Scale degree
A scale degree is the position of a note in a scale, numbered from the tonic as 1, so that the same number names the same role in every key.
What are the scale degrees of C major?
| Degree | C major | G major | Name |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | C | G | tonic |
| 2 | D | A | supertonic |
| 3 | E | B | mediant |
| 4 | F | C | subdominant |
| 5 | G | D | dominant |
| 6 | A | E | submediant |
| 7 | B | F♯ | leading tone |
The numbers move with the key. Degree 5 is G in C major and D in G major, and in both keys it does the same job. In writing, a degree is often shown as a number with a caret over it.
Movable-do solfège is the same idea sung: Do is degree 1, Re is 2, Mi is 3, up to Ti on 7.
How do the degrees sound?
Each degree has its own pull in a key. Degree 1 sounds at rest. Degree 7 sounds unfinished and pulls up a semitone to 1. Degree 4 tends to lean down to 3. Degree 5 is stable but not home. Hearing a melody as a run of degrees, rather than of note names, is what lets you play it in any key.
What is the most common confusion?
Mixing up a degree with a roman numeral. A degree is one note: 5 in C major is the note G. A roman numeral is the chord built on that degree: V in C major is the chord G–B–D. The numbers are related but they name different things.
Try it: What the degrees do plays short progressions and asks which degree the last chord was built on, and the harmonic field lesson builds a chord on each of the seven degrees.