All 12 Major Scales

(You may want to read the articles about Scales, the Major Scale, or Key Signatures first.)

There are 12 different Major Scales: One with no sharps or flats, 4 with sharps, 4 with flats, and 3 with either sharps or flats depending upon enharmonic spelling.

Major Scales with no sharps or flats: C Major

Major Scales with sharps: D, E, G, A

Major Scales with flats: E-flat, F, A-flat, B-flat

Enharmonic Major Scales: C-sharp/D-flat, F-sharp/G-flat, B-natural/C-flat

Learn about other Scales.

Sharps, Flats, Naturals, and Enharmonic notes

When a Sharp or Flat is added to a note it raises or lowers the note by a Half-step. For example, if we have the note C and we add a sharp to it the note now becomes C-sharp. If we have the note E and we add a flat to it the note now becomes E-flat.

Here are some examples of sharps and flats on the staff:

Naturals are notes without sharps or flats: C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. For example the note D can be called D-natural because it has no sharp or flat.

Here are the natural notes:

Natural notes sometimes have their own symbol attached to them:

Enharmonic notes:

Enharmonic notes are notes that have the same pitch but have different note spellings. For example, F-sharp and G-flat are enharmonic notes, as are C-flat and B-natural.

See how sharps and flats are arranged on a keyboard

Review the staff and the note names