Each note in a scale is numbered 1 through 7, starting from the lowest note. These numbers serve the same function no matter which key you're in.
The scale, numbered
C major, degree by degree, octave included. Pick any home note and the scale rebuilds around it. Shapes mark three degrees: 1 wears the star, 3 the triangle, 5 the pentagon.
Home note · sets the key
The notes of C major · tap a degree to hear it
Every degree has a name tag
Vocabulary
Letters are absolute: C4 is always the same pitch, in any key. Numbers, solfège, and titles are relative: the 1 has a different pitch in different keys.
Home note · sets the key
NoteHzDegreeSolfègeFormal title
Do is home
Climb the scale and stop on 7, and your ear leans hard toward the top. Land on do and the sentence ends. That pull toward home is what the numbers measure. Both runs climb C major, the key you picked above.
Game · Sing the scale
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Sing C major, bottom to top: degrees 1 up to 8.
You numbered it, now sing it. Climb the scale with your voice, degree by degree.
C · 1 D · 2 E · 3 F · 4 G · 5 A · 6 B · 7 C · 8
Each note plays first. Sing it back and hold it steady to lock it in.
Quiz
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Degree 1 of a scale is called…
Score 100% on every quiz and game to complete this lesson. A perfect run sticks: a later miss never undoes it.Distances have names →