All tools
Scales
Any scale from any root, spelled the way the theory requires — on the staff, on the keyboard, and out loud.
C · D · E · F · G · A · B · C
C Major scale
About this tool
Pick a root and a scale type and you get the notes, spelled properly. That last part is the whole point: the third degree of B major is D sharp and never E flat, and a tool that hands you E flat has told you the right sound and the wrong note.
Each scale is drawn on the staff, mapped onto a keyboard, and played back, so the same information arrives three ways. Reading it, seeing where the hand goes, and hearing the shape are three different skills, and they reinforce each other.
How to use it
- Choose a root note, then a scale type.
- Read the notes on the staff and the highlighted keys.
- Play it back to hear the shape the degrees describe.
Questions
- Why does the spelling matter if the notes sound the same?
- Because the staff has seven letters and a scale uses each once. Spell F sharp major with G flat and you get two notes on the same line and none on the next, which is unreadable however right it sounds.
- Which scales can I look up?
- The major scale and all three minors, the church modes, and the pentatonic and blues scales, from any of the twelve roots in either spelling.
- What is the difference between natural, harmonic and melodic minor?
- The seventh degree, and in melodic minor the sixth as well. Select each in turn from the same root and the single changed note is easy to hear.