List of musical scales and modes

Last updated December 21, 2024

The following is a list of musical scales and modes. Degrees are relative to the major scale.

List of musical scales and modes
Name	Image	Sound	Degrees	Intervals	Integer notation	# of pitch classes	Lower tetrachord	Upper tetrachord	Use of key signature usual or unusual
15 equal temperament	15-tet scale on C.	Play ^ⓘ	—	—	—	15	—	—	—
16 equal temperament	16-tet scale on C.	Play ^ⓘ	—	—	—	16	—	—
17 equal temperament	17-tet scale on C.	Play ^ⓘ	—	—	—	17	—	—
19 equal temperament	19-tet scale on C.	Play ^ⓘ	—	—	—	19	—	—
21 equal temperament	21-tet scale on C.	Play ^ⓘ	—	—	—	21	—	—
Acoustic scale or Lydian dominant scale	Acoustic scale on C.	Play ^ⓘ	1 2 3 ♯4 5 6 ♭7	W-W-W-H-W-H-W	(0,2,4,6,7,9,10)	7	whole tone	minor	—
Aeolian mode or natural minor scale	Aeolian on C.	Play ^ⓘ	1 2 ♭3 4 5 ♭6 ♭7	W-H-W-W-H-W-W	(0,2,3,5,7,8,10)	7	minor	Phrygian	Usual
Algerian scale	Algerian scale on C.	Play ^ⓘ	1 2 ♭3 ♯4 5 ♭6 7 etc.	W-H-3H-H-H-3H-H-W-H-W	(0,2,3,6,7,9,11,12,14,15,17)	variable	—	—	—
Alpha scale	—	Play ^ⓘ	—	—	—	15.39	—	—	—
Altered scale or Super Locrian scale	Altered scale on C.	Play ^ⓘ	1 ♭2 ♭3 ♭4 ♭5 ♭6 ♭7	H-W-H-W-W-W-W	(0,1,3,4,6,8,10)	7	diminished	whole tone	—
Augmented scale	Augmented scale on C.	Play ^ⓘ	1 ♭3 3 5 ♯5 7	3H-H-3H-H-3H-H	(0,3,4,7,8,11)	6	—	—	—
Bebop dominant scale	Bebop dominant scale on C.	Play ^ⓘ	1 2 3 4 5 6 ♭7 7	W-W-H-W-W-H-H-H	(0,2,4,5,7,9,10,11)	8	—	—	—
Beta scale	—	Play ^ⓘ	—	—	—	18.75	—	—	—
Blues scale	Blues scale on C.	Play ^ⓘ	1 ♭3 4 ♭5 5 ♭7	3H-W-H-H-3H-W	(0,3,5,6,7,10)	6	—	—	—
Bohlen–Pierce scale	—	Play ^ⓘ	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Chromatic scale	Chromatic scale on C.	Play ^ⓘ	1 ♯1 2 ♯2 3 4 ♯4 5 ♯5 6 ♯6 7 7 ♭7 6 ♭6 5 ♭5 4 3 ♭3 2 ♭2 1	H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H	(0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11)	12	—	—	—
Delta scale	—	Play ^ⓘ	—	—	—	85.7	—	—	—
Dorian mode	Dorian on C.	Play ^ⓘ	1 2 ♭3 4 5 6 ♭7	W-H-W-W-W-H-W	(0,2,3,5,7,9,10)	7	minor	minor	Usual
Double harmonic scale	Double harmonic scale on C.	Play ^ⓘ	1 ♭2 3 4 5 ♭6 7	H-3H-H-W-H-3H-H	(0,1,4,5,7,8,11)	7	harmonic	harmonic	Unusual
Enigmatic scale	Enigmatic scale on C.	Play ^ⓘ	1 ♭2 3 ♯4 ♯5 ♯6 7	H-3H-W-W-W-H-H	(0,1,4,6,8,10,11)	7			Unusual
Euler–Fokker genus	Euler-Fokker genus 337 on C.	Play ^ⓘ	—	—	—	6	—	—	—
Flamenco mode	Flamenco mode on C.	Play ^ⓘ	1 ♭2 3 4 5 ♭6 7	H-3H-H-W-H-3H-H	(0,1,4,5,7,8,11)	7	Phrygian	Phrygian	Unusual
Gamma scale	—	Play ^ⓘ	—	—	—	34.29	—	—	—
"Gypsy" scale	"Gypsy"[ sic ] scale on C.	Play ^ⓘ	1 2 ♭3 ♯4 5 ♭6 ♭7	W-H-3H-H-H-W-W	(0,2,3,6,7,8,10)	7	Gypsy	Phrygian	Unusual
Half diminished scale	Half diminished scale on C.	Play ^ⓘ	1 2 ♭3 4 ♭5 ♭6 ♭7	W-H-W-H-W-W-W	(0,2,3,5,6,8,10)	7	minor	whole tone	—
Harmonic major scale	Harmonic major scale on C.	Play ^ⓘ	1 2 3 4 5 ♭6 7	W-W-H-W-H-3H-H	(0,2,4,5,7,8,11)	7	major	harmonic	—
Harmonic minor scale	Harmonic minor scale on C.	Play ^ⓘ	1 2 ♭3 4 5 ♭6 (♮)7	W-H-W-W-H-3H-H	(0,2,3,5,7,8,11)	7	minor	harmonic	—
Harmonic Scale	Harmonic scale chromatic on C.	Play ^ⓘ	—	—	—	144	—	—	—
Hexany	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Hirajoshi scale	Hirajoshi scale on C.	Play ^ⓘ	1 3 ♯4 5 7	2W-W-H-2W-H	(0,4,6,7,11)	5	—	—	—
Hungarian "Gypsy" scale/Hungarian minor scale	Hungarian "Gypsy"[sic] scale on C.	Play ^ⓘ	1 2 ♭3 ♯4 5 ♭6 7	W-H-3H-H-H-3H-H	(0,2,3,6,7,8,11)	7	Gypsy	harmonic	Unusual
Hungarian major scale	Hungarian major scale on C.	Play ^ⓘ	1 ♯2 3 ♯4 5 6 ♭7	3H-H-W-H-W-H-W	(0,3,4,6,7,9,10)	7	—	minor	Unusual
In scale	Miyako-bushi scale on D, equivalent to in scale on D, with brackets on fourths.	Play ^ⓘ	1 ♭2 4 5 ♭6	H-2W-W-H-2W	(0,1,5,7,8)	5	—	—	—
Insen scale	Insen scale on C.	Play ^ⓘ	1 ♭2 4 5 ♭7	H-2W-W-3H-W	(0,1,5,7,10)	5	—	—	—
Ionian mode or major scale	Ionian on C.	Play ^ⓘ	1 2 3 4 5 6 7	W-W-H-W-W-W-H	(0,2,4,5,7,9,11)	7	major	major	Usual
Istrian scale	Istrian mode on C.	Play ^ⓘ	1 ♭2 ♭3 ♭4 ♭5 5	H-W-H-W-H-5H	(0,1,3,4,6,7)	6	diminished	—	—
Iwato scale	Iwato scale on C.	Play ^ⓘ	1 ♭2 4 ♭5 ♭7	H-2W-H-2W-W	(0,1,5,6,10)	5	—	—	—
Locrian mode	Locrian on C.	Play ^ⓘ	1 ♭2 ♭3 4 ♭5 ♭6 ♭7	H-W-W-H-W-W-W	(0,1,3,5,6,8,10)	7	Phrygian	whole tone	Usual
Locrian ♮6			1 ♭2 ♭3 4 ♭5 6 ♭7	H-W-W-H-3H-H-W	(0,1,3,5,6,9,10)	7	Phrygian	gypsy	—
Lydian augmented scale	Lydian augmented scale on C.	Play ^ⓘ	1 2 3 ♯4 ♯5 6 7	W-W-W-W-H-W-H	(0,2,4,6,8,9,11)	7	whole tone	diminished	—
Lydian diminished scale	Lydian diminished on C.		1 2 ♭3 ♯4 5 6 7	W-H-3H-H-H-W-H	(0,2,3,6,7,9,11)	7	gypsy	major	Usual
Lydian mode	Lydian on C.	Play ^ⓘ	1 2 3 ♯4 5 6 7	W-W-W-H-W-W-H	(0,2,4,6,7,9,11)	7	whole tone	major	Usual
Major bebop scale	Major bebop scale on C.	Play ^ⓘ	1 2 3 4 5 (♯5/♭6) 6 7	W-W-H-W-(H-H)-W-H	(0,2,4,5,7,(8),9,11)	7(8)	—	—	—
Major Locrian scale	Major Locrian scale C.	Play ^ⓘ	1 2 3 4 ♭5 ♭6 ♭7	W-W-H-H-W-W-W	(0,2,4,5,6,8,10)	7	major	whole tone	—
Major pentatonic scale	Major pentatonic scale on C.	Play ^ⓘ	1 2 3 5 6	W-W-3H-W-3H	(0,2,4,7,9)	5	—	—	Usual
Melodic minor scale	The A melodic minor scale, ascending and descending, on A.	Play ^ⓘ	1 2 ♭3 4 5 ♮6 ♮7 8 ♭7 ♭6 5 4 ♭3 2 1	W-H-W-W-W-W-H (ascending) W-W-H-W-W-H-W (descending)	(0,2,3,5,7,9,11) (ascending) (12,10,8,7,5,3,2) (descending)	9	minor	varies	—
Melodic minor scale (ascending)	Melodic minor scale ascending on A.	Play ^ⓘ	1 2 ♭3 4 5 6 7	W-H-W-W-W-W-H	(0,2,3,5,7,9,11)	7	minor	major	—
Minor pentatonic scale	Minor pentatonic scale on A.	Play ^ⓘ	1 ♭3 4 5 ♭7	3H-W-W-3H-W	(0,3,5,7,10)	5	—	—	Usual
Mixolydian mode or Adonai malakh mode	Mixolydian on C.	Play ^ⓘ	1 2 3 4 5 6 ♭7	W-W-H-W-W-H-W	(0,2,4,5,7,9,10)	7	major	minor	Usual
Neapolitan major scale	Neapolitan major scale on C.	Play ^ⓘ	1 ♭2 ♭3 4 5 6 7	H-W-W-W-W-W-H	(0,1,3,5,7,9,11)	7	Phrygian	major	Unusual
Neapolitan minor scale	Neapolitan minor scale on C.	Play ^ⓘ	1 ♭2 ♭3 4 5 ♭6 7	H-W-W-W-H-3H-H	(0,1,3,5,7,8,11)	7	Phrygian	harmonic	Unusual
Non-Pythagorean scale	—	Play ^ⓘ	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Octatonic scale	Octatonic scales on C.	Play ^ⓘ	1 2 ♭3 4 ♭5 ♭6 6 7 1 ♭2 ♭3 3 ♯4 5 6 ♭7	W-H-W-H-W-H-W-H H-W-H-W-H-W-H-W	(0,2,3,5,6,8,9,11) (0,1,3,4,6,7,9,10)	8	—	—	—
Pelog	Pelog approximated in Western notation.	Play ^ⓘ	—	—	—	—	—	-	—
Persian scale	Persian scale on C.	Play ^ⓘ	1 ♭2 3 4 ♭5 ♭6 7	H-3H-H-H-W-3H-H	(0,1,4,5,6,8,11)	7	harmonic	unusual	—
Phrygian dominant scale	Phrygian dominant on C.	Play ^ⓘ	1 ♭2 3 4 5 ♭6 ♭7	H-3H-H-W-H-W-W	(0,1,4,5,7,8,10)	7	harmonic	Phrygian	Unusual
Phrygian mode	Phrygian on C.	Play ^ⓘ	1 ♭2 ♭3 4 5 ♭6 ♭7	H-W-W-W-H-W-W	(0,1,3,5,7,8,10)	7	Phrygian	Phrygian	Usual
Prometheus scale	Prometheus scale on C.	Play ^ⓘ	1 2 3 ♯4 6 ♭7	W-W-W-3H-H-W	(0,2,4,6,9,10)	6	—	—	—
Quarter tone scale	Quarter tone scale C.	Play ^ⓘ	1 1 ♯1 1 2 2 ♯2 2 3 3 4 4 ♯4 4 5 5 ♯5 5 6 6 ♯6 6 7 7 8 7 7 ♭7 7 6 6 ♭6 6 5 5 ♭5 5 4 4 3 3 ♭3 3 2 2 ♭2 2 1	Q-Q-Q-Q-Q-Q-Q-Q-Q-Q-Q-Q-Q-Q-Q-Q-Q-Q-Q-Q-Q-Q-Q-Q	(0,1/2,1,3/2,2,5/2, 3,7/2,4,9/2,5,11/2, 6,13/2,7,15/2,8,17/2, 9,19/2,10,21/2,11,23/2)	24	—	—	—
Scale of harmonics	Scale of harmonics C.	Play ^ⓘ	1 ♭3 3 4 5 6	3H-H-H-W-W-3H	(0,3,4,5,7,9)	—	—	—	—
Slendro	Slendro on C compared to a whole tone scale on C.	Play ^ⓘ or Play ^ⓘ	—	—	—	5	—	—	—
Tritone scale	Tritone scale on C.	Play ^ⓘ	1 ♭2 3 ♭5 5 ♭7	H-3H-W-H-3H-W	(0,1,4,6,7,10)	6	—	—	—
Two-semitone tritone scale	Two-semitone tritone scale on C.	Play ^ⓘ	1 ♭2 ♮2 ♯4 5 ♭6	H-H-2W-H-H-2W	(0,1,2,6,7,8)	6	—	—	—
Ukrainian Dorian scale	Ukrainian Dorian mode on C.	Play ^ⓘ	1 2 ♭3 ♯4 5 6 ♭7	W-H-3H-H-W-H-W	(0,2,3,6,7,9,10)	7	Gypsy	minor	Unusual
Vietnamese scale of harmonics	Vietnamese scale of harmonics on C.	Play ^ⓘ	1 3 ♭3 ♮3 4 5	5Q-Q-H-H-W	(0,5/2,3,4,5,7)	6	—	—	—
Whole tone scale	Whole tone scale on C.	Play ^ⓘ	1 2 3 ♯4 ♯5 ♯6	W-W-W-W-W-W	(0,2,4,6,8,10)	6	—	—	—
Yo scale	Min'yō scale on D, equivalent to yo scale on C, with brackets on fourths.	Play ^ⓘ	1 2 4 5 6	W-3H-W-W-3H	(0,2,5,7,9)	5	—	—	—

Tetrachords	Semitones	Letters
Chromatic	1 1 1	H-H-H
Diminished	1 2 1	H-W-H
Gypsy[ sic ]	2 1 3	W-H-3H
Harmonic	1 3 1	H-3H-H
Major	2 2 1	W-W-H
Minor	2 1 2	W-H-W
Phrygian/ Upper minor	1 2 2	H-W-W
Whole tone	2 2 2	W-W-W

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In music theory, the term mode or modus is used in a number of distinct senses, depending on context.

The major scale is one of the most commonly used musical scales, especially in Western music. It is one of the diatonic scales. Like many musical scales, it is made up of seven notes: the eighth duplicates the first at double its frequency so that it is called a higher octave of the same note.

In music, harmony is the concept of combining different sounds together in order to create new, distinct musical ideas. Theories of harmony seek to describe or explain the effects created by distinct pitches or tones coinciding with one another; harmonic objects such as chords, textures and tonalities are identified, defined, and categorized in the development of these theories. Harmony is broadly understood to involve both a "vertical" dimension (frequency-space) and a "horizontal" dimension (time-space), and often overlaps with related musical concepts such as melody, timbre, and form.

In music theory, a scale is "any consecutive series of notes that form a progression between one note and its octave", typically by order of pitch or fundamental frequency.

In music theory, an interval is a difference in pitch between two sounds. An interval may be described as horizontal, linear, or melodic if it refers to successively sounding tones, such as two adjacent pitches in a melody, and vertical or harmonic if it pertains to simultaneously sounding tones, such as in a chord.

In music theory, the tritone is defined as a musical interval spanning three adjacent whole tones. For instance, the interval from F up to the B above it is a tritone as it can be decomposed into the three adjacent whole tones F–G, G–A, and A–B.

In music theory, the key of a piece is the group of pitches, or scale, that forms the basis of a musical composition in Western classical music, art music, and pop music.

Tonality or key: Music which uses the notes of a particular scale is said to be "in the key of" that scale or in the tonality of that scale.

Articles related to music include:

In jazz and blues, a blue note is a note that—for expressive purposes—is sung or played at a slightly different pitch from standard. Typically the alteration is between a quartertone and a semitone, but this varies depending on the musical context.

In Western classical music, an augmented fifth is an interval produced by widening a perfect fifth by a chromatic semitone. For instance, the interval from C to G is a perfect fifth, seven semitones wide, and both the intervals from C♭ to G, and from C to G♯ are augmented fifths, spanning eight semitones. Being augmented, it is considered a dissonant interval.

Chromaticism is a compositional technique interspersing the primary diatonic pitches and chords with other pitches of the chromatic scale. In simple terms, within each octave, diatonic music uses only seven different notes, rather than the twelve available on a standard piano keyboard. Music is chromatic when it uses more than just these seven notes.

The Locrian mode is the seventh mode of the major scale. It is either a musical mode or simply a diatonic scale. On the piano, it is the scale that starts with B and only uses the white keys from there on up to the next higher B. Its ascending form consists of the key note, then: Half step, whole step, whole step, half step, whole step, whole step, whole step.

In Western music, the adjectives major and minor may describe an interval, chord, scale, or key. A composition, movement, section, or phrase may also be referred to by its key, including whether that key is major or minor.

Modes of limited transposition are musical modes or scales that fulfill specific criteria relating to their symmetry and the repetition of their interval groups. These scales may be transposed to all twelve notes of the chromatic scale, but at least two of these transpositions must result in the same pitch classes, thus their transpositions are "limited". They were compiled by the French composer Olivier Messiaen, and published in his book La technique de mon langage musical.

In music, a guitar chord is a set of notes played on a guitar. A chord's notes are often played simultaneously, but they can be played sequentially in an arpeggio. The implementation of guitar chords depends on the guitar tuning. Most guitars used in popular music have six strings with the "standard" tuning of the Spanish classical guitar, namely E–A–D–G–B–E' ; in standard tuning, the intervals present among adjacent strings are perfect fourths except for the major third (G,B). Standard tuning requires four chord-shapes for the major triads.

In music theory, the harmonic major scale is a musical scale found in some music from the common practice era and now used occasionally, most often in jazz. It corresponds to the Raga Sarasangi in Indian Carnatic music, or Raag Nat Bhairav in Hindustani music.

Diatonic and chromatic are terms in music theory that are used to characterize scales. The terms are also applied to musical instruments, intervals, chords, notes, musical styles, and kinds of harmony. They are very often used as a pair, especially when applied to contrasting features of the common practice music of the period 1600–1900.

Post-tonal music theory is the set of theories put forward to describe music written outside of, or 'after', the tonal system of the common practice period. It revolves around the idea of 'emancipating dissonance', that is, freeing the structure of music from the familiar harmonic patterns that are derived from natural overtones. As music becomes more complex, dissonance becomes indistinguishable from consonance.

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List of musical scales and modes

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