The major scale is all the notes in the key in ascending order, starting on tonic. They will always have the same pattern of half and whole steps. There are several ways to think about that pattern. Look at the chart below. The numbers indicate scale degrees (1 is the first note of the scale, or tonic; 2 is the second note of the scale, and so on.), the dash (-) represents a whole step, while the carrot (^) represents a half step. You can think of the scale as being made up of a pattern of half and whole steps that goes whole, whole, half, whole, whole, whole, half, or of all whole steps except between the third and fourth scale degrees, and the seventh and eight scale degrees. The location of these half steps, and the tri-tone that exists between the fourth and seventh scale degrees, are what helps us to hear what key a piece is in.

     If you will look at a piano keyboard, you will see that this is the pattern of half and whole steps that occur on the white keys if you start on any c. C major is also the key that does not include any notes with sharps or flats. If you start on g, however, the pattern of half and whole steps doesn't work out, so you will need an accidental. Look at the chart below, which shows the pattern you get starting on g with all white keys on the top line, and the pattern you want for a major scale on the bottom line. (The scale degrees are in the middle.) Can you figure out how to move just one note a half step to create the pattern of half and whole steps you need for a major scale?

     If you raised the seventh scale degree you got it right. G major has one sharp, and it is F sharp. You could do this for every possible key, but there is an easier way. The keys follow a pattern. When a piece is in a given key it is indicated by a key signature, which is a set of accidentals right after the clef. Starting on C, each time you go up a perfect fifth, you add one sharp. Sharps are always added a specific order. Starting with F you can figure that order by going up a fifth each time, or just remember F-C-G-D-A-E-B. If you want to know the key with 3 sharps in it, just start on c and go up a fifth three times.

     Up a fifth from C is G; (that's 1)

     Up a fifth from G is D; (that's 2)

     Up a fifth from D is A; (that's 3)

     You now know that the key of A major has 3 sharps, and they are F#, C#, and G#. You can find the flat keys by simply starting on c again and going down by fifths. The flats add in exactly the opposite order from sharps B-E-A-D-G-C-F. This means you only have to memorize one of the orders (sharps or flats) and you will know them both. If you follow these 2 methods all the way out to seven sharps and seven flats you will find that some of the keys you have made have enharmonic equivalents. A common way of showing all of these relationships is with a chart called the circle of fifths (shown below). By counting how many places you have traveled around the circle from C you can determine the exact key signature. It is a circle so that the enharmonic keys can overlap.

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