Why is the musical scale the way it is? 12 keys: 7 major, 5 minor?

Question

Why is the musical scale the way it is? 12 keys: 7 major, 5 minor?

In: 116

Answer 1

I’m assuming you mean 7 white notes, 5 black notes

In western music, we use the major scale as the basis for our music. It consists of a pattern of whole steps and half steps (whole whole half whole whole whole half), 7 notes in total. The keyboard is designed so that all the white notes correspond to a major scale (C major, specifically). Because there are 5 whole notes, they need to be filled in with one black note each so all 12 divisions of the octave are achieved. This way, a major scale can be played starting on any note, since any major scale other than C major will require at least one black note