Musical scales

Once we have understood the difference between a tone and a half-tone, and intervals, learning about musical scales becomes easier. A scale is a set of sounds which have been chosen for its harmonious sequence. It could be said that scales by themselves have become small musical subsystems.

In Western music, there are a variety of scales. The main ones are the following:

+ Major scales
+ Minor scales
+ Pentatonic scales
+ Blues scales
+ Chromatic scale

For comfort sake, I am not going to provide a deep historical explanation on how and where they were used. I will just leave the notes here, because it is what most of you are looking for.

Major scale

Major scales are based on the musical scale of do. Thus, we have:

C – D – E – F – G – A – B – C
D – E – F# – G – A – B – C# – D
E – F# – G# – A – B – C# – D# – E
F – G – A – Bb – C – D – E – F
G – A – B – C – D – E – F# – G
A – B – C# – D – E – F# – G# – A
B – C# – D# – E – F# – G# – A# – B

In my experience, this is easier to learn if you memorize the sequence:

tone – tone – half-tone – tone – tone – tone – half-tone

Minor scales

Minor scales are based on the musical scale of la. They are three. Here you have the natural minor scale:

A – B – C – D – E – F – G – A
B – C# – D – E – F# – G – A – B
C – D – Eb – F – G – Ab – Bb – C
D – E – F – G – A – Bb – C – D
E – F# – G – A – B – C – D – E
F – G – Ab – Bb – C – Db – Eb – F
G – A – Bb – C – D – Eb – F – G

tone – half-tone – tone – tone – half-tone – tone – tone

Here you have the harmonic minor scale, which is built raising the seventh note of a natural minor scale by a half-tone. Here you have it:

A – B – C – D – E – F – G# – A
B – C# – D – E – F# – G – A# – B
C – D – Eb – F – G – Ab – B – C
D – E – F – G – A – Bb – C# – D
E – F# – G – A – B – C – D# – E
F – G – Ab – Bb – C – Db – E – F
G – A – Bb – C – D – Eb – F# – G

tone – half-tone – tone – tone – half-tone – tone and a half – half-tone

Lastly, here you have the melodic minor scale, which is built raising both the sixth and the seventh note of a natural minor scale by a half-tone. Here you have it:

A – B – C – D – E – F# – G# – A
B – C# – D – E – F# – G# – A# – B
C – D – Eb – F – G – A – B – C
D – E – F – G – A – B – C# – D
E – F# – G – A – B – C# – D# – E
F – G – Ab – Bb – C – D – E – F
G – A – Bb – C – D – E – F# – G

tone – half-tone – tone – tone – tone – tone – half-tone

Traditionally, the melodic minor scale is used when ascending, and the natural minor scale when descending. Musicians can alter this when composing their songs.

Pentatonic scales

Pentatonic scales are ancient; actually the Incas used them. Blues scales appear distorting a scale with a half-tone, called blue note.

Major pentatonic scale

The major pentatonic scales are composed of the following sounds:

A – B – C# – E – F# – A
B – C# – D# – F# – G# – B
C – D – E – G – A – C
D – E – F# – A – B – D
E – F# – G# – B – C# – E
F – G – A – C – D – F
G – A – B – D – E – G

tone – tone – tone and a half – tone – tone and a half

Minor pentatonic scale

The minor pentatonic scales are composed of the following sounds:

A – C – D – E – G – A
B – D – E – F# – A – B
C – D# – F – G – A# – C
D – F – G – A – C – D
E – G – A – B – D – E
F – G# – A# – C – D# – F
G – A# – C – D – F – G

tone and a half – tone – tone – tone and a half – tone

Blues scale

The blues scale has its origin in blues. It uses a dissonant extra sound, the fourth one, called the blue note.

A – C – D – D# – E – G – A
B – D – E – F – F#– A – B
C – D# – F – F# – G – A#– C
D – F– G – G# – A – C – D
E – G – A – A# – B – D – E
F – G#– A# – B – C – D# – F
G – A# – C – C# – D – F – G

tone and a half – tone – half-tone – half-tone – tone and a half – tone

The chromatic Scale

The last scale includes all the notes available in Western music. These are:

C – C# – D – D# – E – F – F# – G – G# – A – A# – B – C

Other scales

In Western music, major and minor scales have their origin in the scales of do and la, respectively. That is already learnt. However, there are many other scales musicians can use. These scales come from using the musical arrangement of the other musical notes. They are called modes. The names of these musical modes come from the names of Greek towns.

A scale based on do is an Ionian scale.
[C – D – E – F – G – A – B – C]

A scale based on re is a Dorian scale.
[D – E – F – G – A – B – C – D]

A scale based on mi is a Phrygian scale.
[E – F – G – A – B – C – D – E]

A scale based on fa is a Lydian scale.
[F – G – A – B – C – D – E – F]

A scale based on sol is a Mixolydian scale.
[G – A – B – C – D – E – F – G]

A scale based on la is a Aeolic scale.
[A – B – C – D – E – F – G – A]

A scale based on ti is a Locrian scale.
[B – C – D – E – F – G – A - B]

These scales are maybe less known, but still used. There are some other spcales besides them, but as they are not considered part of the Western music, they will not be part of this text.

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