Piano Major Scales

Piano Major Scales are the most important scales: firstly because they are very common and, secondly, because they are fundamental to your understanding of keys. If you hear someone mention that a piano sonata by the composer and pianist Franz Schubert is played in A Major this means that it depends on the A scale. It is also common that piano pieces are named like A Minor – this accordingly refers to a minor scale.

Here we will focus on major scales. You can scroll down and see illustrations of all major scales, further down you will see an overview with all the notes and the intervals, semi-tones and finally the formula of the major scale. This theory helps you learn the concepts and memorizing it easier. See also major scales exercises and arpeggios.

C Major

Notes: C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C
Fingerings (LH): 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 3, 2, 1
Fingerings (RH): 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

D Major

Notes: D, E, F#, G, A, B, C#, D
Fingerings (LH): 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 3, 2, 1
Fingerings (RH): 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

E Major

Notes: E, F#, G#, A, B, C#, D#, E
Fingerings (LH): 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 3, 2, 1
Fingerings (RH): 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

F Major

Notes: F, G, A, Bb, C, D, E, F
Fingerings (LH): 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 3, 2, 1
Fingerings (RH): 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4

G Major

Notes: G, A, B, C, D, E, F#, G
Fingerings (LH): 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 3, 2, 1
Fingerings (RH): 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

A Major

Notes: A, B, C#, D, E, F#, G#, A
Fingerings (LH): 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 3, 2, 1
Fingerings (RH): 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

B Major

Notes: B, C#, D#, E, F#, G#, A#, B
Fingerings (LH): 4, 3, 2, 1, 4, 3, 2, 1
Fingerings (RH): 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

C# / Db Major

Notes: Db, Eb, F, Gb, Ab, Bb, C, Db
Fingerings (LH): 3, 2, 1, 4, 3, 2, 1, 3
Fingerings (RH): 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2

D# / Eb Major

Notes: Eb, F, G, Ab, Bb, C, D, Eb
Fingerings (LH): 3, 2, 1, 4, 3, 2, 1, 3
Fingerings (RH): 3, 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3

F# /Gb Major

Notes: F#, G#, A#, B, C#, D#, F, F#
Fingerings (LH): 4, 3, 2, 1, 3, 2, 1, 4
Fingerings (RH): 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 1, 2

G# / Ab Major

Notes: Ab, Bb, C, Db, Eb, F, G, Ab
Fingerings (LH): 3, 2, 1, 4, 3, 2, 1, 3
Fingerings (RH): 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3

A# / Bb Major

Notes: Bb, C, D, Eb, F, G, A, Bb
Fingerings (LH): 3, 2, 1, 4, 3, 2, 1, 3
Fingerings (RH): 4, 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 4

Major Scales overview
C: C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C
C#/Db: C#, D#, E#, F#, G#, A#, B#, C# / Db, Eb, F, Gb, Ab, Bb, C, Db
D: D, E, F#, G, A, B, C#, D
D#/Eb: D#, E#, F##, G#, A#, B#, C##, D# / Eb, F, G, Ab, Bb, C, D, Eb
E: E, F#, G#, A, B, C#, D#, E
F: F, G, A, Bb, C, D, E, F
F#/Gb: F#, G#, A#, B, C#, D#, E#, F# / Gb, Ab, Bb, Cb, Db, Eb, F, Gb
G: G, A, B, C, D, E, F#, G
G#/Ab: G#, A#, B#, C#, D#, E#, F##, G# / Ab, Bb, C, Db, Eb, F, G, Ab
A: A, B, C#, D, E, F#, G#, A
A#/Bb: A#, B#, C##, D#, E#, F##, G##, A# / Bb, C, D, Eb, F, G, A, Bb
B: B, C#, D#, E, F#, G#, A#, B

Fingerings: 1 = Thumb | 2 = index finger | 3 = middle finger | 4 = ring finger | 5 = little finger.
LH = Left hand | RH = Right hand

Intervals and steps
Interval: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
Semi-notes: 2 - 2 - 1 - 2 - 2 - 2 - 1
Formula: Whole, Whole, Half, Whole, Whole, Whole, Half

Another important thing to know about is the intervals and steps. These are always the same regarding scales in a specific category. This is something that helps you a lot until you have memorizing all the scales and also the opposite way: you don’t need to memorized everyone if you know the intervals. The nature of the intervals label the major scale to a diatonic scale.

Understand the notation

Some of the scales have two names divided by a slash (e.g. C# and Db), because they can be played in two different keys. The notes are however the same on the keyboard. For example are C#, D#, F, F#, G#, A#, B#, C# and Db, Eb, F, Gb, Ab, Bb, C, Db (as in C# / Db) the same notes but partly written differently. In some cases there are double-sharps (e.g. F##) that could look peculiar, see theory for an explanation. Also, the notes in the diagrams and the overview sometimes differ. This is because the notes below the diagrams are foremost thought to be easy to understand.

Scales and chords

As soon as you know a certain major scale, you also know the chords in the same key. That is because you can randomly choose three different notes from a scale and you will get a triad. For example: in the key of C the standard chords being used are:

• C Major (notes: C - E - G)
• D Minor (notes: D - F - A)
• E Minor (notes: E - G - B)
• F Major (notes: F - A - C)
• G Major (notes: G - B - D)
• A Minor (notes: A - C - E)
• B Diminished (notes: B - D - F)

See harmonizing major scales into chords.

An easy way to start improvising on the piano is to play major scales together with the chords that use the same notes. To explain further: you can for example play chords like C, Em, F, G together with the C major scale. Preferable you play the chords with your left hand and notes from the scale with your right (more on improvisation).

Another interesting thing is that different major scales have their own "sounds". For example, C is suitable for ballads and Eb will sound a bit like Bach.