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Music & Sound
Scales and Chords
Building blocks of melody and harmony
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Scales and chords are the building blocks of melody and harmony in music. A scale is an ordered set of notes that creates a musical environment, while a chord is a group of notes played together to create harmony. Understanding how they are built helps musicians read music, improvise, compose, and recognize patterns by ear. On a piano keyboard, the repeating layout of white and black keys makes intervals, keys, scales, and chords easier to see.
Key Facts
- An octave contains 12 semitones in Western equal temperament.
- Major scale pattern: W W H W W W H, where W = 2 semitones and H = 1 semitone.
- Natural minor scale pattern: W H W W H W W.
- Major triad formula: root + 4 semitones + 7 semitones.
- Minor triad formula: root + 3 semitones + 7 semitones.
- A key signature shows which notes are usually sharp or flat in a piece.
Vocabulary
- Scale
- A scale is a sequence of notes arranged in ascending or descending order according to a pattern of intervals.
- Chord
- A chord is three or more notes played at the same time to create harmony.
- Interval
- An interval is the distance in pitch between two notes.
- Root
- The root is the main note that gives a scale or chord its name.
- Triad
- A triad is a three-note chord built from a root, a third, and a fifth.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Counting piano keys incorrectly, because intervals are measured by semitones and every white or black key counts as one semitone.
- Using the same pattern for major and minor scales, because major and natural minor scales have different whole-step and half-step patterns.
- Forgetting accidentals in a key signature, because the sharps or flats apply throughout the measure and often throughout the whole piece.
- Building chords by choosing any three nearby notes, because standard triads are usually built by stacking thirds from a root note.
Practice Questions
- 1 Starting on C, use the major scale pattern W W H W W W H to write the notes of the C major scale.
- 2 A major triad is built from semitone positions 0, 4, and 7 above the root. If the root is G, what are the three notes in a G major triad?
- 3 Explain why the notes C, E, and G sound stable together, but C, D, and E sound more tense when played as a chord.