(MJS) Half Steps and Whole Steps

Half Steps and Whole Steps

A half step or ''semitone'' is the distance from one key on the keyboard to the next adjacent key.

Key 1 to Key 2 is a half step since they are next to each other. C to C#

A half step is not always from a white key to a black key.

In this example, Key 1 and Key 2 are both white keys without a black key in between. This is also considered a half step. E to F

A whole step or ''whole tone'' is the same distance as two half steps.

Key 1 to Key 3 is a whole step. C to D
Key 1 to Key 2 is the first half step. C to C#

Key 2 to Key 3 is the second half step. C# to D

We are using a piano keyboard to help demonstrate one of the most important and useful scales in music. - The major scale

Look at the picture of the keyboard above. It shows the familiar repeating pattern of notes. Starting from one C and moving upwards to the next produces the notes: C D E F G A B C.

If you've played those notes on your piano or keyboard - you've just played a Major Scale - it's as simple as that!

• This is the scale known as C Major.
• Pieces in C Major use the 8 notes shown above.
• C Major is the most common scale in all Western Music (Classical, popular and jazz).

To understand how to find other major scales we need to look more closely at the construction of our C Major Scale. Have a look at the keyboard again. By adding in the black notes, we can see that there are actually 12 notes between one C and the next.

As we discussed, the distance from one of these 12 to its neighbor is known as a half-step. If you have a keyboard, try playing up the keyboard from one C to the next, playing all 12 notes.

Notice how some notes of the C major scale have another note in between them (e.g. from C to D there is a black note in between), whereas some don't (e.g. from E to F). The gap from C to D consists of two half-steps, and is known as a whole-step.

This pattern of whole-steps and half-steps is how the scale gets its particular sound. The major scale is formed out of the following mixture of whole-steps and half-steps:

whole, whole, half, whole, whole, whole, half.   (1, 1, 1/2, 1, 1, 1, 1/2)

To find any other major scale, you simply repeat the pattern of whole-steps and half-steps shown above, starting from the note in question.

For example, let's try D major:

First note	D
Whole-step higher:	E
Whole-step higher:	F#
Half-step higher:	G
Whole-step higher:	A
Whole-step higher:	B
Whole-step higher:	C#
Half-step higher:	D

(Just in case you're not clear, F# indicates the black note immediately above the F.)

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