🎼 Scale Finder

Select a root note and scale type to see the notes in that scale.

Root Note

Scale Type

A scale is a pattern of steps

Each scale type is stored as semitone distances from the root, which are added to the root's position in the chromatic scale and wrapped at the octave:

note = NOTES[(root index + semitones) mod 12]

major  0 2 4 5 7 9 11    W W H W W W H
minor  0 2 3 5 7 8 10    W H W W H W W

C major therefore returns C D E F G A B, with its two half-steps between the 3rd and 4th degrees and the 7th and 8th. The root is not repeated at the top.

The six types on C

Scale	Semitones	On C
Major (Ionian)	0-2-4-5-7-9-11	C D E F G A B
Natural minor	0-2-3-5-7-8-10	C D D# F G G# A#
Dorian	0-2-3-5-7-9-10	C D D# F G A A#
Mixolydian	0-2-4-5-7-9-10	C D E F G A A#
Major pentatonic	0-2-4-7-9	C D E G A
Minor pentatonic	0-3-5-7-10	C D# F G A#

The modes are the major scale started from a different degree: D Dorian and A natural minor both return the white notes of C major, reordered.

Notes are spelled with sharps only, so C natural minor comes back as C D D# F G G# A# where a score would print Eb, Ab and Bb. The pitches are right; only the spelling differs.

Frequently asked questions

What notes are in the C major scale?

C, D, E, F, G, A and B - the white keys. The pattern is tone, tone, semitone, tone, tone, tone, semitone, and moving it to another root is what forces the sharps or flats into a key signature.

What is the difference between Dorian and natural minor?

One note. Dorian raises the sixth degree, 9 semitones above the root instead of 8, which lifts the darkness a little. D Dorian is D E F G A B C, while D natural minor flattens that B to Bb.

Why does the minor pentatonic have only five notes?

It is the natural minor with the 2nd and 6th degrees removed - the two that sit a semitone from a neighbour. What is left, C D# F G A#, has no clashes, which is why it works over almost any minor progression.