14 scales from 12 roots
168 scales in total, each spelled correctly with one letter per note, so F major has B♭ and not A♯, and the key signature makes sense.
Music Scales on Piano and Guitar
Music scales made visible: pick a root and a scale, then see and hear every note on piano and guitar.
How to use the scale finder
No signup and nothing to install. It works on a laptop, a tablet, a phone or the classroom projector.
- 01
Choose a root note
Tap one of the twelve notes, from C to B. Black keys show both names, such as C♯/D♭, and the tool picks the spelling musicians write.
- 02
Choose a scale
Major, the three minor scales, major and minor pentatonic, blues, the five modes, chromatic or whole tone. The notes, degrees and step pattern update at once.
- 03
Hear it and play along
Press play to hear the scale up and down at the speed you choose, and follow the highlighted keys on the piano and the frets on the guitar.
Every scale on piano and guitar
Made for music lessons, for practising at home and for anyone who wants to know which notes belong to a scale.
Piano keyboard
Two octaves with every scale note labeled and numbered. Tap any key to hear it, or play the whole scale and watch it light up.
Guitar fretboard
All positions from the open strings to the twelfth fret in standard tuning, with the root marked as a square. Ideal for pentatonic and blues boxes.
Formula and degrees
The step pattern (W W H W W W H) and the degrees (1 2 ♭3 …) show why a scale sounds the way it does, not only which notes it has.
What is a music scale?
A scale is a set of notes in order of pitch, from a starting note, the root, up to the same note one octave higher. The piano has twelve different notes per octave, but most music uses a selection of them: seven notes for major and minor, five for pentatonic. Which notes are chosen decides the character of the music, bright, dark, bluesy or floating.
What makes each scale unique is its step pattern. A half step is the distance from one key to the very next key, black or white. A whole step is two half steps. The major scale always follows whole, whole, half, whole, whole, whole, half, whichever key it starts on. The table lists the pattern, the degrees and an example for every scale in the tool.
| Scale | Step pattern | Degrees | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Major | W W H W W W H | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 | C D E F G A B |
| Natural minor | W H W W H W W | 1 2 ♭3 4 5 ♭6 ♭7 | A B C D E F G |
| Harmonic minor | W H W W H W+H H | 1 2 ♭3 4 5 ♭6 7 | A B C D E F G♯ |
| Melodic minor | W H W W W W H | 1 2 ♭3 4 5 6 7 | A B C D E F♯ G♯ |
| Major pentatonic | W W W+H W W+H | 1 2 3 5 6 | C D E G A |
| Minor pentatonic | W+H W W W+H W | 1 ♭3 4 5 ♭7 | A C D E G |
| Blues | W+H W H H W+H W | 1 ♭3 4 ♭5 5 ♭7 | A C D E♭ E G |
| Dorian | W H W W W H W | 1 2 ♭3 4 5 6 ♭7 | D E F G A B C |
| Phrygian | H W W W H W W | 1 ♭2 ♭3 4 5 ♭6 ♭7 | A B♭ C D E F G |
| Lydian | W W W H W W H | 1 2 3 ♯4 5 6 7 | F G A B C D E |
| Mixolydian | W W H W W H W | 1 2 3 4 5 6 ♭7 | G A B C D E F |
| Locrian | H W W H W W W | 1 ♭2 ♭3 4 ♭5 ♭6 ♭7 | A B♭ C D E♭ F G |
| Chromatic | H H H H H H H H H H H H | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 | C C♯ D D♯ E F F♯ G G♯ A A♯ B |
| Whole tone | W W W W W W | 1 2 3 ♯4 ♯5 ♭7 | C D E F♯ G♯ A♯ |
Major and minor scales
The major scale is the reference for everything else in music theory. Its degrees are numbered 1 to 7, and other scales are described by how they differ from it: the natural minor has a flat third, a flat sixth and a flat seventh, written 1 2 ♭3 4 5 ♭6 ♭7. Every major scale has a relative minor that uses the same notes, starting on its sixth degree: C major and A minor, G major and E minor.
Minor comes in three versions. The natural minor is the plain form. The harmonic minor raises the seventh note, so the scale gets a strong pull back to the root and the exotic step and a half between degrees six and seven. The melodic minor raises the sixth as well, which smooths out that gap for melodies that rise. The table shows the twelve major scales in the order of the circle of fifths, each with one more sharp or flat.
| Scale | Notes | Key signature |
|---|---|---|
| C major | C D E F G A B | none |
| G major | G A B C D E F♯ | 1 sharp |
| D major | D E F♯ G A B C♯ | 2 sharps |
| A major | A B C♯ D E F♯ G♯ | 3 sharps |
| E major | E F♯ G♯ A B C♯ D♯ | 4 sharps |
| B major | B C♯ D♯ E F♯ G♯ A♯ | 5 sharps |
| F♯ major | F♯ G♯ A♯ B C♯ D♯ E♯ | 6 sharps |
| D♭ major | D♭ E♭ F G♭ A♭ B♭ C | 5 flats |
| A♭ major | A♭ B♭ C D♭ E♭ F G | 4 flats |
| E♭ major | E♭ F G A♭ B♭ C D | 3 flats |
| B♭ major | B♭ C D E♭ F G A | 2 flats |
| F major | F G A B♭ C D E | 1 flat |
Pentatonic and blues scales on guitar
Pentatonic scales leave out the two notes that form half steps, so no note clashes with another. That is why the minor pentatonic is the first scale most guitarists learn: in the fifth position from A it fits under four fingers, two notes per string, and you can improvise over almost any rock or blues song in A without a wrong note. Add the flat fifth and you have the blues scale.
The fretboard in the tool shows every position of the chosen scale up to the twelfth fret. Look for the yellow squares: they are the root, and the shapes between two roots repeat one octave higher. Learn one box, then connect it to the next. The same shapes move up or down the neck for every other key.
Modes, chromatic and whole tone scales
The seven modes all use the notes of one major scale but start on a different degree. D Dorian has the same notes as C major, but because it starts on D it sounds minor with a bright sixth. Mixolydian is major with a flat seventh and is all over rock and funk; Lydian, with its raised fourth, sounds like film music; Phrygian, with its flat second, sounds Spanish.
Two scales stand outside this system. The chromatic scale contains all twelve notes, so it is used for runs and for practising finger technique rather than as a home key. The whole tone scale has six notes, each a whole step apart, and no half steps at all: it has no clear root and sounds dreamy, as in many pieces by Claude Debussy.
For music teachers
Teach scales on the classroom screen
Put the scale finder on the projector in full screen, play C major and A minor one after the other and let the class hear the difference, then build a scale together from its step pattern, with no login for you or your pupils. When your students are ready to make their own music, Make a Beat gives you a whole classroom: students join with a code and their name, no email addresses, and you set assignments, listen to what they hand in and grade it. Hosted in Germany (AI features, if switched on, send prompts to providers in the US), with a written data processing agreement on request, and every school licence starts with a free trial.
Questions about music scales
What are the most common music scales?
The most common music scales are the major scale, the natural minor scale and the two pentatonic scales. Almost every pop, rock, folk and children’s song uses one of them. Blues, harmonic minor and the modes such as Dorian or Mixolydian come next, and the chromatic scale simply contains all twelve notes.
What is the formula for a major scale?
A major scale follows the step pattern whole, whole, half, whole, whole, whole, half. Start on any key, count two semitones for a whole step and one for a half step, and you get the major scale of that key. From C the pattern lands only on white keys: C D E F G A B C.
What is the difference between major and minor scales?
The difference is the third note. A major scale has a major third, four semitones above the root, which sounds bright. A minor scale has a minor third, three semitones above the root, which sounds darker. The natural minor also lowers the sixth and seventh notes compared with major.
What is a pentatonic scale?
A pentatonic scale is a scale with five notes per octave instead of seven. The major pentatonic leaves out the fourth and seventh of the major scale, the minor pentatonic leaves out the second and sixth of the minor scale. Without half steps, every note sounds good with every other, which makes it ideal for improvising.
What is the blues scale?
The blues scale is the minor pentatonic with one extra note, the flat fifth, often called the blue note. From A it is A, C, D, E flat, E and G. Guitarists and pianists use it for solos in blues, rock, jazz and hip hop, sliding through the blue note rather than resting on it.
What are the modes in music?
Modes are seven scales that use the notes of a major scale but start on a different degree. Ionian is the major scale itself, Dorian starts on the second note, Phrygian on the third, Lydian on the fourth, Mixolydian on the fifth, Aeolian, the natural minor, on the sixth and Locrian on the seventh.
Which scales should a beginner learn first on piano or guitar?
Begin with the C major scale on piano, because it uses only white keys, and with the minor pentatonic in the fifth position on guitar, because it fits under four fingers. Then add G and F major, A minor and the blues scale. Play slowly with a steady beat before you speed up.
Is this scale finder free?
Yes. All fourteen scales from all twelve roots, the piano keyboard, the guitar fretboard, the sound and the projector mode are free, with no account and no download. The tool runs in any current browser on a laptop, a tablet, a phone or the classroom screen.
From a scale to your own beat
Open the beat maker with the scale you chose as a melody on the piano, then add drums, bass and chords that fit.