Free Tools Scales

Scales

Every note of the chosen scale, marked across the whole fretboard. Pick a scale and a root note, and set the tuning of each string to match your instrument.

    Note names

    Interval numbers

    About scales and modes

    A scale is an ordered set of notes described by their distance in semitones from a root. The major scale is two, two, one, two, two, two, one — the pattern that gives it its familiar sound, and the reference every other scale is described against.

    A mode is what you get by playing the same set of notes but treating a different one as home. D Dorian uses exactly the notes of C major, starting from D. The notes are identical; what changes is which note feels like the resting point, and therefore the character. That is why the modes table here lists seven entries sharing one parent scale.

    Pentatonic scales drop two notes from a seven-note scale, which is what makes them forgiving to improvise with — there are fewer notes that can clash. The blues scale is the minor pentatonic with a flattened fifth added back in as a passing note.

    Using this tool

    The tables below the diagrams show the modes of the current scale, and the triads and seventh chords the scale harmonises to. Those chords are the ones that will sound consonant over it, which makes the tables a shortcut to writing a progression in the key.

    Frequently asked questions

    What is the difference between a scale and a mode?

    A mode is a scale built on a different degree of a parent scale. The notes are the same; the root, and so the character, is different. A Aeolian and C major contain identical notes.

    How many notes are in a pentatonic scale?

    Five, as the name suggests. The major pentatonic is the major scale without its fourth and seventh degrees; the minor pentatonic is the natural minor without its second and sixth.

    Which chords fit a scale?

    The chords built from the scale's own notes. The triads and seventh chord tables on this page list one for each degree of the scale, which together make up the chords available in that key.

    Every scale, key by key

    A page for each of the twelve most-used scales in all twelve keys, with its notes, intervals, the chords it harmonises to and a full fretboard diagram.

    Practice this on your own guitar

    Fretonomy listens to your instrument and drills triads, scales and chords.

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