Hey Friend,
We are in the home stretch along the major scale journey (how’d you like that baseball reference from a non-sporty guy?). Pretty sad that I didn’t even know the World Series was going on, let alone who’s playing in it!
I am glad to see the Cleveland Indians almost made it. That’s the Cleveland sports story… almost… well, except for that one time in recent history with a basketball team.
I always root for the underdog.
Anyhoo, the major seventh is the last stop on our trip up the guitar neck before we get back home.
When you hear the pitch, you can feel the tension as it pulls you towards the final destination - the octave.
Here are the intervals:
Tonic - we call this the root note most of the time; it’s the first note of the scale. In the key of C major, this note would be C.
Major Second - this is one whole step (tone) above the tonic. In the key of C major, this note would be D.
Major Third - two hole steps above the tonic. In the key of C major, this note would be E.
Perfect Fourth - five half-steps above the tonic. In the key of C major, this note would be F.
Perfect Fifth - seven half-steps above the tonic. In the key of C major, this note would be G.
Major Sixth - nine half-steps above the tonic. In the key of C major, this note would be A.
Major Seventh - eleven half-steps above the tonic. In the key of C major, this note would be B.
Perfect Octave - six whole steps above the tonic. In the key of C major, this note would be C.
In the key of C major, that is the shift from C to B. When we look at the scale pattern, we see it’s five whole steps (tones) and a half step (semitone).
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 (8)
C D E F G A B (C)
| | | | | | |
W W H W W W H
An interesting effect to listen for is when a song has a major seventh interval, but instead of moving up in pitch to the octave, it drops down along the scale. It helps create movement and emotional direction in the music.
For example, in the “Moon River” example, the melody jumps from the F note in the third measure (the first fret on the sixth string) to the major seventh note E on the fourth string. Instead of finishing the journey by moving up one fret to the F note, it drops back down, creating a feeling of melancholy, like reminiscing of a lost love or opportunity.
The “Take On Me” example demonstrates the opposite, moving upwards to the octave and giving that feeling hope and completion.
Listen for these subtle details in your favorite songs.
If you pay attention, you’ll start to recognize what the song writer was doing when they wrote the melody. Just being aware of it helps you not only understand the mechanics of the melody, but also insight in how to influence the listener.
That’s what we’re trying to learn here - how to use the melody to support the lyrics and move the listener along on the journey. The melody helps the story along by displaying an emotional context through sound.
See you tomorrow.
Peace~
Dave | 
