Scale Finder
Pick the notes you have on the keyboard and this page lists every scale that holds them, closest first. What it does differently is refuse to guess how much slack you want: five match settings run from a scale that is exactly your notes to one that allows a single note sitting outside it, and the rule in force is spelled out under the switch and printed beside the answer. Every match names its own tonic, the degrees of your notes counted from that tonic, and the scale notes you did not pick, so C, D, E, G and A come back as C major pentatonic and A minor pentatonic exactly, with C major and G major further down the list, two notes short each. The 18 formulas it matches against are printed in full on the page, in semitones from the tonic, so you can check any answer against your own book. Nothing is uploaded and there is no account: the notes stay in your browser.
Selected C D E G A (5 notes) Match Contains my notes. Every note you picked is in the scale. The scale may hold notes you did not pick, and those are listed as missing. Found 27 matches, 2 exact C major pentatonic exact A minor pentatonic exact A blues missing Eb C major blues missing Eb C major missing F, B G major missing B, F# D natural minor missing F, Bb E natural minor missing F#, B Showing 8 of 27 matches, closest first. Degrees C major pentatonic: 1 2 3 5 6 steps 2 2 3 2 3 The notes you pick are written with sharps. Inside a scale each note takes the accidental its own degree carries, so a flat third is written flat and A blues reads A C D Eb E G, and every other note follows the key signature the scale borrows, so D natural minor reads D E F G A Bb C and A harmonic minor reads A B C D E F G#. Only the twelve plain labels are used, never a double sharp or flat.
Every note you picked is in the scale. The scale may hold notes you did not pick, and those are listed as missing.
5 notes picked. 2 exact matches under Contains my notes. 2 scales are exactly these 5 notes. The rest hold them all and add the notes listed as missing.
The scale formulas this page matches against
Every formula is counted in semitones from the tonic, so you can check any match against your own book. A symmetric scale is listed once per distinct set of notes rather than once per tonic, because a whole tone scale starting on D holds the same six pitch classes as one starting on C.
| Scale | Semitones from the tonic | Steps | On C | What it is |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| major | 0 2 4 5 7 9 11 | 2 2 1 2 2 2 1 | C D E F G A B | The major scale, also called Ionian: the seven notes a key signature describes. |
| natural minor | 0 2 3 5 7 8 10 | 2 1 2 2 1 2 2 | C D Eb F G Ab Bb | Natural minor, also called Aeolian: the major scale read from its sixth degree. |
| major pentatonic | 0 2 4 7 9 | 2 2 3 2 3 | C D E G A | The major scale with the fourth and seventh left out, which is why nothing in it clashes. |
| minor pentatonic | 0 3 5 7 10 | 3 2 2 3 2 | C Eb F G Bb | The same five pitch classes as the major pentatonic a minor third above, counted from a different tonic. |
| blues | 0 3 5 6 7 10 | 3 2 1 1 3 2 | C Eb F Gb G Bb | Minor pentatonic with the flat fifth added between the fourth and the fifth. |
| major blues | 0 2 3 4 7 9 | 2 1 1 3 2 3 | C D Eb E G A | Major pentatonic with the flat third added between the second and the third. |
| dorian | 0 2 3 5 7 9 10 | 2 1 2 2 2 1 2 | C D Eb F G A Bb | The major scale read from its second degree: minor with a raised sixth. |
| mixolydian | 0 2 4 5 7 9 10 | 2 2 1 2 2 1 2 | C D E F G A Bb | The major scale read from its fifth degree: major with a flat seventh. |
| lydian | 0 2 4 6 7 9 11 | 2 2 2 1 2 2 1 | C D E F# G A B | The major scale read from its fourth degree: major with a raised fourth. |
| phrygian | 0 1 3 5 7 8 10 | 1 2 2 2 1 2 2 | C Db Eb F G Ab Bb | The major scale read from its third degree: minor with a flat second. |
| locrian | 0 1 3 5 6 8 10 | 1 2 2 1 2 2 2 | C Db Eb F Gb Ab Bb | The major scale read from its seventh degree, the one with a flat fifth. |
| harmonic minor | 0 2 3 5 7 8 11 | 2 1 2 2 1 3 1 | C D Eb F G Ab B | Natural minor with the seventh raised, which puts a step and a half between the sixth and seventh. |
| melodic minor | 0 2 3 5 7 9 11 | 2 1 2 2 2 2 1 | C D Eb F G A B | The ascending form: natural minor with the sixth and seventh both raised. |
| phrygian dominant | 0 1 4 5 7 8 10 | 1 3 1 2 1 2 2 | C Db E F G Ab Bb | Harmonic minor read from its fifth degree, the flamenco and klezmer sound. |
| whole tone | 0 2 4 6 8 10 | 2 2 2 2 2 2 | C D E F# G# A# | Six whole steps. It repeats every step, so only two of these sets exist and each is listed once. |
| diminished (whole-half) | 0 2 3 5 6 8 9 11 | 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 | C D Eb F Gb Ab A B | Alternating whole and half steps. It repeats every minor third, so only three of these sets exist. |
| diminished (half-whole) | 0 1 3 4 6 7 9 10 | 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 | C Db Eb E F# G A Bb | The same alternation starting with the half step, the scale played over a dominant seventh. |
| chromatic | 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 | 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 | C Db D Eb E F Gb G Ab A Bb B | All twelve pitch classes. There is only one such set, so it is listed once, under C. |
The notes you pick are written with sharps. Inside a scale each note takes the accidental its own degree carries, so a flat third is written flat and A blues reads A C D Eb E G, and every other note follows the key signature the scale borrows, so D natural minor reads D E F G A Bb C and A harmonic minor reads A B C D E F G#. Only the twelve plain labels are used, never a double sharp or flat.
Common questions
- How do I find the scale a group of notes belongs to?
- Click each note you have on the keyboard, then choose how strict the match should be. Contains my notes lists every scale that holds all of them and nothing outside, Exact notes lists only scales that are precisely your selection, and One note outside allows a single accidental or passing note. The list is ordered closest first: fewest notes outside the scale, then fewest of the scale's own notes absent, then scales whose tonic you actually picked, then the ones most people are taught first.
- Why does one set of notes match more than one scale?
- Because a scale is a set of pitch classes plus a tonic, and the same set can be read from several tonics. C, D, E, G and A is C major pentatonic and it is also A minor pentatonic. The seven white notes are C major, D dorian, E phrygian, F lydian, G mixolydian, A natural minor and B locrian at the same time, so this page lists all seven names rather than picking one and hiding the rest.
- What is the difference between an exact match and a scale that contains my notes?
- An exact match means the scale is your selection: nothing of yours is outside it, and none of its own notes are missing. A scale that contains your notes may hold more notes than you picked, and those are listed by name after the word missing. Three notes such as C, E and G fit C major, but they are not C major until all seven notes are picked, which is why the two settings are separate rather than blended into one score.
- Does it matter whether I call a note C# or Db?
- Not to the search. The tool works in pitch classes, so C# and Db are the same note and a list given either way returns the same scales. It does matter to how an answer is written: inside a scale each note takes the accidental its own degree carries, so A blues reads A C D Eb E G, and the rest follow the key signature the scale borrows, so D natural minor reads D E F G A Bb C while A harmonic minor reads A B C D E F G#. Only the twelve plain labels are used, never a double sharp or flat.
- Which scales does the finder know?
- 18 formulas: the major scale and its six modes, natural, harmonic and melodic minor, the major and minor pentatonics, the blues and major blues scales, phrygian dominant, whole tone, the two diminished scales and the chromatic. All of them are printed on the page in semitones from the tonic, with the step pattern and an example on C, so you can check a match instead of taking it on trust.
- Can it tell me what key a song is in?
- It can narrow it down and it cannot finish the job. Give it the notes of a melody and it will name every scale those notes fit, but which of the matching tonics is home is a question about what the music resolves to, not about the set of notes. All twelve pitch classes together, for instance, match only the chromatic scale, which tells you nothing about a key. Use the match list as the shortlist and your ear for the last step.
Exact set matching against the scale formulas written into this page, which are listed so you can check them. Enharmonic spellings are treated as the same pitch class, and the tolerance for missing or extra notes is the one you choose rather than a guess.