C Major Scale - An Introduction
Read Time: 5 Minutes
The Notes of C Major
The first thing to note is that C major does not have any sharps or flats, often making it one of the simplest scales to learn and play. The notes that make up the C major scale are:
C – D – E – F – G – A – B
C Major Key Signature
As mentioned above the C major does not have any sharps or flats, making it the only major key signature without any. Interested in learning more about key signatures? Check out our introduction to key signatures here.
Scale Positions & Degrees
As with every major scale, each note has its own position within the scale. For example, E is the 3rd note or ‘the mediant’ within the scale of C. Check out our comprehensive guide on scales if you’d like to read more on that topic.
The below table illustrates each note and its position within the scale of C major.
| Position | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | Degree | Tonic | Supertonic | Mediant | Subdominant | Dominant | Submediant | Leading tone |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Note | C | D | E | F | G | A | B |
In musical notation this would look like:
C Major Scale Intervals and Formula
Every natural major scale uses the W-W-H-W-W-W-H pattern to create the notes of the scale. ‘W’ being ‘whole-step’ and ‘H’ for ‘half-step’.
| Note Names | Half Steps | Interval Name | C to C | 0 | Unison |
|---|---|---|
| C to D | 2 | Major 2nd Interval |
| C to E | 4 | Major 3rd interval |
| C to F | 5 | Perfect 4th interval |
| C to G | 7 | Perfect 5th interval |
| C to A | 9 | Major 6th Interval |
| C to B | 11 | Major 7th Interval |
| C to C | 12 | Octave |
Solfege Syllables of C Major
Solfege is a system used by music tutors across the world to help their students learn and understand vocal melodies more effectively. Solfege, which can also be referred to as “solfeggio’ or “solfa”, assigns a unique syllable to every degree of a scale.
For the scale of C major, the Solfege syllables are as follows:
| C | D | E | F | G | A | B | Do | Re | Me | Fa | So | La | Ti |
|---|
Here are the solfege syllables for C major illustrated on the Piano:
Pro Tip: Use solfege as a great way to train your ears to recognise specific intervals of a scale!
What does the C major scale sound like?
Listen to the clip below to hear what the C major scale ascending and de
scending sounds like:
C major ascending
C major descending
C Major by Clef
Now we have all of the information on the notes of C major, here is what the scale looks like across all of the most common clefs.
C Major in Treble Clef
C Major in Bass Clef
C Major in Alto Clef
C Major in Tenor Clef
The Relative Minor of C Major
For every major scale, there is a ‘relative minor’ that shares the same key signature. The relative minor of a natural major scale is always the 6th degree of the major scale. View our guide on finding the relative minor for more information on how to find the relative minor for any key.
This makes A minor the relative minor of C major.
The alternative and sometimes easier way to identify the relative minor is to go down 3 half steps from the root note of a scale. In this instance that would be C > B > Bb > A (giving us A as the relative minor key).
The notes that make up the A minor scale are:
A – B – C – D – E – F – G
You can hear what that sounds like below:
In Summary
C major is often the first scale to start with when learning music theory or piano. Hopefully, the guide above has got you well on your way to mastering the scale and understanding how it’s constructed.
If you’d like to keep learning, we have a host of comprehensive guides to continue learning scales. Once you’re comfortable with C major, we would recommend G major as the next scale to master.
