NotePlayMusicKey Signatures & Scale Degrees Practice
Practise finding numbered scale degrees and recognizing which notes belong to C, G and F major.
Find a scale degree from its tonic
The tonic is degree 1, the starting note of a scale. Count upwards by letter name, including the tonic itself: in G major, G is 1, A is 2, B is 3 and C is 4. The key signature tells you which of those letters are sharpened or flattened.
The scales used here include C major (no altered notes), G major (F sharp) and F major (B flat). A scale-degree statement must be right both about the letter position and about any accidental.
How to work it out
- Write or say the scale from its tonic, keeping the key signature in mind.
- Count the tonic as one and compare the written note, including its accidental, with the claimed degree.
Worked example
What is degree 4 of F major?
Count F (1), G (2), A (3), B flat (4). A written B natural is not degree 4 of the F major scale.
Watch for this mistake
Do not count the first move away from the tonic as degree 1; the tonic already has that number.
Why does F major have a B♭?
Hear the major scale pattern, watch it break when you start on F, and see why one flat in the key signature fixes it.
Learning objectives
- Identify scale degrees in a written key signature or scale.
Worksheet
Select TRUE or FALSE for the statement: This is the 2nd degree of the scale of G major.
Answer: ______________________
Select TRUE or FALSE for the statement: This is the 4th degree of the scale of F major.
Answer: ______________________
Select TRUE or FALSE for the statement: This is the scale of C major, descending.
Answer: ______________________
Answer Key
- TRUE — The scale of G major is G, A, B, C, D, E, F sharp, G. A is the 2nd degree.
- FALSE — The 4th degree of F major is B flat, not B natural.
- FALSE — C major has no flats or sharps, so B flat does not belong in the C major scale.