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Deriving Chords From A Scale:
The following is a brief overview of how
chords are derived from scales/modes, and how a scale degree defines
its quality within the context of particular scales/modes.
To begin, we will consider the major scale as our starting point.
We will begin with C major as our key signature for the first example.
This keeps the scale entirely on the white keys of a keyboard.
Every scale has a formula which is determined by the pattern of note inter-
vals between each scale degree. For the major scale/Ionian mode (and
the Ionian mode series), these consist of only whole tones (T) and semi-
tones (ST).
C Ionian uses the following notes:
C D E F G A B (C)
All white keys on a piano.
This gives the formula:
Tone, Tone, Semitone, Tone, Tone, Tone, Semitone.
Every scale degree has a chord quality to match.
The chord tones that build each scale degree’s chord can be found by sim-
ply stacking scale degrees skipping one between each chord tone.
The scale degrees for C Ionian are as follows:
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th /1st
C
D
E
F
G
A
B
C