Julie Swihart

Major Scales

Let’s look at how to build a C sharp major scale on the piano. We’ll also learn the pattern for building any major scale.

What Are Major Scales?

Major scales are groups of eight notes, played in alphabetical order, starting and ending on the same note. They’re groups of notes used to write songs.

Songs written in the key of C sharp major used the notes of the C sharp major scale to write the song.

How to Build a Major Scale

To build a C sharp major scale, we first need to understand the pattern for building any major scale.

Major scales are built using a pattern of half-steps and whole steps.

A half-step is the distance from one note to the very next, whether black or white.

A whole step is the distance from one note to two away, whether black or white. A whole step is two half-steps.

Major scales are named after their starting note, so a C sharp major scale will start on a C♯.

To build a major scale, find your starting note and play this pattern (where W = whole step and H = half-step):

W – W – H – W – W – W – H

It may help to think of this pattern as two sets of W – W – H, joined by a whole step.

Major Scales Printable

This 23-page PDF will help you learn and visualize the notes for different major scales, laying the perfect foundation for learning the piano with chords!

Get the Printable

How to Build a C Sharp Major Scale

So to build a C sharp major scale, we’ll start on a C♯. If you’re not sure how to label the notes on the piano, start here.

Starting on C♯, we’ll play the note one whole step up, which is D♯. Then we’ll play the note one whole step up from D♯, which is E♯. Next, we’ll play the note one half-step up from E♯, which is F♯.

We can continue following this pattern of whole and half-steps, until we reach the next C♯ and the scale is complete.

What Are the Notes of the C Sharp Major Scale?

The notes of a C sharp major scale are:

C♯ – D♯ – E♯ – F♯ – G♯ – A♯ – B♯ – C♯

Labeling the Notes of a C Sharp Major Scale

You may be wondering why we would call the third note of the scale E♯ instead of F, or why we would call the seventh note B♯ instead of C (sharp indicates the note one half-step up, flat indicates the note one half-step down).

The reason is because the notes of a scale must progress in alphabetical order. Since this scale starts with a type of C, the next note will be a type of D, the third note will be a type of E, and so on.

A C sharp major scale has seven sharps, which is as many sharps as you can have in a scale.

Other Major Scales

You can use this pattern of whole and half-steps to build any major scale on the piano! Find your starting note, then play W – W – H – W – W – W – H, to find the remaining notes of the scale.

Here are all the major scales:

C major scale
G major scale
D major scale
A major scale
E major scale
B major scale
F sharp major scale
C sharp major scale
F major scale
B flat major scale
E flat major scale
A flat major scale
D flat major scale
G flat major scale
C flat major scale

Enharmonic Scales

Some scales are considered “enharmonic”. This means they use the same notes on the piano, but are labeled differently.

The C sharp major scale is an enharmonic scale because it can be labeled as C sharp major, or as D flat major. The keys on the piano used to play these two scales are actually the same notes, but they can go by two different names.

There are six total enharmonic major scales:

B major and C flat major
F sharp major and G flat major
C sharp major and D flat major

Take a look at the circle of fifths to understand these patterns and see how the major scales relate to one another.

Conclusion

Now you know how to build a C sharp major scale on the piano! But not only do you know the notes of a C sharp major scale, you also know how to build any major scale using the above pattern of whole and half-steps.

Using patterns to understand the relationships between the notes on the piano is a wonderful way to see and understand the piano. And learning how to build scales will help you a lot as you learn how to build different types of chords!