Scale Degrees and Chords

In tonal music, the most important note in a key is called the tonic. In a given scale, the tonic is the first note of the scale. For example, in the key of C major, the scale is constructed like this:

C    D    E    F    G    A    B    C
1     2    3     4    5    6    7     1

All these scale degrees, unfortunately, also have specific names.

1 - Tonic
2 - Supertonic
3 - Mediant
4 - Sub-Dominant
5 - Dominant
6 - Sub-Mediant
7 - Leading Tone

You should know that the “tonic” and “leading tone” are the two most important notes in the scale. The tonic is the final and most-important note. It’s what everything else revolves around and is centered on. It is the first note of a scale; the scale is named after this note. The leading tone, on the other hand, is the second to last note of the scale. It has the largest tendency to lean towards the tonic. If you don’t know what i mean. Play a “C” on a piano (tonic) and then play a “B” (leading tone) without resolving it. Just playing that note in isolation after the tonic note will drive most people insane.

C is the tonic note. It also happens to be the first scale degree. Notice that after 7, we simply use a 1 to denote the C since the note is repeated (just an octave higher). This is known as a diatonic scale, because all the notes are related to the tonic. All major and minor scales are also considered to be diatonic scales because they consist of diatonic notes. (The only notes that are not diatonic are the ones which fall outside the given scale and key. For example, in the key of C, F# is not a diatonic note, because it does not belong to the C scale).

Chords are simply multiple notes played at once. Basic chords are usually triads (three notes), but more complex chords can incorporate more notes at a time for a deeper and fuller sound. For simplicity here, we will only be discussing triads. To better understand this topic, first read about intervals.

Triads are 3 notes, but specifically, they are a combination of major and minor 3rds. (M3, m3). This makes the distinction between major and minor triads.

A major triad consists of a M3 with a m3 on top. Example: C-E-G (C-E is a M3, whereas E-G is a m3).

A minor triad consists of a m3 with a M3 on top. Example: D-F-A (D-F is a m3, whereas F-A is a M3).

Also, there will be other triads to consider. For now, the only other triad we must take into consideration will be the diminished triad.

A dim triad consists of a m3 with another m3 on top. Example: B-D-F (B-D is a m3, and D-F is a m3).

Now the concept of chords is very closely tied to scale degrees, since we will be building chords on top of our scale degrees above. Also, we can only use notes from the scale degrees that are in our key. In this example, we are using C major, so we can only use the notes in C major to construct our chords.

When we refer to chords built on scale degrees, the chords are now referred to with roman numerals. The lower case numerals are for minor chords and the upper case numerals are for major chords. Also, notice that the diminished vii chord is also in lower case, but has a dim. sign next to it.

Once you feel you’ve got a grasp on chords, you can continue reading about chord structures.