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Music Scale Dictionary
Explore major, minor, modal, pentatonic, blues, and diminished scales. Use search to find a tonic or scale family, then open the complete piano-and-guitar reference.
Find a scale
Search by tonic, mode, or family. Pages include correctly spelled notes, formulas, piano and guitar diagrams, ascending and descending forms, chord relationships, practice sequences, and FAQs.
Major Scale scales
Major third and major seventh. Step pattern: W–W–H–W–W–W–H.
Natural Minor Scale scales
Minor third, flat sixth, and flat seventh. Step pattern: W–H–W–W–H–W–W.
Harmonic Minor Scale scales
Raised seventh and the augmented second below it. Step pattern: W–H–W–W–H–A2–H.
Melodic Minor Scale scales
Minor third with raised sixth and seventh. Step pattern: W–H–W–W–W–W–H.
Major Pentatonic Scale scales
Major color without semitone clashes. Step pattern: W–W–m3–W–m3.
Minor Pentatonic Scale scales
Minor third and flat seventh. Step pattern: m3–W–W–m3–W.
Blues Scale scales
The chromatic blue note between fourth and fifth. Step pattern: m3–W–H–H–m3–W.
Dorian Mode scales
Minor third and natural sixth. Step pattern: W–H–W–W–W–H–W.
Phrygian Mode scales
Flat second against a minor tonic. Step pattern: H–W–W–W–H–W–W.
Lydian Mode scales
Raised fourth. Step pattern: W–W–W–H–W–W–H.
Mixolydian Mode scales
Major third with a flat seventh. Step pattern: W–W–H–W–W–H–W.
Aeolian Mode scales
Minor third, flat sixth, and flat seventh. Step pattern: W–H–W–W–H–W–W.
Harmonic Major Scale scales
Major third and seventh with a flat sixth. Step pattern: W–W–H–W–H–A2–H.
Half–Whole Diminished Scale scales
Alternating half and whole steps. Step pattern: H–W–H–W–H–W–H–W.
Whole–Half Diminished Scale scales
Alternating whole and half steps. Step pattern: W–H–W–H–W–H–W–H.
Scale spellings and enharmonic keys
The written letter sequence matters. Where a theoretically correct key creates cumbersome double accidentals, the page also explains a simpler enharmonic alternative while keeping the requested spelling available for the search intent.