Level 2 (like Grade 2) · Unit 9 of 24
Major scales and key signatures
The pattern of tones and semitones that makes a major scale, and the key signatures that come from it.
By the end you will be able to:
- write a major scale with the right sharps or flats
- read key signatures up to three sharps or flats
- name the key of a key signature
Learn
The major scale pattern
A major scale climbs eight notes from its key note (the tonic) to the same letter an octave higher, using every letter once. The steps always follow the same pattern: tone, tone, semitone, tone, tone, tone, semitone. C major fits the pattern on white keys only; other scales need sharps or flats to fit it.
Key signatures
Instead of writing the same sharps or flats again and again, music puts them at the start of every line: the key signature. Each sharp or flat in it applies to every note of that letter, in every octave, all the way through.
- G major: one sharp (F♯).
- D major: two sharps (F♯, C♯).
- A major: three sharps (F♯, C♯, G♯).
- F major: one flat (B♭).
- B♭ major: two flats (B♭, E♭).
- E♭ major: three flats (B♭, E♭, A♭).
Finding the key
Sharps always come in the same order: F C G D A E B. Flats come in the reverse order: B E A D G C F. With sharps, the key note is one semitone above the last sharp. With flats, the key is the second-to-last flat (and one flat is F major).
Your turn
Watch and listen, then practise with new questions every time – reading questions, and writing tasks you answer on the stave. Take the check when you are ready: 80% passes the unit.
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Level 2 is like Grade 2 music theory. These are Classfern’s own levels, not an exam board’s. Questions are made and marked by rules in your browser.