Music · Unit 11

Scales and Keys

Major and minor scales, keys, sharps and flats

A scale is a selection from the available pitches, and choosing which notes to leave out is what gives music from different traditions its distinctive character.

The unit covers the major scale and its pattern of tones and semitones, minor scales, sharps and flats, key signatures, and the tonic as home.

This unit breaks down into 23 short steps and 119 questions, starting at difficulty 1 and building to 5. Below you can see exactly what it covers, how the path is structured, and worked examples with explanations.

Steps: 23
Questions: 119
Difficulty: 1-5

What this unit covers

The Major Scale
The Minor Scale
Key Signatures
Sharps and Flats
The Tonic and Scale Degrees

Where this fits

Needs Pitch and Melody and Reading Music. Required for Intervals and Chords.

Where people slip

Major and minor are patterns of intervals, not lists of notes. The same set of white keys is C major or A minor depending on which note behaves as home.

How the unit is structured

Scales and Keys runs as 23 short steps that unlock in order. 17 are practice rounds and 6 are challenge rounds that pull together everything before them. Questions start at difficulty 1 and climb to 5 as you progress.

Step 1 · easierStep 23 · harder

Challenge rounds

Example questions

30 real questions from this unit, with the answer and the reason behind it, grouped by what they practise. There are 119 in the unit altogether.

Key Signatures

Choose all that applyLevel 2
1. Which of these keys have no sharps or flats in their key signature? Choose two.
- C majorcorrect
- A minorcorrect
- G major
- F major
C major and its relative A minor both have empty key signatures.
Match the pairsLevel 2
2. Match each major key with what its key signature contains.
Answer: C major = No sharps or flats; G major = One sharp; F major = One flat
C major has none, G major has one sharp, and F major has one flat.
Multiple choiceLevel 2
3. Where in the music do you usually find the key signature?
- Right after the clef at the start of the staffcorrect
- At the very end of the piece
- In the middle of the last measure
- Under the title
The key signature sits right after the clef at the start of the staff so you see it before you play.
Fill the blankLevel 3
4. The order of sharps in key signatures is F, C, G, D, A, E, ____.
- Bcorrect
- F
- C
- G
The seventh and final sharp added is B sharp, completing the order F C G D A E B.
Put in orderLevel 3
5. Put these major keys in order from fewest sharps to most sharps.
Answer: C major -> G major -> D major -> A major
C major has none, G major has one, D major has two, and A major has three.
Sort into groupsLevel 3
6. Sort each key into whether it uses sharps or flats.
Answer: G major = Sharp keys; D major = Sharp keys; F major = Flat keys; B flat major = Flat keys
G major and D major are sharp keys, while F major and B flat major are flat keys.

Sharps and Flats

Multiple choiceLevel 1
7. What does a sharp sign do to a note?
- Raises it by a half stepcorrect
- Lowers it by a half step
- Makes it louder
- Makes it last longer
A sharp raises the note by a half step, the smallest step in Western music.
Choose all that applyLevel 2
8. Which of these are signs that change a note's pitch? Choose all that apply.
- Sharpcorrect
- Flatcorrect
- Naturalcorrect
- Treble clef
Sharps, flats, and naturals are the accidentals that change a note's pitch.
Fill the blankLevel 2
9. A ____ sign cancels a sharp or a flat and returns the note to normal.
- naturalcorrect
- sharp
- flat
- double
A natural sign cancels a sharp or flat.
Guess the numberLevel 2
10. How many half steps make up one whole step?
Answer: 2
A whole step equals two half steps.
Match the pairsLevel 2
11. Match each symbol with what it does to a note.
Answer: Sharp = Raises a note a half step; Flat = Lowers a note a half step; Natural = Cancels a sharp or flat
A sharp raises a note, a flat lowers it, and a natural cancels a sharp or flat.
Odd one outLevel 2
12. Which of these is NOT a sign that changes a note's pitch?
- Restcorrect
- Sharp
- Flat
- Natural
A rest means silence and does not change a note's pitch, unlike sharps, flats, and naturals.

The Major Scale

Fill the blankLevel 1
13. A scale that sounds happy and bright is usually a ____ scale.
- majorcorrect
- minor
- empty
- quiet
Major scales sound bright and happy, so the missing word is major.
Multiple choiceLevel 1
14. Which kind of scale is usually described as sounding bright and happy?
- A major scalecorrect
- A minor scale
- A silent scale
- A backwards scale
Major scales have a cheerful, bright sound, which is why happy songs often use them.
True or falseLevel 1
15. The C major scale contains no sharps and no flats.
Answer: True
True, C major uses only natural notes, so it has no sharps or flats.
Choose all that applyLevel 2
16. Which of these are true about the major scale? Choose two.
- It has seven different notescorrect
- It usually sounds bright or happycorrect
- It always sounds sad
- It uses only the black keys
A major scale has seven different notes and usually sounds bright or happy.
Put in orderLevel 2
17. Put the first four notes of the C major scale in order from lowest to highest.
Answer: C -> D -> E -> F
The C major scale begins C, D, E, F as it climbs upward.
Sort into groupsLevel 2
18. Sort each mood into the kind of scale it fits best.
Answer: Bright = Major; Happy = Major; Sad = Minor; Serious = Minor
Bright and happy moods fit major scales, while sad and serious moods fit minor scales.

The Minor Scale

Multiple choiceLevel 1
19. A minor scale is usually described as sounding how?
- Sad or seriouscorrect
- Bright and cheerful
- Very loud
- Very fast
Minor scales tend to sound sad or serious, unlike the brighter major scales.
True or falseLevel 1
20. Minor scales often sound darker or sadder than major scales.
Answer: True
True, minor scales usually have a darker, sadder feeling than bright major scales.
Choose all that applyLevel 2
21. Which words often describe how a minor scale feels? Choose two.
- Sadcorrect
- Seriouscorrect
- Cheerful
- Bouncy
Minor scales are often described as sad or serious in mood.
Fill the blankLevel 2
22. The natural minor scale with no sharps or flats starts on the note ____.
- Acorrect
- C
- D
- G
A natural minor has no sharps or flats and starts on A.
Odd one outLevel 2
23. Which word does NOT describe how a minor scale usually feels?
- Cheerfulcorrect
- Sad
- Dark
- Serious
Minor scales usually feel sad, dark, or serious, so cheerful is the odd one out.
Type the answerLevel 3
24. Which minor key is the relative minor of G major? Give the letter.
Answer: E
G major and E minor share one sharp, so E minor is its relative minor.

The Tonic and Scale Degrees

Fill the blankLevel 1
25. In the key of C major, the tonic note is ____.
- Ccorrect
- G
- A
- D
The tonic of C major is C, its home note.
Multiple choiceLevel 1
26. The very first note of a scale, its home note, is called the what?
- The toniccorrect
- The octave
- The rest
- The clef
The tonic is the home note that a scale starts on and is named after.
Guess the numberLevel 2
27. The tonic is scale degree number what in a scale?
Answer: 1
The tonic is the first note, so it is scale degree number 1.
Odd one outLevel 2
28. Three of these describe the tonic. Which one does NOT?
- The loudest notecorrect
- The home note
- The first note of the scale
- The note the scale is named after
The tonic is the home and first note a scale is named after, but it is not simply the loudest note.
Choose all that applyLevel 3
29. Which of these scale-degree names are matched to the correct number? Choose three.
- Tonic is degree 1correct
- Dominant is degree 5correct
- Leading tone is degree 7correct
- Mediant is degree 2
The tonic is 1, the dominant is 5, and the leading tone is 7, but the mediant is 3, not 2.
Match the pairsLevel 3
30. Match each scale degree number with its name.
Answer: Degree 1 = Tonic; Degree 4 = Subdominant; Degree 5 = Dominant; Degree 7 = Leading tone
Degree 1 is the tonic, 4 is the subdominant, 5 is the dominant, and 7 is the leading tone.

Where these questions come from. Each unit starts as a plan of the concepts it should cover and the difficulty it should span. Questions are written against that plan with AI assistance, then checked by a validator that rejects anything without a single defensible answer, an explanation, or plausible wrong options. How we write questions sets out the whole process, and corrections are fixed in the bank and reach the site and the app the same day.

How you practise

This unit mixes 10 different question formats, so you are recalling and applying rather than recognising the same layout every time.

Choose all that apply
Fill the blank
Guess the number
Match the pairs
Multiple choice
Odd one out
Put in order
Sort into groups
True or false
Type the answer

Practise Scales and Keys

119 questions across 23 steps. Start with step one and crawl at your own pace.

Play this unit

Read about Scales and Keys

Explainers from our blog on what this unit covers. Each one ends with real questions from the bank.

More units in Music

See all 18 units in Music →