Scale finder, notes on a keyboard.

A scale finder shows the notes of a scale once you pick its first note and its kind. Choose a root and a scale above and the page spells every note the way sheet music writes it, shows the keys on a piano keyboard, gives the key signature and the chord on each note, and plays the scale. Twelve major scales also have a page of their own, each with fingering for both hands.

How to use the scale finder

1. Pick a Root, such as D, Bb or F#. The list has the sharp and flat names of the black keys.
2. Pick a Scale: major, natural minor, harmonic minor, melodic minor, one of the five other modes, a pentatonic scale, the blues scale or the whole tone scale.
3. Read the note names above the keyboard, with the degree of each note under the name. The Steps row shows the whole steps (W) and half steps (H) between neighbours.
4. Read the Key signature box. It lists the sharps or flats in the order they are written on the staff. Modes and minor scales show the signature of the major scale they come from.
5. Press Play scale to hear it go up and down, or Up or Down for one direction. Change Speed and use Left hand to move an octave lower.
6. For a seven-note scale, Play on a chord card plays the three-note chord built on that note. Copy link to this scale copies an address that opens the same scale.

The scales on this page

Every scale is a pattern of whole steps (W, two semitones) and half steps (H, one semitone) that is repeated from any starting note. The table shows the pattern of each scale and its notes when the root is C.

Worked example: the minor pentatonic scale from A. The steps from the table are W+H, W, W, W+H, W, which add up to 3 + 2 + 2 + 3 + 2 = 12 semitones, one octave. Take them from A: A, C (3 up), D (2), E (2), G (3), then A (2). So A minor pentatonic is A, C, D, E, G.

Modes are the same notes from another start

A mode starts a major scale on a different note and keeps the same notes. The notes of C major, played from each of its seven notes, give the seven modes.

So D dorian is not a new set of notes: it is the white keys from D to D. The finder works the same way, and the key signature box for a mode shows the major scale it belongs to.

Key signatures of the major scales

The key signature is the group of sharps or flats written at the start of the staff. Sharps are added in the order F, C, G, D, A, E, B and flats in the order B, E, A, D, G, C, F. A relative minor shares its major scale's signature and starts on the sixth note. Each major key below has its own page.

Why some notes get odd names

In a seven-note scale each letter from A to G is used once. That is why the seventh note of F# major is E# and not F: the letter F is already taken by the first note. E# is the same piano key as F. If a root and scale would need three or more sharps or flats on one letter, the finder shows plain sharp names and a note says so; the other name of the root, such as Ab for G#, is a better choice.

Common problems

• The scale sounds wrong when you play it yourself. Check the steps row against the keyboard, and look for a note that is a half step off.
• A note has two names. Choose Sharps or Flats under Note names, or leave it on As written to see the sheet music spelling.
• No finger numbers. They are shown for major scales only, so other scales show the scale degree.

Next, try the chord finder for chords, the piano chords list, the metronome to practise in time, and staff paper to write a scale out by hand.