What is a Major Scale? Major Scales List with Images

Are you curious about how music creates its enchanting melodies? Have you ever wondered how musicians create beautiful melodies and harmonies on the piano? The secret lies in understanding and practicing major scales.

Major scales are the foundation of Western music, and they play a crucial role in shaping the sound and mood of a piece.

In this post, we will explore the world of natural major scales in piano, from their construction to their practical application, with helpful images to guide you along the way.

This post provides a list of all natural major scales with images. For other lists, such as a list of natural minor scales, list of major and minor chords and lists of chords in major and minor scales, please click the link below:

Scales and Chords – List

List of Minor Scales

Natural Major Scales List

Major scales are given in five different ways.

Major Scales of all 12 Keys, i.e., C, C#, D, D#, E, F, F#, G, G#, A, A#, and B.
Major Scales of White Keys, i.e., C, D, E, F, G, A, and B.
Major Scales of Black Keys, i.e., C#, D#, F#, G#, and A#.
Major Scales with Increasing Number of Sharps (black keys)
Enharmonic Major Scales

Major scale tips

The formula to form a major scale is:
RootNote – W – W + H – W – W – W + H (same root note but in higher scale)
“W” means the whole step, and “H” means the half step.

So, on this page, the whole step is indicated using the hyphen symbol (-), and the half step is mentioned using the plus sign (+).

For example: C – D – E + F.
C to D and D to E are whole steps, and
E to F is a half step.

Important: Enharmonic Equivalent Notes

Some scales, especially the scales of the black keys, contain notes with enharmonic equivalents. This means that the notes, such as E# and F, F## and G, have the same sound but differ in their writing. We have provided these enharmonic equivalent notes in parentheses to ensure spelling consistency.

1. Major Scales of all 12 Keys

1. C Major Scale:
C – D – E + F – G – A – B + C

2. Db / C# Major Scale
Db Major:
Db – Eb – F + Gb – Ab – Bb – C + Db
C# Major:
C# – D# – E# (F) + F# – G# – A# – B# (C) + C#
(Note: E# is enharmonically equivalent to F,
B# is enharmonically equivalent to C)

3. D Major Scale:
D – E – F# + G – A – B – C# + D

4. Eb / D# Major Scale
Eb Major:
Eb – F – G + Ab – Bb – C – D + Eb
D# Major:
D# – E# (F) – F## (G) + G# – A# – B# (C) – C## (D) + D#
(Note: F## is enharmonically equivalent to G,
C## is enharmonically equivalent to D)

5. E Major Scale:
E – F# – G# + A – B – C# – D# + E

6. F Major Scale:
F – G – A + Bb (A#) – C – D – E + F

7. Gb / F# Major Scale
Gb Major:
Gb – Ab – Bb + Cb – Db – Eb – F + Gb
F# Major:
F# – G# – A# + B – C# – D# – E# (F) + F#

8. G Major Scale:
G – A – B + C – D – E – F# + G

9. Ab / G# Major Scale
Ab Major:
Ab – Bb – C + Db – Eb – F – G + Ab
G# Major:
G# – A# – B# (C) + C# – D# – E# (F) – F## (G) + G#
(Note: F## is enharmonically equivalent to G)

10. A Major Scale:
A – B – C# + D – E – F# – G# + A

11. Bb / A# Major Scale
Bb Major:
Bb – C – D + Eb – F – G – A + Bb
A# Major:
A# – B# (C) – C## (D) + D# – E# (F) – F## (G) – G## (A) + A#
(Note: C## is enharmonically equivalent to D,
G## is enharmonically equivalent to A)

12. B Major Scale:
B – C# – D# + E – F# – G# – A# + B

2. Major Scales of White Keys

1. C Major Scale:
C – D – E + F – G – A – B + C

2. D Major Scale:
D – E – F# + G – A – B – C# + D

3. E Major Scale:
E – F# – G# + A – B – C# – D# + E

4. F Major Scale:
F – G – A + A# – C – D – E + F

5. G Major Scale:
G – A – B + C – D – E – F# + G

6. A Major Scale:
A – B – C# + D – E – F# – G# + A

7. B Major Scale:
B – C# – D# + E – F# – G# – A# + B

2. Major Scales of Black Keys

Sharps everywhere in sharp scales: All notes in sharp scales are sharp because of the key signatures.

Circle of Fifths: To easily find the sharps in a major key signature, use the Circle of Fifths. Start on ‘C’ and move clockwise by perfect fifths for each sharp added.

1. Db / C# Major Scale
Db Major:
Db – Eb – F + Gb – Ab – Bb – C + C#
C# Major:
C# – D# – E# (F) + F# – G# – A# – B# (C) + C#

2. Eb / D# Major Scale
Eb Major:
Eb – F – G  +  Ab – Bb – C – D  +  Eb
D# Major:
D# – E# – F##  +  G# – A# – B# – C##  +  D#
Or
D# – F – G  +  G# – A# – C – D  +  D#

3. Gb / F# Major Scale
Gb Major:
Gb – Ab – Bb  +  Cb – Db – Eb – F  +  Gb
F# Major:
F# – G# – A#   +  B – C# – D# – E#  +  F#
Or
F# – G# – A#  +  B – C# – D# – F  +  F#

4. Ab / G# Major Scale
Ab Major:
Ab – Bb – C  +  Db – Eb – F – G  +  Ab
G# Major:
G# – A# – B#  +  C# – D# – E# – F##  +  G#
Or
G# – A# – C  +  C# – D# – F – G  +  G#

5. Bb / A# Major Scale
Bb Major:
Bb – C – D  +  Eb – F – G – A  +  Bb
A# Major:
A# – B# – C##  +  D# – E# – F## – G##  +  A#
Or
A# – C – D  +  D# – F – G – A  +  A#

4. Major Scales with Increasing Number of Sharps (black keys)

C Major Scale (All white keys):
C, D, E, F, G, A, B

This one is the easiest scale because it has no black keys or major scale with no sharp or flat. For this reason, it is often the most recommended scale to start practicing with.

G Major Scale: (One black key)
G, A, B, C, D, E, F#

D Major Scale: (Two black keys)
D, E, F#, G, A, B, C#

A Major Scale: (Three black keys)
A, B, C#, D, E, F#, G#

E Major Scale: (Four black keys)
E, F#, G#, A, B, C#, D#

B Major Scale: (Five black keys)
B, C#, D#, E, F#, G#, A#

F Major Scale:
F, G, A, B♭, C, D, E

Major Scales with Sharps

G Major Scale:
G, A, B, C, D, E, F#, G

D Major Scale:
D, E, F#, G, A, B, C#

A Major Scale:
A, B, C#, D, E, F#, G#

E Major Scale:
E, F#, G#, A, B, C#, D#

B Major Scale:
B, C#, D#, E, F#, G#, A#

Major Scales with Flats

F Major Scale:
F, G, A, Bb, C, D, E

Bb Major Scale:
Bb, C, D, Eb, F, G, A

Eb Major Scale:
Eb, F, G, Ab, Bb, C, D

Ab Major Scale:
Ab, Bb, C, Db, Eb, F, G

Enharmonic Major Scales

Scales that have the same pitches but have different note names are called enharmonic scales.

This is possible because some notes have two different names, known as enharmonic equivalents. For example, C# and Db are enharmonic equivalents, meaning they are the same pitch but are written with different symbols.