Harmonized Major Scale - Further Explanation

I received an email from a friend on the other side of the country, and he suggested I quit messing around with my video camera and do a better job of explaining the harmonized major scale concept mentioned in my last post.

Basically, a chord can be built off of each note of a scale, and the key signature/notes in the scale dictate what type of chord (major, minor, or diminished) is built upon each note of the scale.

For example, the key of C does not have any sharps or flats in it, and the seven notes of the scale are C, D, E, F, G, A, B. Using the pattern from my previous post, the chords formed from the C Major scale are C Major (I), D minor (ii), E minor (iii), F Major (IV), G Major (V), A minor (VI), and B diminished (vii*). The asterisk with the diminished chord is usually written as a "degrees" sign. I was unable to find a way to put that in the text, but I will try to scan an example in at a later date.

The following example shows a harmonized C Major scale. Note that this example uses root position voicings (the C of the C Major triad is the lowest note, the D of the D minor triad is the lowest note, etc.) on the top three strings. Keeping all of the chords in this voicing requires moving quite a distance of the neck, but having this harmonic progression in your "ear" is important (in my opinion) to being a well-rounded musician.