A Major Scale (Piano)
Play the A Major scale
Tap the highlighted keys — in order, low to high.
The A major scale is A, B, C♯, D, E, F♯, G♯, A: three sharps (F♯, C♯, G♯), four white keys and three black ones. It sounds bright and settled, and it ends where it started.
Everything about the A major scale is on this page. The notes and their degree names, the fingering for each hand with the thumb crossings marked, the key signature and the keys next to it, the chords the scale makes, and a short practice order. Click the sheet music to play it in Chordzy and have each note checked as you go.
A Major scale notes
Ascending, the A major scale is one octave up and back:
Up: A, B, C♯, D, E, F♯, G♯, A Down: A, G♯, F♯, E, D, C♯, B, A
Each note has a degree number and a name. The names are worth knowing because every teacher and every theory book uses them, and they are the same seven words in every key.
| Degree | Note | Name | Key |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A | tonic | white |
| 2 | B | supertonic | white |
| 3 | C♯ | mediant | black |
| 4 | D | subdominant | white |
| 5 | E | dominant | white |
| 6 | F♯ | submediant | black |
| 7 | G♯ | leading tone | black |
The step pattern is whole, whole, half, whole, whole, whole, half. That pattern is what makes it major; start it on any other note and you get that note's major scale.
A Major scale fingering
Standard fingering for the A major scale, one octave, ascending. The finger is written before the note (1 is the thumb).
Right hand: 1 (A), 2 (B), 3 (C♯), 1 (D), 2 (E), 3 (F♯), 4 (G♯), 5 (A) Left hand: 5 (A), 4 (B), 3 (C♯), 2 (D), 1 (E), 3 (F♯), 2 (G♯), 1 (A)
Descending, each hand uses the same fingers in reverse. Two octaves: right hand 1-2-3-1-2-3-4-1-2-3-1-2-3-4-5, left hand 5-4-3-2-1-3-2-1-4-3-2-1-3-2-1.
The thumb stays on white keys: A and D in the right hand, E in the left. The black keys fall under fingers 3 and 4 in the right hand, which is where a long finger wants to be. In the right hand the thumb goes under after C♯, and in the left hand finger 3 crosses over after E. Slow those moments down until the note after the turn is no louder than the one before it. Everything else in the scale is a hand moving sideways.
A Major key signature
A major is written with three sharps (F♯, C♯, G♯), in that order at the start of every line. From then on every F, C and G on the page is sharp, in every octave, until a natural sign says otherwise.
The keys nearest to it:
| Key | Signature | How it relates |
|---|---|---|
| F Sharp Minor | three sharps (F♯, C♯, G♯) | relative minor: the same notes, a different home |
| A Minor | no sharps and no flats | parallel minor: the same home, different notes |
| D Major | two sharps (F♯, C♯) | next door on the circle of fifths |
| E Major | four sharps (F♯, C♯, G♯, D♯) | next door on the circle of fifths |
F♯ minor is the one to watch. It has the same signature as A major, so the signature cannot tell you which of the two you are in; the first bass note and the last chord usually can.
Chords from the A major scale
Take every other note of the A major scale and you get its chords. The four below carry most of the songs written in the key.
| Numeral | Chord | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| I | A Major | A, C♯, E |
| IV | D Major | D, F♯, A |
| V | E Major | E, G♯, B |
| vi | F Sharp Minor | F♯, A, C♯ |
Play A, then D, then E, then A again, one chord per bar with the left hand on the root. That is the scale turned into music, and it is the first thing to do once the notes are secure. There is more: all seven triads in A major triad chords, and the sevenths and progressions in the key of A major.
Hearing A major
A scale you can hear is worth more than one you can only play. Three drills, at the piano, two minutes each.
Sing degrees 1, 3, 5 and 8 in A major: A, C♯, E, A. Then play them and see how close you were. Most people are flat on the third the first week.
Play 7 then 1, slowly. G♯ sits a half step below A and leans on it. Play G♯ and hold it; your ear will finish the phrase before your hand does. That lean is what a major key feels like.
Play four or five notes from the scale, sing them back, then play them again. When you can do that with your eyes shut, the key of A major is in your head and not only in your hands.
Practising the A major scale
Ten minutes a day for a week, in this order.
- Right hand, A to A, one octave. Stop on the thumb turn after C♯ and play it again until the note after it is no louder than the one before.
- Left hand, the same octave. Finger 5 starts it and finger 1 ends it.
- Hands together. The thumbs never land on the same note at the same time in A major, so count out loud, one to eight, until the hands agree on where they are.
- The same octave in long-short rhythm, then short-long. Uneven fingers show up in the second one and fix themselves in the first.
- Two octaves, once the single octave stays even. Louder going up, softer coming down.
Then click the sheet music above to play the A major scale in Chordzy, in the browser or in the app, and see each wrong finger as it happens rather than a week later.
A Major in real music
Some of what has been written in A major:
- Mozart, Piano Sonata No. 11, K. 331, the one that ends with the Rondo alla Turca
- Beethoven, Symphony No. 7
- Mozart, Clarinet Concerto
Listen to one of them with the scale in your ear and you will hear A as home from the first bar. That is the point of scale practice, and the rest is fingers.
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Related Topics...
A Major Triad Chords (Piano): The seven A major triads are A, Bm, C♯m, D, E, F♯m and G♯dim. Each one spelled out with a keyboard you can play, plus the progressions they make.
A Minor Scale (Piano): The A minor scale is A B C D E F G A, with no sharps and no flats. Notes, fingering for both hands, key signature and chords. Play it here.
F Sharp Minor Scale (Piano): The F-sharp minor scale is F♯ G♯ A B C♯ D E F♯, with three sharps (F♯, C♯, G♯). Notes, fingering for both hands, key signature and chords. Play it here.
Key of A Major: The key of A Major: three sharps (F♯, C♯, G♯), the notes A B C♯ D E F♯ G♯, and all seven chords, A, Bm, C♯m, D, E, F♯m, G♯dim.
The Major Scale: Learn the major scales... including interactive sheet music, videos, music theory, and recordings.
More in This Section
Piano Scales: Every piano scale in one chart: the notes, the key signature and the number of sharps or flats for all twelve major and twelve minor keys.