Guitar UpscaleOpen the guitar

Guitar scales

Each scale below has its own page with a fretboard chart, its notes in all 12 keys, the step pattern and the chords it makes. A button on each page opens the scale on the playable fretboard in Guitar Upscale.

New to scales? Start with the minor pentatonic, the major scale and the natural minor scale. The guide how to learn guitar scales explains how to read the charts and practise them.

Minor

Natural minor and its relatives: harmonic and melodic minor, Dorian, Phrygian, Locrian and the minor pentatonic.

  • Natural Minor (Aeolian): The natural minor scale is the sound of most sad, dark and serious songs in rock, pop and classical music.
  • Harmonic Minor: Harmonic minor raises the seventh note of natural minor, which gives a strong pull back to the root and an exotic, classical sound.
  • Phrygian Mode: Phrygian is a minor mode with a flat second, the dark half step above the root heard in flamenco and metal riffs.
  • Lydian Minor: Lydian minor has a major third and a raised fourth over a minor sixth and seventh, a bright start with a dark top.
  • Locrian Mode: Locrian is the darkest mode of the major scale, with a flat second and a flat fifth over a diminished root chord.
  • Locrian with a Natural Fifth: This eight note Locrian keeps the flat fifth and adds the perfect fifth back, so the root chord can be a plain minor chord.
  • Harmonic Minor Bebop: Harmonic minor bebop is natural minor with the major seventh added, eight notes that keep chord tones on the beat.
  • Harmonic Minor Bebop with a Raised Fourth: This nine note minor scale adds both the major seventh and the raised fourth to natural minor for chromatic jazz lines.
  • Melodic Minor: Melodic minor is a minor scale with a major sixth and seventh, smooth on the way up and the source of many jazz scales.
  • Dorian Mode: Dorian is a minor mode with a major sixth, a brighter minor sound used in funk, rock, jazz and folk songs.
  • Minor Pentatonic: The minor pentatonic is the five note scale behind most blues and rock solos, and the first scale most guitarists learn.

Major

The major scale, its bright modes Lydian and Mixolydian, harmonic major and the major pentatonic.

  • Major Scale (Ionian): The major scale is the do re mi scale, the base for most Western music and for the names of every other scale.
  • Harmonic Major: Harmonic major is the major scale with a flat sixth, which turns the fourth chord minor for a bittersweet sound.
  • Major Pentatonic: The major pentatonic is a five note scale with a bright, open sound used in country, folk, pop and rock solos.
  • Dominant Pentatonic: The dominant pentatonic swaps the sixth of the major pentatonic for a flat seventh, a five note fit for dominant 7th chords.
  • Lydian Mode: Lydian is the major scale with a raised fourth, a bright, floating sound used in film music and dreamy guitar pieces.
  • Lydian Augmented: Lydian augmented raises both the fourth and the fifth of the major scale, a bright, unsettled jazz sound.
  • Mixolydian Mode: Mixolydian is the major scale with a flat seventh, the sound of rock, blues, funk and Celtic tunes over dominant chords.

Middle Eastern

Scales with a flat 2nd and wide gaps between notes, from Arabic, Persian and Jewish music.

  • Phrygian Dominant (Hijaz, Ahava Rabbah): Phrygian dominant is Phrygian with a major third, the classic Middle Eastern, flamenco and klezmer sound.
  • Arabian (Major Locrian): This Arabian scale pairs a major third with a flat fifth, sixth and seventh, also known as the major Locrian scale.
  • Persian Scale: The Persian scale has a flat second, a flat fifth and a major seventh, a tense scale with three wide gaps.
  • Mohammedan Scale: The Mohammedan scale is an old name for harmonic minor, a minor scale with a major seventh.
  • Adonai Malakh: Adonai Malakh is a Jewish prayer mode. This version is Dorian with an added flat second.
  • Magen Avot: Magen Avot is a Jewish prayer mode. This eight note version stacks half and whole steps for an unusual colour.

Far Eastern

Five note scales from Japanese koto and folk music, plus two modes of Japanese court music.

  • Iwato Scale: Iwato is a dark five note Japanese scale with a flat second and a flat fifth, used for koto music.
  • Kumoi Scale: Kumoi is a five note Japanese scale with a minor third and a major sixth, a gentle minor sound.
  • Kumoi 2 (In Scale): This version of Kumoi has a flat second and a flat sixth, the same notes many books call the Japanese In scale.
  • In Sen Scale: In Sen is a five note Japanese scale with a flat second and a flat seventh, heard in shakuhachi music.
  • Japanese Scale: This Japanese scale has a 2nd, 4th, 5th and flat 6th, a five note minor colour without a third.
  • Ichikosucho: Ichikosucho is a Japanese gagaku mode: the major scale with an added raised fourth.
  • Taishikicho: Taishikicho is a nine note Japanese gagaku mode with both fourths and both sevenths.
  • Hirajoshi Scale: Hirajoshi is a five note Japanese koto scale with a flat third and flat sixth, popular with rock and metal guitarists.
  • Hirajoshi 2: Hirajoshi 2 is the Hirajoshi scale started from its third note, a major sound with a 4th and a major 7th.
  • Chinese Scale: This Chinese scale has a major third, raised fourth, fifth and major seventh, a bright five note Lydian colour.
  • Yo Scale: The Yo scale is a five note scale of Japanese folk songs, with a 2nd, 4th, 5th and 6th and no third.

Gypsy

Scales with two wide gaps from Eastern European folk and Gypsy music.

  • Byzantine (Double Harmonic Major): The Byzantine scale, also called double harmonic major, has two wide gaps and sounds strongly Middle Eastern.
  • Romanian Scale: This six note Romanian scale has a minor third with a major sixth and seventh, a mix of minor and melodic minor.
  • Romanian Minor (Ukrainian Dorian): Romanian minor is Dorian with a raised fourth, a klezmer and Eastern European folk sound.
  • Hungarian Major: Hungarian major has a sharp second, a raised fourth and a flat seventh over a major chord.
  • Hungarian Minor (Gypsy Minor): Hungarian minor is harmonic minor with a raised fourth, two wide gaps and a strong Gypsy sound.

Various Exotic

Scales from India, Bali, Spain and North Africa, plus a few from classical composers.

  • Narayan Scale: Narayan is a six note scale named after an Indian raga, Dorian without the fourth.
  • Hindu (Mixolydian b6): The Hindu scale is a major scale with a flat sixth and seventh, also called Mixolydian b6 or Aeolian dominant.
  • Neapolitan Minor: Neapolitan minor is harmonic minor with a flat second, a dark scale used in classical and metal music.
  • Neapolitan Major: Neapolitan major is melodic minor with a flat second, a mix of a dark start and a bright top.
  • Algerian Scale: The Algerian scale is harmonic minor with an added raised fourth, eight notes with a North African sound.
  • Pelog (Balinese): This scale is a Western version of pelog, the five note scale of Balinese and Javanese gamelan music.
  • Pelog 2: Pelog 2 is another Western version of the gamelan pelog scale, with a flat seventh instead of a flat sixth.
  • Egyptian (Suspended Pentatonic): The Egyptian scale is a five note scale without a third: root, 2nd, 4th, 5th and flat 7th.
  • Oriental 1: Oriental 1 is a six note scale with a flat second, a major third, a flat fifth and a major seventh.
  • Oriental 2: Oriental 2 is a seven note scale with a flat second, a major third and a flat fifth, sixth and seventh.
  • Oriental Scale: The Oriental scale has a flat second, a major third, a flat fifth, a major sixth and a flat seventh.
  • Spanish Eight Tone: The Spanish eight tone scale is Phrygian with an added major third, the full sound of flamenco guitar.
  • Javanese (Dorian b2): The Javanese scale is Dorian with a flat second, the second mode of melodic minor.
  • Prometheus Scale: The Prometheus scale is a six note scale built from Scriabin's mystic chord, a floating whole tone sound.
  • Prometheus Neapolitan: Prometheus Neapolitan is the Prometheus scale with a flat second instead of a natural second.
  • Moorish Phrygian: Moorish Phrygian is Phrygian with an added major third and major seventh, nine notes for Spanish and Arabic lines.

Blues

The blues scale and the versions that add the major 3rd, the major 7th or the 6th.

  • Blues Scale: The blues scale is the minor pentatonic plus the flat fifth, the blue note behind blues and rock guitar.
  • Blues Scale with a Major Seventh: This blues scale adds the major seventh to the classic blues scale, a chromatic step back to the root.
  • Blues Scale with Both Thirds: This blues scale holds both the minor and the major third, and both sevenths.
  • Chromatic Blues Scale: This blues scale adds the major sixth to the blues scale with both thirds, nine notes for jazz blues lines.
  • Major Blues Scale: The major blues scale is the major pentatonic plus the flat third, a sweet country blues sound.
  • Mixo-Blues Scale: The Mixo-Blues scale mixes the blues scale and Mixolydian, with both thirds over a flat seventh.

Bebop Jazz

Eight note scales that put chord tones on the beat in fast jazz lines.

  • Bebop Major: The bebop major scale adds a passing note between the fifth and sixth of the major scale, for eight notes.
  • Bebop Minor (Bebop Dorian): The bebop minor scale adds the major third to Dorian, a passing note between the flat third and the fourth.
  • Bebop Dominant: The bebop dominant scale adds the major seventh to Mixolydian, the best known bebop scale.
  • Bebop Half Diminished: This bebop scale adds a passing note to a Locrian sound, for lines over half diminished chords.

Special

The chromatic scale, symmetric scales and the jazz modes of melodic and harmonic minor.

  • Chromatic Scale: The chromatic scale holds all twelve notes, every fret on the neck, one half step apart.
  • Whole Tone Scale: The whole tone scale has six notes, each a whole step apart, a dreamy sound with no home note.
  • Leading Whole Tone: The leading whole tone scale is the whole tone scale with a major seventh added, so it leads back to the root.
  • Diminished (Whole Half): The whole half diminished scale has eight notes in alternating whole and half steps, made for diminished 7th chords.
  • Diminished (Half Whole): The half whole diminished scale alternates half and whole steps, the jazz scale for dominant 7th chords with a flat 9th.
  • Diminished Whole Tone: The diminished whole tone scale starts like a diminished scale and ends like a whole tone scale. It is the altered scale.
  • Octatonic Scale: The octatonic scale is another name for the half whole diminished scale, eight notes in alternating steps.
  • Augmented Scale: The augmented scale is a symmetric six note scale built from two augmented triads.
  • Enigmatic Scale: The enigmatic scale is the scala enigmatica of Giuseppe Verdi, a strange scale with whole steps in the middle.
  • Nine Tone Scale: The nine tone scale holds nine notes in a pattern that repeats every four frets.
  • Overtone (Lydian Dominant): The overtone scale is Lydian with a flat seventh, also called Lydian dominant or the acoustic scale.
  • Six Tone Symmetrical: The six tone symmetrical scale repeats its shape every four frets and holds two major triads.
  • Altered Scale (Super Locrian): The altered scale is the seventh mode of melodic minor, full of tension for dominant 7th chords that resolve.
  • Lydian Diminished: Lydian diminished is a minor Lydian sound: a minor third with a raised fourth and a major seventh.
  • Lydian #2: Lydian #2 is Lydian with a sharp second, the sixth mode of harmonic minor.
  • Locrian #2 (Half Diminished): Locrian #2 is Locrian with a natural second, the sixth mode of melodic minor and the jazz scale for m7b5 chords.
  • Locrian Natural 6: Locrian natural 6 is Locrian with a major sixth, the second mode of harmonic minor.
  • Ultralocrian: Ultralocrian is the seventh mode of harmonic minor, the scale for a diminished 7th chord.
  • Ionian #5: Ionian #5 is the major scale with a raised fifth, the third mode of harmonic minor.