Scale finder
The notes of any key, and the chords that come with it.
Seventeen scales and modes in every key — the notes, the degrees, the shape on a keyboard, and the chords that come with them. The chord row is the part worth staying for: those seven chords are built only from the notes of the scale, which is what makes them sound like they belong together.
The bright one everybody knows — do re mi. Happy, settled, obvious.
- C1
- D2
- E3
- F4
- G5
- A6
- B7
Every chord above is built only from notes in this scale — that is what "in key" means. Play them in almost any order and it will sound like music; the numerals are the shorthand musicians use to talk about that order (I–V–vi–IV is most of pop).
What a scale actually is
A pattern of gaps, not a list of notes. A major scale is tone–tone–semitone–tone–tone–tone–semitone, and that pattern is what your ear recognises: start it on C and you get the white keys, start it on E♭ and you get three flats, but it sounds like the same scale either way. Everything on this page is that one idea applied over and over — change the pattern of gaps and you change the mood.
Modes, without the mystique
The seven modes are the major scale started from each of its own notes. Play only the white keys but treat D as home and you have D dorian; treat E as home and you have E phrygian. Same notes, completely different centre of gravity — which is why dorian sounds like minor with a lift and phrygian sounds like something out of Spain.
- Lydian — major with a raised fourth. The "wonder" sound; film scores use it constantly.
- Mixolydian — major with a flat seventh. Rock riffs and Celtic tunes.
- Dorian — minor with a bright sixth. Funk, house and most memorable basslines.
- Phrygian — minor with a flat second. Ancient and slightly dangerous.
- Locrian — no stable fifth, so nothing ever feels resolved. Rarely used on purpose.
Why the chords are numbered
Roman numerals name a chord by its position in the key instead of its letter, so I–V–vi–IV describes the same progression in every key at once — C–G–Am–F in C, and G–D–Em–C in G. Upper case means major, lower case minor, and the little circle means diminished. Learn four numerals and you can play along with most popular music ever written.
Pentatonics and the blues
The five-note scales get their own row because they behave differently: with the two most dissonant notes removed, there is no wrong note to land on. That is why the minor pentatonic is the first thing every guitarist learns to solo with, and why the blues scale — pentatonic plus one flattened fifth — is the sound of the twentieth century.
Put a scale to work
Every pitched instrument here follows the Studio's global key, so picking a scale changes what they all play. PS-SEQ writes its patterns in scale degrees so they re-mode when you change key, the generator composes whole tracks in a key you choose, and the chord finder will show you any chord on this page in full. If the terms here are new, start with the basics.