Scale Explorer
Explore 16+ scales and modes with interactive keyboard, audio playback, and chord analysis.
Free & unlimitedWorks offline
Happy, bright, uplifting Pop, Rock, Classical
Click highlighted keys to play individual notes
Notes in scale (7)
Interval pattern
W-W-H-W-W-W-H
W = wholeH = halfA = aug 2nd
Formula
1234567
Scale degrees
All processing happens in your browser. No data is sent to any server.
About this tool
- 1
Pick a root note
Select any root note from C through B, including sharps and flats.
- 2
Choose a scale
Browse scales by category - major, minor, pentatonic, blues, modes, exotic - and select one.
- 3
Explore intervals and notes
See the scale degrees, intervals, and note names displayed on a keyboard and fretboard diagram.
- 4
Listen and practice
Play the scale ascending and descending, then use the interval trainer to test your ear.
- Start with the major and natural minor scales before exploring modes - they are the foundation.
- The pentatonic scale (5 notes) is the easiest to improvise with and sounds good over most chord progressions.
- Use the interval trainer daily for just 5 minutes to dramatically improve your ear over a few weeks.
- Compare parallel scales (e.g., C major vs. C minor) to hear how changing one or two notes shifts the mood.
- Library of 50+ scales: major, minor, modes, pentatonic, blues, harmonic, melodic, exotic
- Interactive keyboard and guitar fretboard visualization
- Interval names and semitone distances for every degree
- Audio playback of the scale ascending and descending
- Built-in interval ear-training quiz
- Guitar and piano students learning new scales and their fingerings
- Songwriters exploring exotic scales for unique melodic ideas
- Music theory students studying interval relationships across scale types
- Improvisers finding the right scale to play over a given chord or mode
A mode is a scale that starts on a different degree of a parent scale. For example, D Dorian uses the same notes as C major but starts on D, giving it a different tonal center and feel.
Start with the major scale and the minor pentatonic scale. Together they cover the vast majority of Western music situations.
It plays two notes and asks you to identify the interval (e.g., minor third, perfect fifth). You can set the range and difficulty to match your current level.