Definition
Every note of the scale has a degree number (1–7, often written with a caret: ^1, ^2…) and a functional name that describes its role relative to the tonic. Degrees are used for melodies, Roman numerals for the chords built on those degrees.
The seven degrees (C major)
| Degree | Note | Italian name | English name | Role |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ^1 | C | Tonica | tonic | center of gravity, rest |
| ^2 | D | Sopratonica | supertonic | passing, tends to 1 or 3 |
| ^3 | E | Mediante (or caratteristica) | mediant | defines the major/minor mode |
| ^4 | F | Sottodominante | subdominant | tends to fall to 3 |
| ^5 | G | Dominante | dominant | second in importance, support |
| ^6 | A | Sopradominante (sottomediante) | submediant | tends to fall to 5 |
| ^7 | B | Sensibile | leading tone | a semitone from the tonic, strongly tends to 1 |
If the 7th degree lies a tone below the tonic (natural minor, Mixolydian, Dorian) it is called the subtonic: it no longer has the pull toward 1. The name “subdominant” comes from its symmetrical position: it is a fifth below the tonic, just as the dominant is a fifth above.
Strong degrees and weak degrees
- Tonal degrees (I, IV, V): they establish the key; they are the same in major and minor.
- Modal degrees (III, VI, and partly VII): they change between major and minor and give the color.
In A minor: ^3 = C (minor third), ^6 = F (minor sixth), ^7 = G (subtonic) or G# (leading tone, in harmonic and melodic minor).
Melodic tendencies
- ^7 → ^1 (rising leading tone): the strongest.
- ^4 → ^3 (descending semitone); together with ^7 it forms the dominant's tritone (B–F in C).
- ^6 → ^5 and, in minor, b^6 → ^5 (a very expressive descending semitone).
- ^2 → ^1 or ^2 → ^3.
- ^1, ^3, ^5 are notes of rest (the tonic triad).
This logic of attraction is the basis of functional listening: each degree has a recognizable “flavor” regardless of the key.
Solmization and degrees
In movable do (Kodály and Berklee method) the syllables indicate the degrees: do re mi fa sol la ti(si) do, in any key. Altered notes have their own syllables: di, ri, fi, si, li ascending; ra, me, se, le, te descending. In Italy fixed do is traditionally used (Do is always C) and degrees are named with numbers. See the card on solfège.
Degrees and chords
The diatonic triads are built on the degrees: in C major I (C), ii (Dm), iii (Em), IV (F), V (G), vi (Am), vii° (B°). The function of the chord (tonic, predominant, dominant) is covered in the card “Diatonic functions”.
Examples of melodies in degrees
- “Ode to Joy” (Beethoven, Symphony No. 9): 3 3 4 5 5 4 3 2 1 1 2 3 3 2 2.
- “Happy Birthday to You”: 5 5 6 5 1 7 — the leading tone ends the first phrase unresolved.
- “Let It Be” (The Beatles), chorus: the melody descends 3–2–1 onto the tonic, the most natural cadential gesture in pop (the Schenkerian “Urlinie” ^3–^2–^1).
- “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”: 1–8 (octave leap) then 7–5–6–7–8.
Exercise for the producer
- Take the topline of your latest song and write it in degrees (numbers), not notes: find where the leading tone falls and where the melody rests.
- Transpose the same sequence of degrees into three keys: if the melody “sounds the same”, you have understood the concept.
- Sing the scale with numbers and then with movable-do syllables, always resolving 7→1 and 4→3.
Related topics
Functional listening and scale-degree recognition; Diatonic functions; Solfège: fixed do and movable do; Roman numerals in analysis.