Major Scale Formula

Below are the 12 music notes in western music

A — A#(or Bb) —- B —- C — C#(or Db) — D — D#(or Eb) — E — F — F#(or Gb) — G — G#(or Ab) — A

Note : # is pronounced as Sharp and b as Flat. For example: A# is A Sharp and Bb is B flat.

Formula

Here’s the formula to construct a major scale.

Formula : W, W, H, W, W, W, H 
W means Whole step (For example, from A to B, it is a whole step as it has two hops)
H means Half step (For example, from A to A#, it is a half step as it has one hop)

Here’s a trick to remember this:

Women Wearing Hats Walked With Wonderful Heels

Constructing major scales

A major

A --- B --- C# --- D --- E --- F# --- G# --- A
   W     W      H     W     W      W      H

B major

B --- C# --- D# --- E --- F# --- G# --- A# --- B
   W      W      H     W      W      W      H

C major

C --- D --- E --- F --- G --- A --- B --- C
   W     W     H     W     W     W     H

… and it goes on for all 12 notes.

Basic major scales

• A major scale: A – B – C# – D – E – F# – G# – A
• Bb major scale: Bb – C – D – Eb – F – G – A – Bb
• B major scale: B – C# – D# – E – F# – G# – A# – B
• C major scale: C – D – E – F – G – A – B – C
• C# major scale: C# – D# – E# (=F) – F# – G# – A# – B# (=C) – C#
• Db major scale: Db – Eb – F – Gb – Ab – Bb – C – Db
• D major scale: D – E – F# – G – A – B – C# – D
• Eb major scale: Eb – F – G – Ab – Bb – C – D – Eb
• E major scale: E – F# – G# – A – B – C# – D# – E
• F major scale: F – G – A – Bb – C – D – E – F
• F# major scale: F# – G# – A# – B – C# – D# – E# (=F) – F#
• Gb major scale: Gb – Ab – Bb – Cb (=B) – Db – Eb – F – Gb
• G major scale: G – A – B – C – D – E – F# – G
• Ab major scale: Ab – Bb – C – Db – Eb – F – G – Ab

Pointers

[1] From A to B note, it is 2 hops for a Whole step. (DO NOT COUNT number of notes). A -> A# -> B

[2] Keep it simple : Make sure to use the notations in such a way that the character is not repeated for simplicity.

For example for C# Major: C# – D# – E# – F# – G# – A# – B# – C#

The order (C# – D# – E# – F# – G# – A# – C – C#) can be avoided as C is repeated in the form of C and C#. Similarly the order, (C# – D# – F – F# – G# – A# – B# – C#) can be avoided as F is repeated in form of F and F#.

[3] Using sharp or flat scale : If you cannot do [1] on a note, use the # (sharp) or b (flat) versions of the note to form the scale.

For example for D#, the order is: (D# – F – G – G# – A# – C – D – D#) This is not simple to use and this cannot be converted like mentioned in [1]. Hence you can use Eb (flat) which is same as D#.

Eb – F – G – Ab – Bb – C – D – Eb