The following are the most commonly used scales in music from the earliest to the present day. The two scales mostly used in today's classical music are the Major and Minor (Harmonic and Melodic) version. In Jazz we mainly see a predominance of Modal and Pentatonic and Blues scales, although jazz musicians will intermix with classical scales for the purposes of variety. Music is made up of scales patterns and they form the basic patterns of all music. In the C20 the convention is to write Major Scales with a capital e.g. A Major and minor scales with a small letter e.g. a minor. Major Scales The intervals forming Major scales are as follows : T, T, S, (T), T, T, S - (Tone, Tone, Semi-tone, Tone, Tone, Tone, Semitone) Therefore if we start on middle C we get :
N.B Each half of the scale (T, T,S) is often known as a TETRACHORD The major scale is made up of the following intervals.
For example in C Major :
Intervals have 2 properties. a ) Distance between the 2 notes (eg 4th - C, D, E, F etc). Remember to include the bottom and top notes. b ) Quality ie Major, Minor, Perfect, Augmented Diminished Diminished.............1 semitone..............Perfect.............1 semitone.............Augmented Diminished.............1 semitone.............Minor............1 semitone..............Major.............1 semitone.............Augmented Harmonic Minor Scales Harmonic Minor Scales are formed by raising the 7th degree of the scale. The intervals for the scale are as follows.
Melodic Minor Scales To form the Melodic Minor Scale you must raise the 6th and 7th degree of the scale on the way up and revert to the relative major scale on the way down. To find the relative minor simple go down three semitones from the Major key eg G Major will be e minor. Ascending
Descending
Whole Tone Scales The Whole Tone Scale uses only intervals of one whole tone between each note. For example a Whole Tone Scale starting on C would consist of the notes (C, D, E, F sharp, G sharp, A sharp, C). 
This scale is usually associated with the compositions of Debussy. Mozart used this scale in a sextet called A Musical Joke. Blues Scales The Blues Scale is formed of the 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 7th degrees of a major scale,with the flattened 3rd and 7th. For example the in C the notes of this scale would be (C, D, Eb, F, G, Bb).
Modal Scales Modes originated with Pythagoras's experiments on sounding strings. He discovered that half the length of a string gives the octave, two thirds the fifth and three quaters the fourth. The distance between the fourth and fifth gives us the whole tone on which all of our modes and scales are based. The remaining two intervals (C-F) and (G-C) were then divided into two tones and a semitone. There were three possible arrangements, semitone-tone-tone (Dorian tetrachord),tone-semitone-tone (Phrygian tetrachord), tone-tone-semitone (Lydian tetrachord). All modes have a “Final” – this is the note on which the melody was based and ended, the modern day equivalent of this would be the “tonic”. Modes also had a “Dominant”, this note was one of the most used notes during the melody. There are two groups of Modes : 1) Authentic 2) Plagal Each Plagal mode has an Authentic Mode counterpart each containing the same notes and Final. The only difference being that of Range and Dominant Note. Authentic Modes are given odd numbered modes I, III, V and VII, IX and XI. Many Music theorists used Greek names ie. Dorian, Lydian and Mixolydian referring to the Authentic Modes of I, V and VII. When talking about Plagal Modes the prefix Hypo is added before the mode. Modal scales are widely used in jazz nowadays. Ionian : This mode began life in medieval Church music and is the same as the diatonic major scale (the first mode (C) of a major key). Dorian : This mode is one of the seven that come from the major scale. All Major scales have seven notes (numbered one to seven), each one being different. On each of these seven different notes there is a different mode, the Dorian being based on the second degree of the major scale (D), so the Dorian mode is a scale of C Major starting from D. Phrygian : This is the third mode (E) of the Major Key - this is a Minor mode. Lydian : This is the fourth mode (F) in the Major key - since this is F, this mode will be Major. Mixolydian : This is the fifth mode (5) in the Major key - since this is G, this mode will be Major. Aeolian : This is the sixth mode (6) in the Major key - this is a Minor mode. Locrian : This is the seventh mode (7) in the Major key. This mode is diminished because I, III and V form a diminished triad. In the examples below the letters F and D are used to refer to Finals and Dominants. Authentic Modes
Plagal Modes
Pentatonic Scales This scales has two forms : Major The Major version of this scales can be described as Root, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th degrees of the scale. This is represented on the piano by the black notes (f sharp, G sharp, A shapr, C sharp, D sharp, F sharp). 
Minor The minor version of this scales can be described as Root, b3, 4, 5, b7 degrees of the scales.
Chromatic Scales A Chromatic Scale contains 12 notes, formed from semitones.
The above is an example of a chromatic scale starting on C. (N.B The notes are arranged above to produce the fewest possible acidentals). Harmonic This version contains all the notes used in the harmony of key. For example in C
The above scale is constructed by wrting the notes of the major scale, then putting in the notes of the minor scale key signature. To this you then add the flattened second and the raised fourth. Put simply - write every note twice except the tonic and the dominant. |
