From any key on the piano to the nearest key is a half step.
Because all the white keys of the piano are the same width, we get the impression that they are the same distance apart in sound, but this is not the case.
From C to D is a whole step because it skips the black key between.
From D to E is a whole step because it skips a black key.
From E to F is only a half step.
From F to G is a whole step.
From G to A is a whole step.
From A to B is a whole step.
From B to the next C is only a half step.
If you play the eight notes one after the other, CDEFGABC, you will have played the most boring of the twelve major scales. You can create a major scale beginning on any note, as long as you keep the whole steps and the half steps in the order above (half step between the third and fourth note, half step between the seventh and eighth note.)
Only the C major scale will use just white keys. Every other major scale will need at least one black key, and what we call that key will depend upon musical spelling.
The rule for spelling a scale is that the notes must be named in alphabetical order without skipping or repeating a letter.
Now we come to the matter of flats and sharps. Flats are played a half-step below the letter name of the note involved (the flat sign looks like a lower case b with a pointed bottom). Sharps are played a half step above the letter name (the sharp sign looks like the pound sign on your telephone). A natural sign (looks like a sharp with a missing right arm and left leg) cancels a sharp or flat.
My father once made me a brooch which said "Always B Natural" (see drawing).
If we are discussing a G major scale, then, we will spell it GABCDE F-sharp (NOT G-flat) and end on G. This follows the spelling rule.
I once had a pilot student who said “I can fly over the pond (the Atlantic ocean to us laymen) without giving it a second thought, but a G major scale scares me to death.”
Try playing the G major scale to see if it scares you to death. Play it with an F natural instead of an F sharp and see if it doesn’t sound wrong to you.
One last note about sharps and flats: In music notation, the sharp or flat sign comes before the note it effects and must be either in the space or on the line of the note. However, when we are talking about a flat or sharp, we always say the note first and the flat or sharp afterward.
There are lots of different scales besides the major scale. If you are feeling adventurous, try this altered klezmer scale: D, E-flat, F-sharp, G, A, B-flat, C-sharp, D. It already sounds like music doesn’t it? But it is just a scale.
