Writing a major scale on any note · The major scale · Music theory
Any note can be the tonic of a major scale, and the method is always the same.
Writing a major scale on any note
Any note can be the tonic of a major scale, and the method is always the same.
D major needs F♯ and C♯; E♭ major, E♭, A♭ and B♭. No major scale mixes sharps and flats.
Scales with strange names
C♯ major has all its notes sharp and C♭ major, all flat: C♯, D♯, E♯, F♯, G♯, A♯, B♯. They are real scales and appear in music, although the equivalent with fewer accidentals is often preferred.
G♯ major, by contrast, is not used as a key: it would need eight sharps, one of them double (F𝄪). That is why A♭ major is written instead, which sounds the same and has four flats.