Then the supertonic and subtonic are, respectively, a second above and below the tonic the mediant and submediant are a third above and below it and the dominant and subdominant are a fifth above and below the tonic: These names are derived from a scheme where the tonic note is the 'centre'. by the English name for their function: tonic, supertonic, mediant, subdominant, dominant, submediant, subtonic or leading note ( leading tone in the United States), and tonic again.), as in the Nashville Number System, sometimes with carets (, ,. by their ordinal numbers, as the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, or seventh degrees of the scale, sometimes raised or lowered.

The names are the same for the major and minor scales, only the seventh degree changes name when flattened: This example gives the names of the functions of the scale degrees in the seven note diatonic scale. This implies a functional scale, as is the case in tonal music. In a more specific sense, scale degrees are given names that indicate their particular function within the scale (see table below). In set theory, for instance, the 12 degrees of the chromatic scale usually are numbered starting from C=0, the twelve pitch classes being numbered from 0 to 11. If the scale has no tonic, the starting degree must be chosen arbitrarily. the C-major scale C–D–E–F–G–A–B, in which C is the tonic). For instance, the 7-tone diatonic scale may become the major scale once the proper degree has been chosen as tonic (e.g. Defining it like this implies that a tonic is specified. In the most general sense, the scale degree is the number given to each step of the scale, usually starting with 1 for tonic.

Degrees are useful for indicating the size of intervals and chords and whether an interval is major or minor.

In music theory, the scale degree is the position of a particular note on a scale relative to the tonic-the first and main note of the scale from which each octave is assumed to begin. For scale-step in Schenkerian analysis, see scale-step.

D flat major scale degree names