Piano Theory Blog #4: Nov. 14th, 2019

Today, I started to learn about scale degrees. Each note in a scale (consisting of 8 notes in total) actually has a special name, called a scale degree, depending on where it is on the scale. The first and last note of the scale is called the tonic, and it is also what the scale is named after (ex. a C major scale would have a tonic of C and C^ (C but an octave up). The fourth note in the scale is called the subdominant, and the fifth note is called the dominant. The subdominant is the same distance below the tonic as the dominant is above it. The third note is in the middle of the dominant and the tonic, and it is called the mediant. The sixth note in the scale is called the submediant since it is in the middle of the upper tonic and subdominant. The second note is the supertonic since it is a note above the tonic. Finally, the seventh note can be called two different names, depending on how far it is from the tonic. When the seventh note is a half step below the upper tonic, then it is called a leading tone (since it "leads" into the tonic), and when it is a whole step below the upper tonic, then it is called a subtonic. A number with a caret (^) can also be used to name notes (ex. dominant = 5^). Scale degrees are extremely important when playing/improvising with chords in the piano, which I will learn about later.

---

Page used for this blog: https://www.musictheory.net/lessons/23

---

The Labeling of the Scale in Degrees