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Music Scales Explained: Major, Minor, Modes and More
A scale is a set of notes in order, starting from a home note. Melodies, solos and chords are built from scales, so knowing the main ones tells you which notes will fit a song. This guide spells out the scales most musicians use, explains what makes each one sound the way it does, and shows which scale to play over which chords.
Steps: how scales are built
Scales are built from steps between neighboring notes. A half step (H) is the distance from one key on a piano to the very next, black or white; a whole step (W) is two half steps. The pattern of steps gives each scale its sound, and starting the same pattern on a different note gives the same scale in another key.
Major and natural minor
The major scale follows the pattern W–W–H–W–W–W–H. Starting on C it gives C D E F G A B — the white keys of a piano. It sounds bright and settled, and it's the scale behind "do re mi".
The natural minor scale follows W–H–W–W–H–W–W. Starting on A it gives A B C D E F G: the same notes as C major, starting from A. Every major key has a relative minor that shares its notes in this way, starting on the major scale's 6th note. Compared with A major (A B C♯ D E F♯ G♯), A minor's 3rd, 6th and 7th notes are each a half step lower, which gives it its darker sound.
Harmonic and melodic minor
The harmonic minor scale raises the natural minor's 7th note by a half step: A B C D E F G♯. The raised 7th leads strongly up to the home note and makes the chord on the 5th note major (E instead of Em) — the major V chord heard in so many minor-key songs. The jump from F to G♯ gives the scale its distinctive sound.
The melodic minor scale raises both the 6th and 7th: A B C D E F♯ G♯. In classical music it's used going up, with the natural minor coming back down; in jazz the raised form is used in both directions.
Pentatonic and blues scales
Pentatonic scales have five notes instead of seven. The major pentatonic leaves out the major scale's 4th and 7th notes — C D E G A in C. The minor pentatonic leaves out the natural minor's 2nd and 6th — A C D E G in A. The notes left out are the ones that form half steps with their neighbors, so no two notes are a half step apart and the scale rarely clashes with the key's chords. That makes pentatonic scales easy to improvise with, and they're used throughout rock, blues, pop, folk and country.
The blues scale adds one note to the minor pentatonic, the flattened 5th (the "blue note"): A C D E♭ E G in A. It's usually passed through on the way to a neighboring note rather than held.
The seven modes
The modes use the notes of a major scale but start from each of its seven notes in turn, which changes which note feels like home. On the white keys of a piano:
- Ionian (C D E F G A B C): the major scale itself.
- Dorian (D E F G A B C D): a minor scale with a raised 6th, compared with natural minor.
- Phrygian (E F G A B C D E): a minor scale with a lowered 2nd, which gives it a dark, Spanish-sounding edge.
- Lydian (F G A B C D E F): a major scale with a raised 4th.
- Mixolydian (G A B C D E F G): a major scale with a lowered 7th — the sound of a dominant seventh chord.
- Aeolian (A B C D E F G A): the natural minor scale.
- Locrian (B C D E F G A B): a minor scale with a lowered 2nd and 5th; its home chord is diminished, so it's rarely used as a key.
Each mode can start on any note. D Dorian and C Dorian have the same pattern of steps, just as C major and G major do.
Which scale to play over which chords
- Over a chord progression, start with the scale of its key: C major over a progression in C major, A natural minor over one in A minor. How to Find the Key of a Song shows how to find the key.
- Over a 12-bar blues, the minor pentatonic or blues scale on the key's home note is the classic choice: A minor pentatonic over a blues in A.
- Over a minor-key progression with a major V chord, use the harmonic minor scale so your notes match the raised 7th in that chord.
- Over a single dominant seventh chord, such as G7, Mixolydian on its root fits every chord tone; over a minor seventh chord, such as Dm7, Dorian is a common choice in jazz.
To practice these, Common Chord Progressions lists progressions to play over, and the Chord Progression Generator plays them in any key and mode.
See and hear any scale
The Scale Finder shows 33 scales and modes in all 12 keys — every scale on this page plus jazz and world scales. For each one you get its correctly spelled notes and intervals, the notes on a piano keyboard and a guitar fretboard, its relative scales and modes, the chords built from it when it has seven notes, and playback up and down the scale.
If you don't know a song's key yet, the Song Key Finder detects it from an audio file.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a scale in music?
A scale is a set of notes in order from a home note, defined by its pattern of whole and half steps. The major scale's pattern is W–W–H–W–W–W–H, which gives C D E F G A B starting on C.
What's the difference between the major and minor scales?
The natural minor scale has a lowered 3rd, 6th and 7th compared with the major scale on the same note. C major is C D E F G A B; C minor is C D E♭ F G A♭ B♭. The lowered 3rd is what makes minor chords and keys sound darker.
What is a relative minor?
The minor scale that uses exactly the same notes as a major scale, starting on its 6th note. A minor is the relative minor of C major, and E minor of G major.
What's the difference between the pentatonic and blues scales?
The blues scale is the minor pentatonic with one extra note, the flattened 5th. In A, the minor pentatonic is A C D E G and the blues scale is A C D E♭ E G.
What is the harmonic minor scale used for?
Its raised 7th note turns the minor key's v chord into a major V chord, which pulls strongly back to the home chord. Melodies over that chord use the harmonic minor so they match it.
What are modes in music?
Modes are scales that use a major scale's notes but start from a different one of its notes, which changes the home note and the character. On the white keys, starting on D gives D Dorian, on G gives G Mixolydian, and so on.
Which scale should I play over a chord progression?
Start with the scale of the progression's key — C major over a progression in C major, A minor over one in A minor. Over a blues, try the minor pentatonic or blues scale on the key's home note.
How many scales does the Scale Finder have?
33, in all 12 keys: the common scales on this page, the seven modes, jazz scales such as bebop, altered and the diminished scales, world scales such as Phrygian dominant and Hungarian minor, and chromatic, enigmatic and Prometheus.