Tags: #scale degrees
All theory articlesStable and Unstable Notes: How Scale Degrees Create Rest and Motion
Which scale degrees sound stable or unstable, where their tendencies lead, and how to use this hierarchy in melody, improvisation, and analysis.
Reader level: ArrangerParallel Keys: Major and Minor with the Same Tonic
What parallel keys are, how C major differs from C minor, and which scale degrees change when moving between major and minor.
Reader level: ArrangerScale Degrees in a Key
Learn how scale degrees work inside a key: how they create stability and tension, change their role over chords, and help transpose music.
Reader level: ArrangerWhat Is Musical Tension?
A clear explanation of musical tension: where it comes from, how it relates to keys, scale degrees, and chord functions, and why it often seeks resolution.
Reader level: ArrangerWhat Is the Tonic?
A clear explanation of the tonic: how it creates a sense of home, why it is not always the first note, and how to hear it in melody and harmony.
Reader level: ArrangerHow to Build a Major Scale
A simple explanation of the major scale: how the whole-step and half-step formula works, how to build a major scale from any note, and how to see it on the guitar fretboard.
Reader level: MusicianHow to Build a Natural Minor Scale
A simple explanation of the natural minor scale: its whole-step and half-step formula, the example of A minor, how it differs from major, and how to see it on the guitar fretboard.
Reader level: MusicianWhat Is a Scale Degree
A simple explanation of scale degrees: how to count notes inside a scale, why the tonic matters, how a scale degree differs from a note name, and how to see scale degrees on the guitar fretboard.
Reader level: MusicianWhat Is a Scale in Music
A simple explanation of musical scales: what a scale is, how notes are ordered, why scale degrees matter, and how to see a scale on the guitar fretboard.
Reader level: Musician