The Major Scale: The building block of music

In class we discussed the construction of the Major Scale. Specifically we talked about the formula of intervals that is the backbone of the scale.

Ricci Adams, on his site musictheory.net, has a clear and simple to follow explanation of major scale construction.

If we want to build a major scale starting on G, the notes would look like this:
G A B C D E F G

When we apply the formula: W W H W W W H
The notes of the scale become this:
G A C D E F# G

and the scale looks like this:

Play through the scale and listen to the sound of the notes and take notice of the distances between each note.

Understanding the idea of interval distances between notes will help you to understand the relationship between chords and how to find them on the neck of the guitar.