In music theory, the major scale or Ionian scale is one of the diatonic scales. It is made up of seven distinct notes, plus an eighth which duplicates the first an octave higher. In solfège these notes correspond to the syllables "Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Ti/Si, (Do)", the "Do" in the parenthesis at the end being the octave of the tonic starting pitch. The simplest major scale to write is C major as it is the only major scale not to require sharps or flats, using only the white keys on the piano:
C major scale
In rock and popular music examples of songs in Ionian include REO Speedwagon's "Take It on the Run", The Shirelles' "Will You Love Me Tomorrow", Gordon Lightfoot's "Carefree Highway", and Gin Blossoms' "Follow You Down".
Read more about Major Scale: Structure, Harmonic Properties
Famous quotes containing the words major and/or scale:
“Give me the keys. I feel for the common chord again,
Sliding by semi-tones till I sink to a minor,—yes,
And I blunt it into a ninth, and I stand on alien ground,
Surveying a while the heights I rolled from into the deep;
Which, hark, I have dared and done, for my resting-place is found,
The C Major of this life: so, now I will try to sleep.”
—Robert Browning (1812–1889)
“I by no means rank poetry high in the scale of intelligence—this may look like affectation but it is my real opinion. It is the lava of the imagination whose eruption prevents an earthquake.”
—George Gordon Noel Byron (1788–1824)