Scale Information
Explore all available scales with their descriptions, intervals, and listen to audio previews. Click on a scale name to view its fretboard pattern.
A five-note scale (1, 2, 3, 5, 6) extracted from the major scale by omitting the 4th and 7th. Its lack of semitones gives a very consonant, open sound, heavily used in folk, country, rock and pop melodies and in pentatonic-based improvisation worldwide.
A seven-note (heptatonic) diatonic scale with the interval pattern W-W-H-W-W-W-H (Ionian mode). It underpins most Western tonal music from classical to pop and jazz, giving a stable, consonant sound built around the I-IV-V major triads and clear functional harmony.
Usually referring to the natural minor (Aeolian mode), a seven-note scale with a flattened 3rd, 6th and 7th degrees compared with major. It has a darker, more plaintive colour and is central to rock, metal, classical and film music, often mixed with harmonic and melodic minor variants for stronger dominant harmony.
A six-note scale that adds a flattened 3rd to the major pentatonic (1, 2, ♭3, 3, 5, 6). It blends the sweetness of major with the expressive 'blue' inflection of the minor 3rd, a common sound in country, early rock and major-key blues shuffles.
A six-note extension of the minor pentatonic that adds a flattened 5th (1, ♭3, 4, ♭5, 5, ♭7). This is the archetypal blues scale for guitar and vocal lines, used in blues, rock, jazz and fusion for bends, slides and chromatic tension around the 4-♭5-5 area.
In jazz and modern theory usually the 'jazz melodic minor': a minor scale with a natural 6 and 7 (1, 2, ♭3, 4, 5, 6, 7). It provides a smoother, more 'refined' minor sound than natural or harmonic minor and generates a rich family of modes (Dorian ♭2, Lydian augmented, Lydian dominant, Mixolydian ♭6, Locrian ♯2, altered) used extensively over sophisticated chords.
A natural minor scale with a raised 7th (1, 2, ♭3, 4, 5, ♭6, 7), creating the characteristic augmented 2nd between ♭6 and 7. Long used in classical music to create a strong V7 in minor keys and later adopted in metal, neo-classical and Middle Eastern-flavoured rock leads, as well as the source of modes like Phrygian dominant and Locrian ♮6.
Typically refers to the dominant bebop scale: a Mixolydian scale with an added major 7th passing tone (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, ♭7, 7). It gives eight notes per octave so that chord tones fall consistently on downbeats in fast bebop lines, a hallmark of Parker and Gillespie-style phrasing.
Usually the octatonic symmetric scale that alternates whole and half steps (whole-half or half-whole). It gives a highly tense, ambiguous collection used over diminished 7th, dominant 7♭9, and other altered chords in jazz and film scoring, yielding characteristic patterns and symmetrical arpeggios.
The second mode of the major scale (1, 2, ♭3, 4, 5, 6, ♭7), a minor scale with a natural 6. It underpins much modal jazz (e.g. 'So What'), funk vamps, and rock jams, giving a cool, slightly ambiguous minor colour that works well over m7 and m9 chords.
The fourth mode of the major scale (1, 2, 3, ♯4, 5, 6, 7), often described as a 'brighter than major' sound. The raised 4th avoids the strong IV-I pull and produces the floating, open quality exploited in film scores, fusion, and modern orchestral writing.
The fifth mode of the major scale (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, ♭7), essentially a major scale with a flat 7th. It is the default sound for dominant 7 harmony in rock, blues and funk, and is the basis of many one-chord vamps and blues-rock solos.
The third mode of the major scale (1, ♭2, ♭3, 4, 5, ♭6, ♭7), characterised by its very small whole-tone span above the tonic. The flat 2nd gives an intense, 'Spanish' or Middle Eastern colour widely used in flamenco, metal riffs and modal classical passages.
The seventh mode of the major scale (1, ♭2, ♭3, 4, ♭5, ♭6, ♭7), built on a diminished triad. Its flattened 5th and 2nd create extreme instability, making it rare as a key centre but very important over half-diminished (m7♭5) chords in functional harmony and modern jazz.
A five-note subset of the major (Ionian) scale, often equivalent to the major pentatonic but framed as a mode. It emphasises the stable degrees 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6, avoiding strong leading-tone pull and working well over simple major triads in folk, pop and modal contexts.
A dominant-flavoured pentatonic (commonly 1, 2, 3, 5, ♭7) that strips out the 4th and 6th from Mixolydian. It is useful for concise, groove-oriented dominant 7 lines in blues, funk and rock, keeping only the root, 3rd, 5th and flat 7 with one extra colour tone.
A Japanese- and Scottish-associated pentatonic often described as a 'neutral' or 'suspended' major pentatonic variant (1, 2, 4, 5, 6). It omits both 3rd and 7th, creating a very open, folk-like sonority; some sources equate it with the so-called Scottish pentatonic used in Celtic melodies and Japanese koto repertoires.
A five-note 'neutral' pentatonic scale (commonly 1, 2, 4, 5, ♭7) also called the suspended pentatonic. It avoids 3rd and 6th degrees, giving a non-major/non-minor modality used in world-music-influenced jazz, cinematic scoring and modal rock textures.
A pentatonic derived from the Neapolitan major scale (which has 1, ♭2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7), typically selecting 1, ♭2, 3, 5, 6. It overlays a strong flat-2 'Neapolitan' colour on otherwise major harmony and appears in contemporary jazz and film-score language that references late-Romantic chromaticism.
A five-note scale catalogued in modern scale libraries, associated with Vietnamese traditional music. It usually combines large and small steps to create a bright yet slightly piquant pentatonic sonority used in folk melodies and modern 'world music' fusion arrangements.
Originally a heptatonic tuning system of Indonesian gamelan, often used in practice as various five-note subsets. On Western instruments, Pelog-type scales are realised as uneven hemitonic pentatonics with characteristic clustered semitones, giving the distinctive, bell-like colour of Balinese and Javanese ensembles and inspiring many 20th-century composers and film scores.
A Japanese pentatonic scale (often written Kumoi-joshi) derived from koto tunings and related to Hirajōshi. Typically built as 1, ♭2, 4, 5, ♭6, it has two semitone steps that give a wistful, meditative character used in traditional koto and shakuhachi repertoire and emulated by guitarists seeking 'Japanese' colours.
A family of related Japanese pentatonic tunings originating from shamisen music and adapted for koto, usually represented in Western theory as a five-note, hemitonic minor-coloured scale. Different intervallic realisations exist, but all produce an austere, haunting sound widely borrowed in film, rock and modern classical writing to evoke Japanese timbres.
A Japanese pentatonic scale related to the Locrian mode, often described by the interval set 1, ♭2, 4, ♭5, ♭7. With no 3rd or 6th, it is strongly suspended and dissonant, used in traditional koto music and modern guitar and piano writing to suggest an 'ancient' or ritualistic atmosphere.
A Japanese pentatonic scale (In Sen) derived from shamisen and koto practice, typically notated 1, ♭2, 4, 5, ♭7. The absence of a 3rd makes it harmonically ambiguous, which is why it works well over suspended chords and modal ostinatos in contemporary jazz and ambient music that allude to Japanese traditions.
A bright pentatonic extracted from the Lydian mode, usually 1, 3, ♯4, 5, 7. It captures the characteristic raised 4th and major 7th while omitting more dissonant steps, giving a very floating, modern-jazz colour over maj7♯11 chords with minimal clutter.
A Hindustani raga corresponding to Malkauns, a pentatonic with flattened 2nd and 6th degrees (for example C, E♭, F, G, B♭ in one common transcription). It is associated with late-night, meditative moods and has been adapted to jazz and film music for its dark, static intensity and wide leaps.
A five-note subset of the Locrian mode, typically 1, ♭2, 4, ♭5, ♭7. It condenses the unstable Locrian colour into a compact pattern and can be used over m7♭5 chords or for creating angular, dissonant riffs without full chromaticism.
A five-note scale built from degrees 1, ♭3, 4, 5, ♭7 of the natural minor. It is one of the most used soloing vocabularies in blues, rock, soul and funk, outlining minor and dominant chords cleanly and combining naturally with the minor blues scale.
A minor pentatonic variant that includes the major 6th (often 1, ♭3, 4, 5, 6), sometimes heard as a pentatonic reduction of Dorian or melodic minor. It supports minor 6 chords and gives a more lyrical, jazz-friendly minor sonority than the standard blues minor pentatonic.
A label used for pentatonics that emphasise the ♭3 degree; in many libraries this corresponds to the standard minor pentatonic 1, ♭3, 4, 5, ♭7. It brings the 'blue' minor third to the fore and is basic vocabulary for blues and rock melodies over major and dominant harmony alike.
A pentatonic linked to augmented and whole-tone-coloured harmony, typically featuring the ♭6 along with a major triad (for example 1, 3, ♯4/♭5, 5, ♭6). Used over augmented and dominant chords, it highlights the tension between 5 and ♭6 (or ♯5) and appears in late-Romantic, jazz and film-score textures.
A six-note scale derived from Alexander Scriabin's 'mystic chord' or Prometheus chord, often spelled as a synthetic hexatonic built on stacked 4ths and tritones. It yields highly ambiguous, non-functional harmony and is used in post-tonal classical music and adventurous jazz to mimic Scriabin's shimmering, mystical sonorities.
A five-note subset of the whole-tone scale, typically obtained by omitting one of its six notes. It retains the augmented-triad basis and lack of semitone resolution but is slightly less dense, giving a modern, floating dominant sound with reduced chromatic saturation.
A dominant-flavoured pentatonic distilled from the Lydian dominant mode (Mixolydian ♯11), commonly 1, 3, ♯4, 5, ♭7. It delivers the essential lydian-dominant colour in a compact form and is popular for outlining 7♯11 chords in funk and jazz without including every scale degree.
A pentatonic abstraction of the altered (super-Locrian) scale, selecting a subset such as 1, ♭2, ♭3, ♭5, ♭7. It packs the most characteristic altered tensions into a five-note pattern for quick dominant-chord improvisation with strong outside colour.
Any six-note minor-based scale; in common usage this often means a minor pentatonic with an added 2 or 6. It sits between pentatonic simplicity and full heptatonic richness, giving smoother scalar runs while preserving a strong minor tonal centre.
The symmetric augmented scale, a six-note collection built from alternating minor 3rds and semitones. It is closely related to augmented triads and is used in late-Romantic and early modernist music and in jazz to create highly chromatic, shifting lines over dominant or augmented chords.
An 'exotic Far-East' pentatonic catalogued in modern scale encyclopaedias, often paired with Pelog in scale lists. It typically features uneven step sizes and clustered semitones, giving a plaintive, East-Asian-inflected sound used in world-music-style modal improvisation on piano and guitar.
A six-note synthetic scale sometimes called Prometheus Neapolitan, combining Scriabin-style Prometheus harmony with a Neapolitan (♭2) flavour. It is used in contemporary classical and film scoring to evoke intense, luminous dissonance with a clear flat-2 focus.
A six-note synthetic scale derived from Scriabin's Prometheus or mystic chord (for example C, F♯, B♭, E, A, D). Lacking a conventional 3rd or 7th, it produces an open, ambiguous sonority that has inspired modern classical and jazz composers seeking luminous, quartal, non-functional harmony.
A label used for a particular augmented-and-whole-tone-coloured hexatonic scale in some chord/scale catalogues. It typically supports augmented triads and dominant chords with raised 5th and 9th tensions, providing a mysterious, other-worldly colour closely related to whole-tone and six-tone symmetric scales.
A hexatonic symmetric scale built from repeating intervals (for example containing 1, ♭2, 3, 4, ♯5, 6). It sits between whole-tone and augmented collections, giving a bright but slightly more grounded sound and is used in modern jazz and contemporary classical writing for augmented chords and non-functional progressions.
A six-note symmetric scale made entirely of whole tones, forming two complementary collections in 12-tone equal temperament. Lacking a leading tone and built only from augmented triads, it produces a blurred, dreamlike effect famously used by Debussy and later adopted in jazz for dominant chords with ♯5 / ♭5 extensions.
One of Olivier Messiaen's modes of limited transposition: a six-note symmetric scale made of two augmented triads separated by a semitone. It has a strongly colouristic, non-functional sound and appears in Messiaen's organ and orchestral works as well as in modern jazz for its built-in major 3rds and tritones.
A synthetic scale mixing Locrian and major elements, typically 1, ♭2, 3, 4, ♭5, 6, ♭7. It places a major 3rd over a diminished 5th, yielding a highly unstable but brightened dominant-type colour occasionally used in advanced jazz harmony and chord-scale systems.
A Lydian-coloured variant of the double harmonic scale with both a raised 4th and two augmented 2nds (1, ♭2, 3, ♯4, 5, ♭6, 7). It blends Middle-Eastern style augmented seconds with Lydian brightness and appears in contemporary classical and fusion contexts over highly altered major chords.
The altered scale or super-Locrian: the seventh mode of melodic minor containing 1, ♭2, ♭3, ♭4/3, ♭5, ♭6, ♭7 with every possible 9, 11, and 13 altered. It is the standard jazz scale for V7alt chords, maximising tension before resolving to a tonic minor or major.
Locrian with a natural 2 (1, 2, ♭3, 4, ♭5, ♭6, ♭7), also described as the sixth mode of melodic minor. It is less harsh than pure Locrian and serves as a common choice over m7♭5 chords in jazz because the natural 2 supports a smoother, more consonant upper structure.
The fifth mode of melodic minor (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, ♭6, ♭7), sounding like a Mixolydian scale with a darkened 6th. It is used over dominant chords whose function leans towards minor or which carry a 13♭ tension, common in melodic-minor ii-V progressions.
The fourth mode of melodic minor, combining Lydian's raised 4th with a flat 7 (1, 2, 3, ♯4, 5, 6, ♭7). This is the archetypal scale for 7♯11 chords and non-resolving dominants in jazz, fusion and film scores, giving a bright but slightly edgy dominant sound.
The third mode of melodic minor, essentially a Lydian scale with a raised 5th (1, 2, 3, ♯4, ♯5, 6, 7). It is used over maj7♯5 chords and to create soaring, modern major sounds with strong upward drive and built-in augmented harmony.
The second mode of melodic minor (also called Dorian ♭2 or Phrygian ♮6), with degrees 1, ♭2, ♭3, 4, 5, 6, ♭7. It combines the darker flavour of Phrygian's flat 2 with Dorian's natural 6, and is used over minor chords with an exotic edge or in modal compositions looking for non-diatonic colour.
A very dissonant mode, often defined as the seventh mode of harmonic minor (sometimes called super-Locrian ♭♭7), compressing both 5th and 7th degrees. It yields an extremely unstable synthetic dominant or diminished colour, used sparsely in advanced jazz or modern composition for maximum tension.
Locrian with a natural 6 (1, ♭2, ♭3, 4, ♭5, 6, ♭7), also described as Locrian ♮6, appearing as the second mode of harmonic minor or related synthetic systems. It softens the otherwise dark Locrian sound and is used as an alternative over m7♭5 chords or in modal writing that wants a hint of brightness.
A seven-note 'augmented' scale built from repeating augmented triad fragments, usually combining semitone and major 3rd leaps. It mixes diatonic stepwise motion with the symmetrical augmented sound and is employed in modern jazz to create lines that move between tonal centres via augmented relationships.
A Dorian-based mode with a raised 4th (1, 2, ♭3, ♯4, 5, 6, ♭7), appearing in melodic and harmonic major systems. It offers a minor-tonic sound with a Lydian-like #11 colour and is used in contemporary jazz, fusion and film cues for a subtly 'outside' minor flavour.
A hybrid scale sometimes equated with Lydian ♭3 (1, 2, ♭3, ♯4, 5, 6, 7), combining Lydian's sharp 4th with a minor 3rd. It underpins minor-major or 'quartal-minor' harmony and appears in 20th-century classical and jazz contexts as a way to colour m(maj7) or altered major chords.
A whole-tone-based scale with an added leading-tone-like note, bridging whole-tone and diatonic collections. It provides the characteristic blurred whole-tone sound but with a stronger sense of direction, and is used over dominant chords moving to a clear tonal target.
A Lydian-derived mode with a minor 3rd (often the same pitch set as Lydian diminished or Lydian ♭3). It supports minor-major or minor-6 harmony with a raised 4th, giving a unique mixture of bright #11 colour and minor-key pathos in modern harmony and film music.
The fifth mode of harmonic minor (1, ♭2, 3, 4, 5, ♭6, ♭7), also known as Spanish gypsy or Freygish. It is strongly associated with flamenco, Middle Eastern and klezmer music and is used in rock and metal for 'exotic' riffs and solos over V7 or static dominant chords.
A scale modelled on Balinese gamelan tunings, usually realised on Western instruments as a hemitonic pentatonic or hexatonic with clustered semitones. It captures the metallic, shimmering sonority of Balinese ensembles and is used in impressionist and film music as well as scale libraries for 'world' chord-scale work.
The Neapolitan major scale: a major-type heptatonic with a flattened 2nd and 6th (1, ♭2, 3, 4, 5, ♭6, 7). It evolved from Neapolitan harmony in 19th-century classical music and offers a rich, chromatic major sound that modern jazz improvisers use over altered tonic or subdominant chords.
A scale like major but with a lowered 6th (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, ♭6, 7). It sounds halfway between major and harmonic minor and generates an interesting set of modes used in jazz to colour major and dominant chords with unusual but still tonal alterations.
Also called the Byzantine or Arabic scale, with degrees 1, ♭2, 3, 4, 5, ♭6, 7 and two augmented seconds. It closely resembles some Middle Eastern and Eastern European modal systems and appears in Romani music, classical pieces invoking 'oriental' colour, metal riffs and fusion solos.
A minor scale with both a raised 4th and 7th (1, 2, ♭3, ♯4, 5, ♭6, 7), producing two augmented seconds. It is associated with Eastern European folk music and Romani styles and is used by composers and improvisers to get a highly charged, 'gypsy' minor sound.
A major-type scale with a flat 2nd and raised 4th (often 1, ♭2, 3, ♯4, 5, 6, 7). It has an even more exotic, spiky major colour than harmonic major and appears in Hungarian folk-influenced classical works and modern jazz for bold, non-diatonic major chords.
A synthetic heptatonic scale with multiple semitone clusters, commonly given as 1, ♭2, 3, 4, ♭5, ♭6, 7. It exaggerates the intervals found in Middle Eastern and East-European modes and is used in 'orientalist' classical pieces, soundtracks and scale-based improvisation seeking a strongly exoticised colour.
A name often applied to the Phrygian dominant or Spanish heptatonic family, sometimes with both minor and major 3rds available. It is central to flamenco harmony, where E Phrygian-type modes with G and G♯ alternate over rasgueado guitar chords, and is widely adopted in rock and metal to evoke Spanish and Arabic influences.
A Hindustani raga from the Todi thaat, typically using flattened 2nd, 3rd, 6th and 7th with a sharp 4th and complex ascending/descending patterns. It is associated with serious, introspective morning moods and is used in classical performances and in fusion projects that borrow its highly ornamented microtonal phrases.
A synthetic heptatonic scale often noted 1, ♭2, 3, 4, ♭5, ♭6, 7, highlighting two augmented seconds. It loosely parallels aspects of Persian dastgāh practice when adapted to equal temperament and is used by jazz and rock musicians for intense, Middle-Eastern-coloured lines and riffs.
The enigmatic scale, introduced in 19th-century Italian theory, with an unusually chromatic pattern (for example 1, ♭2, 3, ♯4, ♯5, ♯6, 7). It has no straightforward functional harmony and was designed as a 'mystery' scale for compositional puzzles; modern composers and improvisers use it for highly ambiguous, floating chromatic textures.
A major-type scale with an augmented 5th (often 1, 2, 3, 4, ♯5, 6, 7) or related augmented-triad framework. It strongly supports maj7♯5 chords and can be heard as a heptatonic expansion of the augmented and whole-tone collections used in late-Romantic and jazz harmony.
Sometimes called Lydian ♯2, a bright but sharp-sounding mode with degrees 1, ♯2/♯9, 3, ♯4, 5, 6, 7. It intensifies the Lydian sound with a raised 2nd and is employed in advanced jazz harmony over highly altered major chords or as a side-slip colour.
Messiaen's fourth mode of limited transposition, an eight-note symmetric scale built from repeating semitone-tone-tone cells. It lacks a strong tonal centre and is used by Messiaen and later composers to create luminous, suspended sonorities; jazz musicians sometimes apply it over complex, extended chords for an other-worldly colour.
A Hindustani raga from the Purvi thaat, featuring a flat 2nd and 6th with sharp 4th and natural 3rd and 7th, with specific ascending and descending variants. It is associated with late-afternoon or evening moods and a mixture of tension and serenity, occasionally appearing in Indo-jazz and film music in simplified, equal-tempered form.
A heptatonic scale also known as Spanish Phrygian or Phrygian major, often equivalent to the Spanish gypsy scale (1, ♭2, 3, 4, 5, ♭6, ♭7). It is widely used in flamenco and Spanish-influenced classical and jazz pieces, supplying the archetypal 'Spanish' dominant sound.
A minor or Dorian-based bebop scale (commonly 1, 2, ♭3, 3, 4, 5, 6, ♭7) that inserts a chromatic passing tone between ♭3 and 3. It supports minor 6 and minor 7 chords in jazz, giving lines that alternate between bluesy minor colour and more functional, tonic-centred harmony.
A major scale with an added chromatic passing tone between 5 and 6 (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, ♯5, 6, 7). Used in bebop and post-bop improvisation to maintain diatonic chord tones on strong beats while allowing smooth, scalar runs over major and tonic chords.
A bebop treatment of the Locrian or half-diminished sound, often derived as Locrian ♮2 with an added passing tone. It is used in modern jazz vocabulary over m7♭5 chords to align chord tones with the beat while preserving the dark, unstable Locrian flavour.
A general term for bebop scales used over minor chords; commonly a natural minor with a chromatic passing tone (for example between 5 and ♭6, or ♭7 and 7). It allows long eighth-note lines over minor ii-V-i progressions without disrupting the placement of chord tones.
A scale popularised in jazz pedagogy (e.g. Ichikotsucho/Ichikosucho), often described as a major scale with both ♭5 and natural 5 (1, 2, 3, 4, ♭5, 5, 6, 7). It gives dense, scalar chromaticism suitable for major and dominant chords and appears in advanced bebop and fusion vocabulary.
A hybrid scale alternating minor 6 and diminished structures (often conceived as a minor 6 arpeggio combined with a diminished 7 arpeggio). It is used by jazz players to cover m6, m7♭5 and related chords, yielding lines that pivot between minor and diminished sounds.
The diminished scale that starts with a semitone then alternates half and whole steps (1, ♭2, ♭3, 3, ♭5, 5, 6, ♭7). It is the classic choice over dominant 7♭9 or 13♭9 chords, giving strong altered tensions while preserving all chord tones of the dominant.
A Hindustani raga associated with the Kafi thaat, roughly analogous to the Western Dorian / natural minor with flexible intonation of 3rd and 7th. It is central to light-classical and folk-based forms and has been adapted in Indo-jazz and film music to provide a gentle, pastoral minor-modal mood.
Messiaen's sixth mode of limited transposition, an eight-note symmetric scale that can be heard as a whole-tone collection plus two additional notes. It is rich in diminished and augmented intervals and is used in Messiaen's music and modern jazz to generate non-diatonic harmonies with a strong sense of symmetry.
A 'compounded' blues collection formed by combining major and minor blues or related scales, often yielding a nine- or ten-note set around 1, 2, ♭3, 3, 4, ♭5, 5, 6, ♭7. It gives improvisers maximum flexibility to mix major and minor blues colours over a single progression.
Messiaen's third mode of limited transposition, a nine-note scale constructed from repeating semitone-tone-semitone cells. It has many internal triads and seventh chords but no stable tonal centre, producing the mystical, colouristic harmonies that attracted both Messiaen and later guitarists such as Allan Holdsworth.
Messiaen's seventh mode, a ten-note scale that is almost chromatic except for two omitted notes, with a limited number of transpositions. It yields extremely dense, non-functional harmony and is used in avant-garde classical works and exploratory jazz improvisation to approach full chromaticism while retaining a particular symmetric structure.
A twelve-note scale containing all semitones within the octave. It is not usually a key centre but a resource for chromatic approach tones, dense atonal writing, and highly coloured lines in jazz, classical and film music.