The major scale has been used for hundreds of years. Practically all styles of popular western music have incorporated this scale. By learning how to construct and play it, you will unlock a lot of doors to your knowledge and creativity. This article will cover the major scale’s construction, and talk about the circle or cycle of 4ths and 5ths.

Scales are constructed by using a specific arrangement of half step and whole steps. These steps are the distances between notes. Half steps, also known as semitones, are moving from one note to the next adjacent or neighboring note. It’s the distance from one fret to the next on the guitar. The notes B and C are a half step a part. The notes E and F are also only a half step a part.

Whole steps, also called whole tones, are the distance of 2 semitones a part. You must skip a note in the middle between two notes to create the whole step distance. For instance, the notes F to G are a whole step a part. The note F# or Gb comes in between them. Therefore, F to F#(Gb) is a half step, F#(Gb) to G is a half step, and F to G is a whole step.

The major scale consists of 5 whole steps and 2 half steps. The arrangement of these is 2 wholes steps followed by a half step, then 3 consecutive whole steps followed by a final half step. C major is a good first example since it does not contain any sharp or flat notes.

Every major scale follows this step pattern. Depending on your root note (starting note), you will have to add sharps of flats in order to create the correct pattern. This is where the circle or cycle of 5ths and 4ths comes into the picture.

Think of the circle of 5ths, and the circle of 4ths as two different clubs. The members of the circle of 5ths are the sharp keys, while the circle of 4ths is made up of the flat keys. C major serves as the head of both clubs.

In the circle of 5ths, a hierarchy is established granting an additional sharp to each member in the group. The 5th note of the C major scale is G. The G major scale then becomes the second member of the club. In order for it to meet the requirements of the major scale, it must use an F#. This creates the necessary whole step between the 6th and 7th degrees of the scale, and the last half step between the 7th degree and the octave.

Since this is the circle of 5ths club, the next member is based on the 5th note of the G major scale, which is D. D major inherits the F# from the previous scale, and also adds an additional sharp to it’s 7th degree (C#) to follow the scale pattern.

Each subsequent member will be picked using the 5th note of the preceding scale, and add an additional sharp. Here are all of the major scales in the circle of 5ths:

Notice on the last key, F#, there is an E#. This is the same note as F natural. We’re just looking at it from a different perspective for our major scale construction. Now you may be wondering why I didn’t list the keys of C#, G#, and so on. Once you get to the keys after F# major, you need to begin adding double sharps to notes in order to create the right whole and half step combinations. If this sounds confusing that’s because it is. This is why we have another club called the circle of 4ths.

The circle of 4ths uses flats instead of sharps. Flats are another way of looking at sharps. F# is the same as Gb. In other words they are the same pitches, but the context will determine whether we consider it one note or the other.

Using the C major scale again as the head of our club, we base our membership on the 4th degree of the scale. In this case, F major will be the next scale in the circle of 4ths. To follow the major scale criteria of whole and half steps, we need to use a Bb to create the half step between the 3rd and 4th degrees, and the whole step between the 4th and 5th degrees.

Each subsequent scale will add an additional flat to the mix. The next scale after F major will be Bb (the 4th degree of F major).

Here all the major keys in the circle of 4ths:

The key of G flat is the same as F sharp, but arranged using flat notes instead. Cb is the same note as B natural. Again, we don’t list beyond Gb major because we will then be using double flats to create the correct step arrangement, which is just as confusing as using double sharps. If you’re into classical and jazz, and sight read music, you may come across a piece of music written in a key that uses either double sharps or flats, but this is rare.

Between the circle of 5ths and the circle of 4ths we get a grand total of 12 different major scales or keys. You will often see these circles combined into something like the following diagram:

Following this circle clockwise will give you the cycle of 5ths, while going counterclockwise gives you the cycle of 4ths. This is just to give you the order of the scales in terms of the increasing number of sharps or flats in each key.

I recommend spending some time writing our each major scale, and memorizing the notes to each one. Guitar players often rely strictly on a finger pattern to play a scale without taking the time to understand each note and it’s place in the scale. By learning the note arrangements away from your instrument, you will gain a much deeper understanding of how the scales operate that you can then apply to playing on the guitar.

Once you’ve grasped the construction of the major scale, it will become easier to take the next step in learning the minor scales, the modes, and how to construct chords. I’ll cover the major scale finger patterns in another article. Until then, work hard, play harder, and learn those major scales!