The Major Scale - A Complete Perspective

Part – 1 : Argument of History

There is no empirical evidence that the Major Scale was the first real scale ever used. It is far more likely that people constructed melodies by ear using intervals that were pleasing and harmonious to their ears. From this, major and minor pentatonic scales and the diatonic scale we identify as “The Major Scale” must have emerged.

The historic evolution of this particular musical scale and it's widespread usage and recognition, render this scale a great significance and authority. We are dealing with much more than simply tradition here.  There must be something more about this collection of tones that gives it this precedence above all other scales. Hopefully, we'll get closer to understanding this unique feature of the Major Scale.

On the internet, you can read a lot about the history of the Major Scale. Here's a link with some interesting remarks on it's development: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diatonic_scale

Historic research indicates that music in ancient times has been at least to some degree systematic and diatonic. Read a little about that here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_Mesopotamia

For the purpose of this particular treatise, we will not recede too far into the outback of the annals of musical history, we'll pick it up somewhere around the Middle Ages.

And since I am by no stretch of the imagination a professional historian, you make certainly expect me to take a few blatant liberties in anecdotal fashion, for the strict purpose of added educational value.

Alexander Stakenburg

http://www.schoolvoorimprovisatie.nl

The Major Scale - A Complete Perspective

Introduction

The western-type music I grew up listening to, and I'm assuming that most of you who read this article did so also, is primarily based on intervallic combinations which are historically grouped and labelled by the denominator "Major Scale". And it really is..... MAJOR.

I'm estimating that 99.8% of pop music is based on this collection of tones. And since the unextended, unaltered note-collections we identify as the major and minor pentatonic scales, are embedded within the Major Scale, we can certainly extend our estimation to include various stylistically idiosynchratic traditions like Irish music, Country music, Rock music, Classical music, Jazz music and many, many folkloric types of music, including African, Indian, Balinese, Maori and Asian styles. I submit to you that these styles and their derivates are based on the Major Scale in larger or lesser degrees, but based on it nonetheless.

This being the case, wouldn't we be prudent, were we to study it prodigiously, striving to reach the point of exhausting its vast range of harmonic and melodic possibilities?

I think so.

For this purpose, in this series of articles, we are going to make the Major Scale our sole domain. We are going to make it our bread and butter, our scotch and soda, our coffee and tea.
We will make it the window through which we gaze upon the wondrous textures of the landscape of this world called: MUSIC!

(drumroll please!)

I am writing to you from a guitarist's perspective, but the principles are generic and universally adaptable by all musicians.

Let's begin! - Part 1 Coming Soon... Stay Tuned!


Read some more about scales here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musical_scale