Now that you have a solid understanding of the major scale, lets look at an easier way of visualizing it to help understand its fundamental purpose, using solfége.

Vocab: Solfége - the application of latin monosylabic words to scales, originally meant to help "sight-sing" them as musical excersises, (read and sing music on the spot.)

The solfége chromatic scale is:

Do - Di/Ra - Re - Ri/Me - Mi - Fa - Fi/Se - Sol - Si/Le - La - Te/Ti - (Do)

Just like the chromatic scale with notes:

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

You would use the solfége syllables instead of note names when thinking about a scale.

Breaking down the solfége chromatic scale into the solfége major scale is exactly as we have done with regular notes using WWHWWWH.

Do - Di/Ra - Re - Ri/Me - Mi - Fa - Fi/Se - Sol - Si/Le - La - Te/Ti - (Do)

becomes

Do - Re - Mi - Fa - Sol - La - Ti - (Do.)

(C - D - E - F - G - A - B - C)

There are two schools of thought when it comes to solfége:

Fixed Do - each solfége syllable applys to one note and does not change, ie. C = Do, D = Re, G = Sol.

Movable Do - each solfége syllable resonds to a scale degree and changes based on the major scale being used, ie. C = Do in the key of C major, but in D Major D = Do and A = Sol. This is the method I will be using.

Vocab: Scale degree - the number in which notes apply to a certain scale.

For example:

The C Major Scale is:

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

The solfége is:

Do - Re - Mi - Fa - Sol - La - Ti - Do

The scale degrees are:

1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8

So to wrap it all up, in the "key of C," C is the 1st scale degree and Do. D is the 2nd scale degree and Re. E is the 3rd scale degree and Mi.

Using the moveable do method, let's look at the key of A:

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

Do - Re - Mi - Fa - Sol - La - Ti - Do

1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8

So in the key of A, A is the 1st scale degree and Do, D is the 4th scale degree and Fa, and G# is the 7th scale degree and Ti.

So now that you have a solid understanding of what the major scale is, lets take a look at why it is. Why do we choose the intervals and notes that we do?

This is where years of ear training will come in handy and explain things much clearer than words.

The notes that make up the major scale serve the function of tension and resolution. Your ear (and your brain) is much more complex and intelligent than you might imagine - it develops expectations for sounds based on your cultural upbringing and types of sounds you hear and experience.

Think of your favorite Hollywood action movie- you'll want the good guy to end up defeating the bad guy by the end of the movie, or in chick flicks- you want the guy to ultimately get the girl after a series of soul-searching events.

Music works in the exact same way. Using pitches that you recognize your ear will subconciously want you to resolve certain tones to others.

Lets take a look at the solfége major scale again:

Do - Re - Mi - Fa - Sol - La - Ti - Do

Each of these pitches has a certain hierarchy or order and another set of names to reference them, called tonality.

Scale Degree - Solfége - Tonality

1 - Do - the tonic pitch, (the one all other pitches are referenced.)

2 - Re - supertonic

3 - Mi - mediant

4 - Fa - subdominant

5 - Sol - dominant

6 - La - submediant

7 - Ti - leading tone

Do is your tonic note and therefore has the most pull and desired expectation. Most songs will begin and end on Do.

The notes that want to resolve to the tonic are the leading tone, the dominant, the supertonic, and the mediant, (Ti, Sol, Re, Mi -> Do) in order of the strength of the tension and desire to resolve.

The leading tone has the most pull and can create the most tension in a piece of music. You often hear a piece come to the end of a section when the leading tone resolves to the tonic, which also defines the key you are hearing.

Moving away from Do you will often hear the subdominant wanting to resolve to the mediant, (Fa -> Mi.) The submediant will want to resolve to the dominant, (La - Sol.)

A better way to understand the power of this kind of tension and resolution is to think of your favorite nursery rhyme.

Think of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star:

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

How I wonder where you...

Leaving you hanging after "you" is the same as an unresolved "Supertonic/Re" or "Leading Tone/Ti" to your ear. The same way you will want to hear "you" resolve to "are" your ear wants to hear those pitches resolve to Do.

The chart below shows all the elements of tension and resolution.

A nice tool for musicians to have is the designated key signature at the start of a piece.

Vocab: Key Signature - the sharps or flats listed at the beginning of a piece of music, immediately after the clef, to establish the key or reference scale to be used over the course of the piece.

When a key signature is used in a piece of music, the use of accidentals is no longer necessary. For instance, when the key signature of E appears at the beginning of a piece it is implied that there will be an F#, C#, G# and D#. Therefore, only the notes F, C, G and D will be written on the staff and it is assumed the musician knows to play those notes.

This may seem confusing and arbitrary at first but in reality it is necessary. When too many accidentals are used in a piece of music it can become messy and hard to read. Most musicians prefer key signatures over millions of written accidentals.

A key signature is denoted by a sharp or flat sign used on the line or space where the applicable note is sharped or flatted. In the key of E, there will be a # sign written in on the line F, space C, space G, and line D. In the key of Bb there will be a b symbol written over the B line and the E space.

(The key of C gets a blank key signature because there are no sharps or flats.)

Look at the images below to clear up any questions.