Browse scales

1 2 ♭3 4 5 6 ♭7

Hopeful minor - the natural 6 lifts it. Celtic tunes, Miles Davis, So What.

1 ♭2 ♭3 4 5 ♭6 ♭7

Dark and Spanish. The b2 semitone above the drone is the whole story.

1 2 3 ♯4 5 6 7

Floaty, dreamy, film-score major. The #4 never resolves and never needs to.

1 2 3 4 5 6 ♭7

Folky, bluesy major. Most folk and rock that feels major but never plays a leading tone.

1 ♭2 ♭3 4 ♭5 ♭6 ♭7

Unstable by design - even the fifth is flattened. More a colour to visit than a home.

1 2 ♭3 4 5 ♭6 7

Classical drama. The gap between b6 and the raised 7 is instantly recognisable.

1 ♭2 ♭3 4 ♭5 6 ♭7

Locrian with one ray of light - the natural 6. Second mode of harmonic minor.

1 2 3 4 ♯5 6 7

Major with an augmented lift in the middle. Third mode of harmonic minor.

1 2 ♭3 ♯4 5 6 ♭7

Klezmer and Romanian fiddle music. Dorian with a raised 4 pushing at the fifth.

1 ♭2 3 4 5 ♭6 ♭7

Flamenco, klezmer, Middle Eastern maqam. Phrygian darkness with a major third blazing in it.

1 ♯2 3 ♯4 5 6 7

Lydian with an extra exotic leap at the bottom. Sixth mode of harmonic minor.

1 ♭2 ♭3 ♭4 ♭5 ♭6 ♭♭7

Everything flattened, twice in one place. Seventh mode of harmonic minor - pure vertigo.

1 2 ♭3 4 5 6 7

The smooth minor - major scale with a flat 3. Jazz treats it as home.

1 ♭2 ♭3 4 5 6 ♭7

Phrygian dark at the bottom, Dorian bright at the top. Second mode of melodic minor.

1 2 3 ♯4 ♯5 6 7

Lydian pushed further skyward with a raised 5. Third mode of melodic minor.

1 2 3 ♯4 5 6 ♭7

The Simpsons theme. Playful, cocky major - Lydian sparkle over a bluesy b7.

1 2 3 4 5 ♭6 ♭7

Major gone nostalgic - the top half collapses into minor. Faded-photograph sound.

1 2 ♭3 4 ♭5 ♭6 ♭7

Locrian made usable - the natural 2 softens the landing. Jazz scale for m7b5 chords.

1 ♭2 ♭3 ♭4 ♭5 ♭6 ♭7

Every tension at once. Jazz players use it to set a dominant chord on fire.

1 ♭2 3 4 5 ♭6 7

Maximum exotic - two augmented-second gaps. Misirlou. Phrygian dominant with a raised 7.

1 ♯2 3 ♯4 5 ♯6 7

Lydian stretched to breaking. Second mode of double harmonic.

1 ♭2 ♭3 ♭4 5 ♭6 ♭♭7

Phrygian sinking even lower. Third mode of double harmonic.

1 2 ♭3 ♯4 5 ♭6 7

Harmonic minor with a raised 4 - two exotic gaps. Eastern European fire. Fourth mode of double harmonic.

1 ♭2 3 4 ♭5 6 ♭7

Phrygian dominant with the floor tilted - flat 5, natural 6. Fifth mode of double harmonic.

1 ♯2 3 4 ♯5 6 7

Major warped at both ends. Sixth mode of double harmonic.

1 2 3 4 5 ♭6 7

Major with one bittersweet note - the b6. Sunshine with a shadow moving through it.

1 2 ♭3 4 ♭5 6 ♭7

Dorian with the floor dropped out. Second mode of harmonic major.

1 ♭2 ♭3 ♭4 5 ♭6 ♭7

Phrygian folding in on itself. Third mode of harmonic major.

1 2 ♭3 ♯4 5 6 7

Hungarian minor with the sweetness restored - natural 6. Fourth mode of harmonic major.

1 ♭2 3 4 5 6 ♭7

Phrygian dominant with a friendly natural 6. Fifth mode of harmonic major.

1 ♯2 3 ♯4 ♯5 6 7

Everything raised that can be. Sixth mode of harmonic major.

1 ♭2 ♭3 4 ♭5 ♭6 ♭♭7

Locrian with the 7 flattened twice - a diminished 7th chord stretched into a scale.

1 ♭2 ♭3 4 5 ♭6 7

Phrygian with a raised leading tone - dark AND dramatic at once.

1 ♭2 ♭3 4 5 6 7

Melodic minor with a flat 2 - starts dark, climbs into full brightness.

1 ♯2 3 ♯4 5 6 ♭7

Lydian dominant with a wild #2 leap. Bartók country.

1 2 3 ♯4 ♯5 ♯6 7

The whole tone dream with a leading tone pulling it home at the last moment.

1 ♭2 3 ♯4 ♯5 ♯6 7

Verdi's puzzle scale - a b2 followed by whole tones stacked to the ceiling.

1 ♭2 3 4 ♭5 ♭6 7

Double harmonic with a flattened 5 - even more tension in the middle.

1 2 3 ♯4 6 ♭7

Scriabin's mystic chord as a scale. Whole-tone shimmer with one warm 6.

1 2 3 5 6

Can't-go-wrong bright. Folk, country, gospel - the major scale with the friction removed.

1 ♭3 4 5 ♭7

Can't-go-wrong dark. The backbone of blues and rock lead playing.

1 2 4 5 ♭7

Neither major nor minor - no third at all. Wide open, ancient-sounding.

1 2 4 5 6

Japanese folk brightness - open and songlike, no third, no tension.

1 2 ♭3 5 ♭6

Japanese koto tuning. Minor with two semitone sighs - instantly evocative.

1 ♭2 4 5 ♭7

Sparse and shadowed - the b2 against the drone does all the talking.

1 ♭2 4 ♭5 ♭7

The darkest of the Japanese pentatonics - b2 and b5 both pulling downward.

1 ♭3 4 ♭5 5 ♭7

Minor pentatonic plus the blue note (b5). The most-played scale on earth.

1 2 ♭3 3 5 6

Major pentatonic with a sly b3 slide. Country and gospel licks live here.

1 2 3 ♯4 ♯5 ♭7

Six equal steps - no gravity, no home. Dream sequences and floating.

1 2 ♭3 4 ♭5 ♭6 6 7

Alternating whole and half steps. Spooky, symmetrical, endlessly sequenced.

1 ♭2 ♭3 3 ♯4 5 6 ♭7

The dominant version - jazz players put it over 7b9 chords.

1 ♯2 3 5 ♭6 7

Two augmented triads interlocked. Repeats every major third - Coltrane liked it.

1 2 3 4 5 6 ♭7 7

Mixolydian plus a passing natural 7 so eighth-note lines land chord tones on the beat.

1 2 3 4 5 ♭6 6 7

Major plus a passing b6. Smooth scalar lines over major 6 chords.

1 2 ♭3 3 4 5 6 ♭7

Dorian with a passing major 3. Minor lines that wink at major.

1 2 ♭3 4 5 ♭6 6 7

Melodic minor plus a passing b6 for even eighth-note lines.