Degree (scale)

Counting degrees

The degrees of a scale are counted from the bottom up; the tonic is the first. Between two degrees lies a whole tone or a semitone; in major the pattern is whole tone, whole tone, semitone, whole tone, whole tone, whole tone, semitone.

Degrees and chords

On every degree you can build a triad from notes of the scale. Capital Roman numerals stand for major, lowercase ones for minor, and the degree sign for diminished.

Three of these degrees have special jobs: the first is the tonic, home. The fourth is the subdominant, which leads away from the tonic. The fifth is the dominant, which creates tension and pulls back to the tonic. The scheme holds in every key: the progression I–V–vi–IV means C–G–Am–F in C major and G–D–Em–C in G major.

Different ways of counting

In lessons you will meet several notations for the same idea. Roman numerals denote chords, Arabic numerals the notes of the scale. In movable-do solfège every degree has a syllable: do for the tonic, then re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti. If you can sing a melody in syllables, you have understood it by its degrees and will also recognise it in other keys.

Common mistakes

• Starting at zero: The tonic is the first degree, not the zeroth.
• Mixing up degree and chord: The Arabic numeral 1 means the note C, the Roman numeral I the chord C. Both belong to the first degree, but they are not the same thing.
• Learning degrees only for major: In minor the order of chord qualities changes, but the counting stays the same.