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
