Scales, Keys & Modes

Scale

Definition

A scale is a set of notes arranged in order of pitch, climbing or falling step by step from a home note called the tonic. Major, minor and pentatonic scales are the most common.

A scale is a collection of notes laid out in order of pitch, from a starting note up to the same letter an octave higher, and usually back down again. The starting note is the tonic, the note the scale feels at home on. Play C D E F G A B C on the piano and you have played a scale: the C major scale.

Treble clef in 4/4. Quarter notes climb C D E F G A B C from middle C, then fall back to middle C, which is a half note. Under each note is its scale-degree number: 1 to 8 going up and 7 down to 1 coming down. — The C major scale, up and down: quarter notes from middle C to the C an octave higher and back, ending on a half note. The numbers under the notes are the scale degrees; 8 is the tonic again, an octave up.

What makes one scale different from another

The notes alone are not the whole story. What gives a scale its character is the pattern of steps between neighboring notes: which ones are half steps (one key to the very next, black or white) and which are whole steps (two half steps). The major scale uses the pattern whole, whole, half, whole, whole, whole, half. Start that pattern on any of the twelve notes and you get a major scale; change the pattern and you get a different kind of scale.

Three treble-clef examples in 4/4. First, C major in quarter notes: C D E F G A B C. Second, C natural minor: C D E-flat F G A-flat B-flat C. Third, C major pentatonic: C D E G A as quarter notes, then a dotted half note C. — Three scales that all start on C, going up. The major scale and the natural minor scale have seven different notes each; minor lowers the 3rd, 6th and 7th to E♭, A♭ and B♭. The major pentatonic keeps only five: C, D, E, G and A.

The main families of scales

Major and minor. The major scale and the three forms of minor (natural, harmonic and melodic) are the seven-note scales most Western music is built from. They are diatonic scales.
Pentatonic. Five-note scales such as the major pentatonic scale and minor pentatonic scale, heard in folk music in many parts of the world and in rock and blues solos. Add one note to the minor pentatonic and you get the blues scale.
Modes. Seven-note scales such as Dorian and Mixolydian that use the major scale's notes with a different home note. See mode.
Symmetrical scales. The chromatic scale (all twelve notes), the whole-tone scale and the octatonic scale repeat one step pattern all the way up, so no note stands out as a natural home.

Scales and keys

A scale and a key are close relatives but not the same thing. The scale is the notes in order; the key is the whole musical world built around its tonic, including its chords and its key signature. A piece in G major uses mostly the notes of the G major scale, but it can borrow other notes too, and it rarely plays them straight up and down.

Why musicians practice scales

Scales are the raw material of melodies and chords, so practicing them trains your fingers and your ear at the same time. On the piano they teach the thumb under move and a fingering pattern for each key; on any instrument they make the notes of a key automatic, so sight-reading and improvising get easier. Start with the C five-finger scale, then the full major scale, and when you are ready, work through Scales in Every Key.

The C major scale uses only white keys, from middle C to the C above. Press play to hear it climb.

The word comes from the Latin scala, a ladder or staircase: each note is one rung up from the last.

Common questions

What is the difference between a scale and a key?

A scale is a set of notes in order of pitch. A key is the tonal home a piece is built around: its tonic, the scale it mostly draws on, its chords and its key signature. Music in a key uses the scale's notes freely, in any order, and may add others.

How many notes are in a scale?

It depends on the scale. Major and minor scales have seven different notes (eight if you count the tonic again at the top), pentatonic scales have five, the blues scale six, and the chromatic scale all twelve.