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Scales in two steps
You can bring back the steps in this approach to two:
STEP 1 Write down all the letters, starting at the ground tone;
STEP 2 Adjust the distance between the tones using sharps or flats.
Note: you will never have to use sharps and flats in the same scale!
The scale of D major
We'll look at some more examples. Let's look at the scale of D major. The ground tone is D:
The distance between the tones:
We're looking for the distances of the major scale: W-W-H-W-W-W-H. So some are incorrect:
We use sharps to correct the distances:
Concluding: the scale of D major has to sharps: F# and C#
The scale of F
Let's look at another one: the scale of F major.
The root tones starting on F:
Distances added:
We want the distances to be W-W-H-W-W-W-H. so these are wrong:
We have to correct the B. This time, the B is a semitone too high. We have to lower it. We lower it by using a flat (b):
Concluding: the scale of F major has one flat: the Bb.
Some scales have flats, some scale have sharps.
