Scales
In music, a scale is a series of ascending and descending notes of different pitches in an octave. In most of common music, a melody or a song is built using the notes of a single scale. A scale's formula is represented in steps of half notes (H) and/or whole notes (W).
Most common western music scales have 7 notes per octave. However, there are other scales with different number of notes per octave, like the pentatonic scales with 5 notes per octave. The chromatic scale contains all the 12 notes of the octave.
A list of common scales is shown below. Select any key under the scale to learn more about it. Some scales may not have the same ascending and descending notes. For example, see the melodic minor scale.
Major scale
C - C♯ - D - D♯ - E - F - F♯ - G - G♯ - A - A♯ - B - D♭ - E♭ - F♭ - G♭ - A♭ - B♭ - C♭
Natural minor scale
C - C♯ - D - D♯ - E - F - F♯ - G - G♯ - A - A♯ - B - D♭ - E♭ - F♭ - G♭ - A♭ - B♭ - C♭
Harmonic minor scale
C - C♯ - D - D♯ - E - F - F♯ - G - G♯ - A - A♯ - B - D♭ - E♭ - F♭ - G♭ - A♭ - B♭ - C♭
Melodic minor scale
C - C♯ - D - D♯ - E - F - F♯ - G - G♯ - A - A♯ - B - D♭ - E♭ - F♭ - G♭ - A♭ - B♭ - C♭
Major pentatonic scale
C - C♯ - D - D♯ - E - F - F♯ - G - G♯ - A - A♯ - B - D♭ - E♭ - F♭ - G♭ - A♭ - B♭ - C♭
Minor pentatonic scale
C - C♯ - D - D♯ - E - F - F♯ - G - G♯ - A - A♯ - B - D♭ - E♭ - F♭ - G♭ - A♭ - B♭ - C♭
Chromatic scale
C - C♯ - D - D♯ - E - F - F♯ - G - G♯ - A - A♯ - B - D♭ - E♭ - F♭ - G♭ - A♭ - B♭ - C♭
