What most of us commonly refer to as a Major Scale is the Ionian Mode of the Diatonic Scale. 

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This is the most commonly used scale in most musical genres, and most of us have grown up listening to and singing nursery rhymes using this scale. This is also often referred to as just a Major Scale and its home chord is a Major triad. But keep in mind that there are other Major Scales as well, if they use a Major 3rd interval (Shuddh Ga) and have a major triad as their home chord.

 

The intervals in this scale after the Tonic note are Major 2nd, Major 3rd, Perfect 4th, Perfect 5th, Major 6th and Major 7th. 

 

Let’s take a look at some of the triads you can play in this scale.

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For instance, in the C Ionian scale (C, D, E, F, G, A, B), you would commonly find the chords C, Dm, Em, F, G, Am. If you want to play a triad built on the B note, you would have to play a B-dim chord (B, D, F). Typically, when the melody lands on this note and you want to change a chord at that point, you would most commonly find a G chord (G, B, D) or a G7 chord (G, B, D, F). 

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Keep in mind though that popular songs will often break these rules and you could have other chords being played to match the melody and harmony arrangement. 

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Here’s a fretboard diagram showing the notes in an A scale (Ionian).