Color Coded Music Scales
Learn To Play Piano, Guitar, Banjo, Ukulele, Mandolin, Violin And Bass Guitar Scales Using These Color Coded Music Scale Cards
SEE & PLAY EVERY C SCALE AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE
Play Melodies
Using Natural Note Scales
Once you learn to play the 12 notes that are color-coded on your instrument, you can start practicing four (4) simple but powerful musical scales. Using only the naturals, AKA the “solids”, plays the two (2) scales shown here on this page, and using only the sharps and flats or the “stripes” plays the two (2) remaining scales on the next. Let’s play with the seven (7) “solids” only. The first set of scales contains seven (7) notes each. They are stacked in 2nds, as alternating Wholetones (W) and Halftones (H), with the first Root Note (R1) of each scale repeating at the top an octave up (8) to complete the scale and serving as the traditional spring-board to playing the scale back down again in reverse. Notes are listed with their numerical scale degrees or intervals (1-8). Sometimes these are flat or sharp (like with the three flat intervals in the A minor Scale), giving any scale its musical flavor and mood. When you play the natural notes as a C Major “happy scale”, you are playing in the Musical Key of C: (C Major); when you play an A minor “sad scale”, it’s in the key of a: (A minor).
Practice playing the eight (8) notes of each scale in an ascending and descending order, using all of your fingers like a crawling spider. When you play single notes one after another or two (2) notes together (an interval) in an artistic way, it is called Melody. A melody is a group of notes that are played in a specific rhythmic order to convey some type of musical expression. As long as you play only chords with solid-colored notes, and if someone else plays a melody at the same time using only solid-colored notes (both instruments in tune with one another), you will sound harmonious together.
Now You Can Play All Seven (7) Modes
Using Only The Solid Colored Natural notes in music
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To play any one of the 7 musical scales listed below on a musical instrument that has Musical Colors sticker guides installed, scroll to the scale you wish to play by clicking the left or right arrows, clicking on one of the thumbnails shown (desktop only), or by swiping left and right. Once you arrive at the scale of your choosing, begin at the bottom root note (tonic) of the scale (i.e. marked with a number one), and work your way up on your musical instrument like a crawling spider, playing each successive note, making sure to repeat the root note (number one) of the scale an octave (number eight) above, and then back down to where you started.
Scales are listed below with their scale name, the scale degree for every musical note found in the scale, the musical note letter name, its corresponding Musical Colors color coded designation, any alternate musical note letter name needed to build any triad, and the chord function in upper or lower case Roman numerals (7 note scales only) for Major or minor triads ,sometimes with a º (diminished) or a + (Augmented), or written as a sonority (M, m, º or +) for each triad that can be built regularly in thirds from that note.
SWIPE LEFT & RIGHT OR CLICK ARROWS TO SCROLL THROUGH SCALES
The Major or Ionian Mode scale is the most common scale. The notes are often used to build "bright"-sounding major chords, giving a strong feeling of having a tonal center "home", or "resting place" in that key.
The Dorian scale also called "Russian minor" is commonly used to solo over minor 7th chords as an expansion of the minor pentatonic scale. It sounds cheeky, partly sad, but in a hopeful way. Used often in blues, rock, jazz, and funk.
The Phrygian scale is commonly heard and played over minor one chords to give it a Spanish flavor. It has all notes lowered by a semitone accept 4 iv and 5 vº.
The Lydian scale is commonly heard and played over a major one chords, and also helps craft chord progressions and melodies with a distinct sound that is arresting, haunting and effective.
The Mixolydian scale has a blues sound and is mostly heard and played over dominant one chords. Widely used in jazz music as well for improvising, it is one of the most important scales to learn.
The Natural Minor or Aolian Mode scale is heard and played mostly over minor one chords and used in rock, pop and other popular music. These have progressions and guitar solos entirely built from this scale.
The Locrian scale can be played over a half-diminished seventh chord on the tonic. No other natural modes have a diminished fifth, so the presence of this tritone means the root chord is a diminished triad.
Play Melodies
with Sharp & Flat Note Scales
Only the five (5) sharps and flats, the “stripes”, play the second set of scales. The first root note (R1) of each scale repeats at the top of the scale an octave up (8), like in the prior lesson. These scales contain only five notes, called Pentatonic Scales. They’re missing two (2) notes and, therefore, also contain larger stacked intervals, not just 2nds. However, they still have their 3rd and 5th scale degrees, supporting their Major and minor functions. Again, notice that these two scales can be enharmonically spelled in one of two ways. Also, remember that playing an open string on a stringed instrument is not a stripe-colored note, and hitting an open string by accident will result in playing some other musical scale than intended for this lesson.
As you familiarize yourself with playing these four scales, you will begin to develop finger “muscle memory”, or the ability to remember what playing these scales feels like in your hands without looking. As you learn, slide the same fingering pattern to different positions along your instrument’s neck or move up and down the keyboard and play in the same way. These similar scales are in different keys since they start on different root notes. In this way, you can expand your ability to play these two types of scales in other musical keys and build upon your already growing and new melody-making skills.
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Natural Notes – are the seven (7) white piano keys on a keyboard (A, B, C, D, E, F, and G)
Sharp & Flat Notes – are the five (5) black piano keys (A#/Bb, C#/Db, D#/Eb, F#/Gb & G#/Ab)
Enharmonic Spelling – a note that is equivalent to some other note but named differently
Octave – the interval between one musical pitch and another with double its frequency
Semitone – smallest interval in music (Halftone or half step) equal to one 12th of an Octave
Wholetone – a Major 2nd (also called a whole step) is a 2nd spanning two semitones
Interval – difference in pitch between two near occurring notes measured in semitones
Root Note – musical note at base of a scale or chord that serves as the home base name
Minor Scale – seven notes spaced apart by whole (W) and half (H) tones: (W-H-W-W-H-W-W)
Major Scale – are seven notes spaced apart by whole and half tones: (W-W-H-W-W-W-H)
Musical Key – a group of pitches, or scale, that forms the basis of a musical composition
Melody – a linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity
Pentatonic Scale – a fundamental form of a musical scale with only five notes per octave
Muscle Memory – procedure to consolidate a motor task into memory through repetition
Color Coded Scale Cards
Available Here In the key of C Natural
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To play any one of the 68 musical scales listed below on a musical instrument that has Musical Colors sticker guides installed, scroll to the scale you wish to play by clicking the left or right arrows, clicking on one of the thumbnails shown (desktop only), or by swiping left and right. Once you arrive at the scale of your choosing, begin at the bottom root note (tonic) of the scale (i.e. marked with a number one), and work your way up on your musical instrument like a crawling spider, playing each successive note, making sure to repeat the root note (number one) of the scale an octave (number eight) above, and then back down to where you started.
Scales are listed below with their scale name, the scale degree for every musical note found in the scale, the musical note letter name, its corresponding Musical Colors color coded designation, any alternate musical note letter name needed to build any triad, and the chord function in upper or lower case Roman numerals (7 note scales only) for Major or minor triads ,sometimes with a º (diminished) or a + (Augmented), or written as a sonority (M, m, º or +) for each triad that can be built regularly in thirds from that note, including altered triads with sharp or flat thirds and or fifths.
SWIPE LEFT & RIGHT OR CLICK ARROWS TO SCROLL THROUGH SCALES
HEPTATONIC SCALES IN C
44 Scales From Around The World With 7 Notes
The Major or Ionian Mode scale is the most common scale. The notes are often used to build "bright"-sounding major chords, giving a strong feeling of having a tonal center "home", or "resting place" in that key.
The Natural Minor or Aolian Mode scale is heard and played mostly over minor one chords and used in rock, pop and other popular music. These have progressions and guitar solos entirely built from this scale.
The Harmonic Minor No.1 scale is commonly heard and played over a minor one chord and is used a lot in jazz, especially in vocabulary from the bebop and hard bop eras.
The Melodic Minor scale is from the Baroque, Classical, and Romantic eras of music and less common. Jazz's use of Melodic Minor No.1 is heard and played over minor chords, dominant chords, and altered dominant chords.
The Harmonic Minor No.2 scale is commonly heard and played over a half-diminished one chord.
The Harmonic Minor No.3 scale is mostly heard and played over an augmented one chord which is rare but used by contemporary jazz musicians.
The Harmonic Minor No.4 scale is commonly heard and played over a minor one chord. Chromatically, it can be used over a dominant chord in the tonic to give it a blues like sound.
The Harmonic Minor No.5 scale is commonly heard and played over a dominant chord in the tonic.
The Harmonic Minor No.6 scale is commonly heard and played over a major seventh sharp eleventh chord in the tonic which gives it a blues like sound because of the sharp two.
The Harmonic Minor No.7 scale is commonly heard and played over a diminished one chord.
The Melodic Minor No.2 scale is also known as the Dorian Flat Two scale and is commonly heard and played over a minor one chord with a flatted ninth.
The Melodic Minor No.3 scale is also known as the Lydian-Augmented scale and is commonly heard and played over an augmented one chord.
The Melodic Minor No.4 scale is also known as the Lydian Flat Seven or Lydian Dominant scale and is popularly used over a dominant chord in the tonic.
The Melodic Minor No.5 scale is also known as the Mixolydian Flat Six scale and is heard and played over a dominant chord in the tonic.
The Melodic Minor No.6 scale is also know as the Locrian Sharp Two scale and is played normally over a half-diminished seventh chord on the tonic.
The Melodic Minor No.7 scale is also known as the Super Locrian or Altered scale and is normally heard played over tonic half-diminished seventh chords.
The Phrygian scale is commonly heard and played over minor one chords. Chromatically, it can be used over a major one chord to give it a Spanish flavor.
The Dorian scale also called "Russian minor" is commonly used to solo over minor 7th chords as an expansion of the minor pentatonic scale. It sounds cheeky, partly sad, but in a hopeful way. Used often in blues, rock, jazz, and funk.
The Lydian scale is commonly heard and played over a major one chord and using Lydian will help you craft chord progressions and melodies with a distinct sound that is arresting, haunting and effective.
The Mixolydian scale has a blues sound and is heard and played over dominant one chords. Widely used in jazz and blues music for improvising, it is one of the most important scales to learn.
The Locrian scale can be played over a half-diminished seventh chord on the tonic. No other natural modes have a diminished fifth, so the presence of this tritone means the root chord is a diminished triad.
The Enigmatic scale is an unusual musical scale, with elements of both major and minor scales, as well as the whole-tone scale. It has garnered a reputation as being a mystical scale of sorts, untouchable, ever changing.
The Augmented scale can be used to imply three tonalities at once as the augmented tonic chord produces a sound of tension and instability, while the 3rd and sharp 5 vie for tonal control.
The Arabian Major scale is also known as the Major Locrian scale and can be played over augmented tonic chords as the flat 6 serves as a sharp 5 in the scale.
The Neapolitan scale is used in melancholic and romantic music because of the minor 3rd in the scale right next to the flat 2nd, which creates tension, typically resolved through, with standard harmonies.
The Jewish Ahaba Rabba scale is really useful to create cheerful music belonging to the group of Major scales. It is the same as the Spanish Gypsy scale and mainly used in ethnic music or modal jazz improvisation.
The Neapolitan Minor scale is melancholic, romantic, or scary because of the minor third in the scale that is juxtaposed against two exotic flat notes on the 2nd and 6th scale degrees. It is the same as the Javaneese scale.
The Persian scale can be used to create a cheerful uplifting mood as it is belongs to the groups of Major scales. It is also very useful for jazz improvisation as well as blues, and is widely used in Western music.
The Hungarian Major scale is really useful if you are looking forward to create cheerful music as it belongs to the group of Major scales. It is mainly used in ethnic music or modal jazz improvisation.
The Hungarian Gypsy scale is used in Indian classical music and Hungarian music. It has also been used in rock and classical music. It is the same as the Byzantine scale and will give your music an exotic touch.
The Romanian Minor scale is used to compose melancholic ethnic music. Use it for modal jazz improvisation as it is in the group of Minor scales. It is useful for composing scary or romantic music.
The Hungarian Minor scale is used in melancholic ethnic music and for composing scary and romantic music. Use it for modal jazz improvisation as it belongs in the group of Minor scales.
The Spanish Gypsy scale is often used in both flamenco and Turkish music, and occasionally in rock and jazz. It is the same as the Jewish Ahaba Rabba scale.
The Japanese scale is used to for melancholic ethnic music and modal jazz improvisation, and since it belongs to the group of Minor scales, it can be useful for composing scary and romantic music.
This scale can be used to compose melancholic ethnic music and modal jazz improvisation, and since it belongs to the group of Minor scales, it can be useful for composing scary and romantic music.
The Oriental scale can be really useful if you are looking forward to create cheerful music as it belongs to the group of Major scales. It is mainly used in ethnic music or modal jazz improvisation.
The Javaneese seven note scale used in Gamelan music is in essence the Neapolitan Minor scale, and it can have a dramatic or sad effect depending on how it is played.
The Hindustani Raga of Northern India is represented by a seven note scale, the same as the Melodic Minor No.5 scale or Mixolydian Flat Six scale, usually heard and played over an altered tonic and dominant chords.
The Bhairavi Raga scale is referred to as the king of morning Ragas. It produces a rich atmosphere. In Western musical terms, it uses the notes of the Phrygian mode, one of the traditional European church modes.
The Raga Marva scale can be really useful if you are looking forward to creating cheerful music, as it belongs to the group of Major scales. It is mainly used in ethnic music or modal jazz improvisation.
The Byzantine scale has an exotic sound due to its flat second and flat sixth degrees. These note patterns can open up a nice variety of sounds to explore. This scale is the same as the Hungarian Gypsy scale.
The Brazilian scale is used in Northeastern Brazilian music and most commonly played as both, a standard and a modified Mixolydian mode, where the scale is the same as Melodic Minor No.4 which has a sharp four.
The Hawaiian Scale is identical with the ascending version of the Melodic Minor Scale No.1 and is used most often just simply over non-jazzy tonic and dominant chords.
The Mohammedan scale, also primarily known as the Harmonic Minor No.1 scale, contains an upper tetrachord that is the same as the Jins Hijaz often found in Middle Eastern music.
PENTATONIC SCALES IN C
12 Scales From Around The World With 5 Notes
The Major Pentatonic Scale is one of the most common scales used in music. It is used for soloing and for basing song riffs around. Lead guitarists must learn their pentatonic scales, which consists of 5 notes.
The minor Pentatonic scale, AKA the Rock Scale, is used frequently by Rock musicians to get that popular Rock sound. It is also used in Appalachian folk music like Blackfoot music and it is also used in Andean music.
The Japanese Kumoijushi scale is the minor version of the Yo scale and does contain a minor 2nd which gives it a more somber mood in its pentatonic layout and use in traditional Japanese folk music.
The Japanese Pentatonic scale or Yo scale has no minor notes, and in traditional theory, is a five note scale that is used in much Japanese music, including Gagaku and Shomyo. It is the same as the Asavari Raga.
The Hirajoshi tuning scale is adapted from Shamisen music. This mode is from derivations of Koto tunings interpreted by Sachs and Slonimsky. It has been used by rock and jazz guitarists in search of new sounds.
The Hirajoshi tuning scale is adapted from Shamisen music. This mode is from derivations of Koto tunings interpreted by Speed and Kostka & Payne. It has been used by rock and jazz guitarists in search of new sounds.
Use the Chinese scale to create cheerful music as it belongs to the group of Major scales. Known also as the Hirajoshi (Mode 3) scale as interpreted by Burrows, it is used in ethnic music or modal jazz improvisation.
As implied by its name, the Chinese Mongolian scale is suitable for playing Chinese music. It is exactly the same as the Major Pentatonic scale and sometimes used in jazz improvisation.
This scale is based on a pentatonic or five note scale that is typically played over a monochord, which uses a traditional instrument with one string and a stick which is used to bend and change the pitch of the note played.
This scale can be used to compose melancholic ethnic music and used for jazz improvisation. Since it belongs to the group of Minor scales, it can be also useful for also composing scary and romantic music.
The Asavari Raga scale is used in melancholic ethnic music and for scary and romantic music. It is great for modal jazz improvisation, being in the group of Minor scales. It is the same as the Japanese Pentatonic scale.
The suspended pentatonic scale, or Egyptian scale is actually the second mode of the major pentatonic scale. This scale is designed to be played over 7sus2 and 9sus2 chords.
HEXATONIC SCALES IN C
4 Scales From Around The World With 6 Notes
The Blues scale is used across many styles of music including twelve-bar Blues, Boogie-Woogie, Soul, RnB, Jazz, and Funk. It is a variation on the Minor Pentatonic scale with an added flat fifth scale degree.
The Whole Tone scale can be played over any dominant chord and you can choose to alter any of these chords to have a sharp five, in essence playing augmented chords as well.
The Augmented Six Tone scale is also called theSymmetrical scale because it is solely constructed on that basis of symmetry using six notes. It is also used in similar ways to the Whole Tone scale.
The Raga Todi scale uses six notes from the octave. It can be used to compose melancholic ethnic music or used for modal jazz improvisation and it can be also useful for also composing scary and romantic music.
OCTATONIC SCALES IN C
7 Scales From Around The World With 8 Notes
The Diminished (Whole/Half) scale is used to solo over diminished seventh chords. Dim7 chords are not as common as minor, dominant or major chords, so when used, they can limit beginning improvisers.
The Diminished (Half/Whole) scale is used to solo over diminished seventh chords, which are not as common as minor, dominant or major chords. So beginners should learn the seven diminished chords.
The Arabian Minor scale is similar to the Diminished scale and can be used to play music and solo over diminished chords, instead of typical minor, dominant and major chords which most beginners resort to.
The Jewish Adonai Malakh scale is used for cheerful music which is a more dynamic and harmonically complex due to two supertonics present. It is also used in ethnic music or modal jazz improvisation.
The Ichikotsucho scale can be used to create a cheerful of uplifting mood as it is belongs to the groups of Major scales. It is also very useful for jazz improvisation as well as blues, and is widely used in Western music.
Purvi is an old traditional raga, which originated in the eastern part of India. Purvi music has a deeply serious, quiet and somewhat mystical character.
The Algerian (Berber & North African) scale has a minor 3rd that results in a Moorish sound. Usually played as an 11 note scale using the sharp 4 first, then the octave, 2nd, flat 3rd and natural 4th at the top of the scale.
NONATONIC SCALE IN C
One Scale From Japan that contains 9 Notes
The Taishikicho scale is used to create a cheerful uplifting mood as it is belongs to the groups of Major scales. It is good for jazz improvisation and blues, and highly chromatic in its nature, containing nine notes.