E F G A B C). Now move up to
the sixth note—or just move down two notes. (It’s the same thing—up six or down
two—both put you on the A.) Now play an eight-note scale, but using the notes
in C Major. What you get—A B C D E F G A—is the A minor (natural) scale.
As you can see, each natural minor scale shares the same tones as a specific
major scale. The following table shows you which minor scales match up with
which major scales.
Relative Major and Minor Scales