Play any piano scale on a real keyboard.

A scale is a sequence of notes played one step at a time, ascending or descending. Its first note is the root, and the root gives the scale its name. Every scale on this page is built from two intervals: the half step, the distance between two adjacent keys with nothing in between (C to C♯, or E to F), and the whole step, two half steps with one key in between (C to D, or G to A). Where those steps fall is what makes one scale sound different from another.

The tool above shows any scale on the keyboard, plays it at the tempo you set, and for major and natural minor rotates through the seven modes. This page explains what you are looking at. For the full beginner's guide and the downloadable scales chart, read piano scales for beginners.

The major scale

Every major scale follows one pattern of steps from the root: W, W, H, W, W, W, H. Starting on C that pattern lands on the seven white keys, C, D, E, F, G, A, B, and back to C an octave higher. Starting on G it gives G, A, B, C, D, E, F♯: the same pattern, a different root, one sharp. Change the root above and the pattern stays; only the black keys it lands on change.

The three minor scales

Every major key shares its notes with one minor key, its relative minor, whose root is three half steps below: C major and A minor, G major and E minor. Read the table of all twelve pairs in relative major and minor scales. The minor scale comes in three forms:

• Natural minor: W, H, W, W, H, W, W. The same notes as the relative major, anchored on the sixth degree. Also called the Aeolian mode. Compared with the major scale on the same root, the 3rd, 6th and 7th are each a half step lower.
• Harmonic minor: natural minor with the 7th raised a half step. The raised 7th does not appear in the key signature, and it leaves three half steps between the 6th and 7th degrees, the interval that identifies this scale by ear. Full guide: the harmonic minor scale.
• Melodic minor: natural minor with both the 6th and 7th raised a half step. In classical practice this form is used ascending and the natural minor form descending; in jazz the raised form is used in both directions. Full guide: the melodic minor scale.

Modes: the same seven notes, seven roots

Take the notes of C major and start from D instead of C: D, E, F, G, A, B, C. Same notes, new root. That is D Dorian, the second mode of the major scale. Each of the seven starting notes gives a mode, and each places the two half steps in a different position:

• Ionian (from the 1st): the major scale.
• Dorian (from the 2nd): minor with a major 6th.
• Phrygian (from the 3rd): minor with a minor 2nd.
• Lydian (from the 4th): major with a raised 4th.
• Mixolydian (from the 5th): major with a lowered 7th.
• Aeolian (from the 6th): the natural minor scale.
• Locrian (from the 7th): minor with a minor 2nd and a diminished 5th.

The mode buttons above rotate the selected major or minor scale through all seven. The coral note in each is the one that separates it from plain major or natural minor. The complete guide to all seven is musical modes explained.

Pentatonic and blues scales

The major pentatonic has five notes: degrees 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6 of the major scale, so C major pentatonic is C, D, E, G, A. Its pattern is W, W, three half steps, W. The minor pentatonic is the natural minor without its 2nd and 6th degrees: the same five notes as the major pentatonic a minor third above it. Neither has a half step anywhere, which is why they are the usual starting point for improvising. The blues scale adds one note to the minor pentatonic: the lowered 5th, a half step between the 4th and 5th, usually played as a passing note rather than held. Full guides: pentatonic scales on piano and the piano blues scale.

How to read the scale on the keyboard

• The root is solid Skoove green.
• The other scale notes are pale green with a dot.
• The characteristic notes, the ones that define the scale (Lydian's ♯4, Phrygian's ♭2, Mixolydian's ♭7), are coral.

Play C Lydian, then C major, and listen for the fourth note: F♯ against F. That single note is the whole difference between the two scales.

Fingering: the pattern behind every scale

Scale fingering follows a fixed rule: the thumb is finger 1, and the hand plays as many notes as it can before the thumb crosses to continue. For G major, the pattern is:

• Right hand, ascending: 1 (G), 2 (A), 3 (B), then the thumb crosses under to 1 (C), 2 (D), 3 (E), 4 (F♯), 5 (G).
• Left hand, ascending: 5 (G), 4 (A), 3 (B), 2 (C), 1 (D), then the third finger crosses over to 3 (E), 2 (F♯), 1 (G).

Descending, each hand plays the same fingers in reverse. C, D, A and E major use the same 1-2-3, 1-2-3-4-5 pattern in the right hand; keys that start on a black key begin on a different finger so that the thumb lands on a white key. The worked example, with notation for both clefs, is in how to play the G major scale.

How to practise scales

• Hand position first. Fingers curved, hovering above the keys, with space between the palm and the keyboard.
• Learn the fingering, then the speed. The crossings are where scales go wrong; take them slowly until the motion is smooth.
• Hands separately, then together. Playing hands together is a separate skill. Go slowly and think one note ahead.
• Practise in chunks. Isolate a difficult crossing rather than repeating the whole scale.
• Both directions.Descending uses a different sequence of crossings from ascending. The "Up & down" button above plays both.
• Use the tempo slider. It goes down to 40 BPM. Even notes at a slow tempo build more than uneven notes at a fast one.

Common questions