Okay... Just so you know
The first note of a scale is called the
Tonic.
The second note is called the
Supertonic. This may be either one (in which case it is a
Minor Second) or two (a
Major Second) semi-tones above the
Tonic.
The third note is the
Mediant, so called because it is exactly halfway between the
Tonic and the
Dominant (which we'll come to in a bit). This note can be either three (a
Minor Third) or four (a
Major Third) semi-tones above the
Tonic.
The fourth note we come to is known as the
Sub-Dominant, because it is the note below the
Dominant. It is exactly five semi-tones above the
Tonic. It is also called the
Perfect Fourth and is one of the two pivots of the major scale (see next but one).
Between the
Sub-Dominant and the
Dominant lies the
Tri-Tone (
Augmented Fourth/
Diminished Fifth), which is six Semi-tones above the
Tonic.
Now we come to the
Dominant (or
Major Fifth) note. This is seven Semi-tones above the
Tonic. It has somewhat of a pivotal role in the Western Scale as it is the note which also forms the basis for scales in each subsequent key,
so long as that scale contains at least one sharp (#) (
ex: in the Major Scale in C (C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C) the dominant (5th), G, is the starting point for the Scale in the Key of G (i.e: we take the last four notes of C Major (G, A, B, C) and add four more above them (D, E, F#, G) to give us the scale of G Major: G, A, B, C, D, E, F#, G. Note that the seventh (F) has been raised by a semi-tone to maintain the step pattern of the Major Scale (Tone, Tone, Semi-tone, Tone, Tone, Tone, Semi-tone)). For keys containing Flats (
b) the
Perfect Fourth (
Sub-Dominant) is the starting point (hence: we take the first four notes of C Major (C, D, E, F) and then add four more (F. G, A, B
b) below them to give us: F, G, A, B
b, C, D, E, F. Note that in this case the four notes taken from C form the upper portion of the Scale, and the fourth (B) is lowered by a semi-tone. Again to preserve the Major Scale's step pattern).
After the
Dominant comes the
Sub-Mediant. Which is either eight (an
Augmented Fifth/
Minor Sixth) or nine (a
Major Sixth/
Diminished Seventh) Semi-tones above the
Tonic.
Next we find the
Sub-Tonic, also known as the
Minor Seventh. This lies ten Semi-tones above the
Tonic.
Just below the
Octave is the
Leading Note, aka the
Major Seventh, which is eleven Semi-tones above the
Tonic.
And
finally (at long last) we have TA DA.. Ladies and Gentlemen.
THE OCTAVE!!!!, which is the same note as the
Tonic but twelve Semi-tones higher!
Note: to find the lower octave just count backwards
