Scales
Each diagram shows every note of the scale across the whole neck. Filled dots are the root; hollow dots are other scale notes. Click any small diagram to view it large. The same shape moves up and down the neck for any key in that scale family.
Minor pentatonic
The minor pentatonic is the workhorse scale of rock and blues — five notes that sound good over almost any minor-key progression. As drawn, this is the E minor pentatonic: root, b3, 4, 5, b7. The same shape moves up and down the neck for any key.
Major pentatonic
The major pentatonic uses the same five notes as its relative minor — what changes is which note you treat as “home.” For G major pentatonic the intervals from the root are: root, 2, 3, 5, 6. Cheerful, open, and the foundation of country, folk, and pop melodies.
Minor blues
The minor blues scale is the minor pentatonic plus one note — the b5, also called the blue note. For E minor blues the intervals are: root, b3, 4, b5, 5, b7. The b5 sounds tense and unstable, which is the point: blues players hit it briefly on the way somewhere else.
Major blues
The major blues scale is the major pentatonic plus one note — the b3, sitting between the 2 and the 3. For G major blues the intervals are: root, 2, b3, 3, 5, 6. The slide from b3 up to the natural 3 is the classic country and gospel move.
Major scale (Ionian)
The major scale is the foundational seven-note scale of Western music — every other mode and every diatonic chord is derived from it. For G major the intervals are: root, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. It is the major pentatonic with the 4 and 7 added back in, filling out the picture.
Natural minor (Aeolian)
The natural minor is the darker counterpart to the major scale — same set of intervals starting from a different note (its relative minor, six steps down). For E natural minor the intervals are: root, 2, b3, 4, 5, b6, b7. It is the minor pentatonic with the 2 and b6 filled in.
Harmonic minor
The harmonic minor is the natural minor with a raised 7th — that one tweak gives it its characteristic exotic, Spanish, or Eastern-European sound. For E harmonic minor: root, 2, b3, 4, 5, b6, 7. The big jump from b6 to the natural 7 (three semitones, an augmented second) is what your ear hears as the “foreign” flavor.
Melodic minor
The melodic minor smooths out the harmonic minor by raising the 6th as well as the 7th: root, 2, b3, 4, 5, 6, 7. That removes the awkward augmented second. Classically it was played as drawn going up the scale and as natural minor coming down, but in jazz it's used as-is in both directions. Drawn here for E melodic minor.
Dorian mode
Dorian is a minor scale with a raised 6th — natural minor's b6 becomes a natural 6: root, 2, b3, 4, 5, 6, b7. That single change brightens the scale without making it major; the result is the characteristic sound of Santana, Miles Davis's modal jazz, and a lot of folk and rock. Drawn for D Dorian.
Mixolydian mode
Mixolydian is a major scale with a flat 7th: root, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, b7. That single change gives the scale its bluesy, dominant-seventh sound. It's the natural scale for soloing over a major chord that has a b7 — think AC/DC, the Allman Brothers, and most of classic rock and country. Drawn for G Mixolydian.
Phrygian mode
Phrygian is a minor scale with a flat 2nd: root, b2, b3, 4, 5, b6, b7. The half-step right at the start — from root up to b2 — is the source of its tense, Spanish-flamenco character. Used heavily in metal and flamenco. Drawn for E Phrygian.
Lydian mode
Lydian is a major scale with a sharp 4th: root, 2, 3, #4, 5, 6, 7. That single raised note gives the scale its bright, floating, mildly otherworldly sound — it's the scale of dream sequences and Joe Satriani solos. Drawn for G Lydian.
Locrian mode
Locrian is the darkest of the seven church modes — every note except the root is flatted (root, b2, b3, 4, b5, b6, b7). The flatted 5th in particular means the scale's tonic chord is diminished, which is so unstable that Locrian is rarely used as a key center; it's mostly a theoretical completion of the mode set. Drawn for B Locrian.