Major

	Major 7
	Major Pentatonic
	Major BeBop
	Major Harmonic b6
	Major Harm. Minor, 6th Mode
	Major Lydian +4
	Major Lydian Augmented +5 +4
	Major Augmented
	Major Diminished
	Major Blues

Major

The major scale is the basis for all other scales, and because it has seven notes it is used to derivate the seven modes.

C

D

E

F

G

A

B

C

W

W

H

W

W

W

H

The major 3rd (3rd note) and the major 7 ( 7th note) give the major scale a happy and cheerful characteristic. Most children's songs, a big part of folk music, but also classical compositions and modern pop tunes make use of the major scale.

Click on the notes to hear the major pentatonic scale.

Application

• Parallel major and minor scales have the same key signatures. In place of the natural A minor scale you can also play the C major scale. To the parallel scales | To the circle of fifth
• Be cautious with the 4th note. The perfect fourth in a major scale sounds dissonant when played to a major 7 chord (Cmaj7) and should be denoted as "avoid note".
• You can use the C major scale also with a major 7 chord that is a whole note above or three half notes below the root (Amaj7, VI degree or Dmaj7, IX degree).
• The major scale fits all chords in the major scale that are constructed with 3rd's. To chord families

The major scale can also be used as a substitution for other scales. To major scale substitution

Chords

C

Cmaj7

Cmaj9

C6

Dmaj7

Amaj7

Note
With the help of Chord-Clock on the utilities circle you can decipher or construct all chords.

The 7 Modes

In ancient Greece musicians used a notation system that had a scale of four notes (tetrachord = 4 successive notes spanning a perfect fourth). Those scales had euphonious names and were named after Greek landscapes: Ionia, Dorian and Phrygian scale. In western music, from the 9th to 16th century, the notation system of the modes (modus, lat. = rule, way), later named church keys, were used. Analogous to the major and minor scales, every mode can be transposed in to the 12 keys. After centuries of domination of the major and minor scales the modes regained significance in the 19th and 20th century and are an important part of modern music today. The jazz harmony is mostly based on the major scale and their modes.

Construction of modes

From the existing scale take away the first note (root). Hence the current seconde note is the new root. Now you can build the note series by completing the sequence in ascending order.

Degree	Scale	Note sequence	Interval	Transposed to C
I	Ionian	C D E F G A B C	WWHWWWH	C D E F G A B C
II	Dorian	D E F G A B C D	WHWWWHW	C D Eb F G A Bb C
III	Phrygian	E F G A B C D E	HWWWHWW	C Db Eb F G Ab Bb C
IV	Lydian	F G A B C D E F	WWWHWWH	C D E F# G A B C
V	Mixolydian	G A B C D E F G	WWHWWHW	C D E F G A Bb C
VI	Aeolian	A B C D E F G A	WHWWHWW	C D Eb F G Ab Bb C
VII	Locrian	B C D E F G A B	HWWHWWW	C Db Eb F Gb Ab Bb C

The first degree is the major scale and on the VI degree you find the natural, pure minor scale (Aeolian mode = pure or natural minor). The scales of the I, IV and V degree have a major scale characteristic. The four remaining scales have a minor scale characteristic.

The major scale as substitute

Major scales can be played over chords to which normally totaly different scales are used.

Major scale substitutes with a major progression

Degree	Harmony	Position of substitute	Substitute scale
II	_ m7	Minor third upwards	_ Major
V	_ 7(alt)	Minor second upwards	_ Major
I	_ maj7	Perfect fifth upwards	_ Major

Example

Degree	Harmony	Position of substitute	Substitute scale
II	D m7	Minor third upwards	F Major
V	G 7(alt)	Minor second upwards	Ab Major
I	C maj7	Perfect fifth upwards	G Major

Major scale substitutes with a minor progression

Degree	Harmony	Position of substitute	Substitute scale
II	_ m7b5	Minor third upwards	_ Major
V	_ 7(alt)	Minor third upwards	_ Major
I	_ m-maj7	Maj second downwards	_ Major

Example

Degree	Harmony	Position of substitute	Substitute scale
II	D m7b5	Minor third upwards	Eb Major
V	G 7(alt)	Minor third upwards	Ab Major
I	C m-maj7	Maj second downwards	Bb Major

Major Pentatonic

The pentatonic scales (pente, Greek = five) are historically considered ancient, consist of five notes, normally do not contain any half note steps and are often used in jazz, blues, rock, pop and country music.

Because of not having any half note steps the pentatonic scales appear to have no root. It produces a sound with a suspended characteristic

Ladies & Gentlemen, And here is the pentatonic C major scale:

C

D

E

G

A

C

W W T W T

Click on the notes to hear the major pentatonic scale.

By the way, if you only play the black keys on a piano, you are playing pentatonic music!

Application

The major pentatonic scale is the same as the Dom7 pentatonic scale, for the diminished 7th is not part of the pentatonic scale. For that reason the pentatonic scale is not listed on dom7 color circle.
The major pentatonic scale can also be played over a minor chord that has the root 3 half notes lower than the root of the major pentatonic scale (compare parallel major/minor scales, they have the same key signatures).

Chords

Cmaj7

C7

Dm7

D7sus

Em7b6

Fmaj7

Gm7

G7sus

Am7

More pentatonic scales (not included in the ScaleTwister)

Gagaku (2nd mode of the Bb major pentatonic scale)

C

D

F

G

Bb

C

W T W T W

In-Sen-Scale

E

F

A

B

D

E

H 2 W W T W

In-Sen-Scale

F

A

B

D

E

F

The second mode fits the Fmaj7#11 chord

B

D

E

F

A

B

The fourth mode fits the Bm7b5 chord

D

E

F

A

B

D

The fifth mode fits the Dm6 chord

Okinawa

C

E

F

G

B

C

2WHW2WH

Kumoi

C

D

Eb

G

A

C

WH2WWT

Japanese

C

Db

F

G

Ab

C

H2WWH2W

BeBop

Charly Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonius Monk and the young Miles Davis are only some of the masters of Bebop. Of course you will find the scales they used with ScaleTwister.

With the augmented fifth, or respectively the diminished sixth, the major Bebop scale contains one more note than the major scale.

Scale	Notes	Intervals
Major scale	C D E F G A B C	W W H W W W H
Major Bebop scale	C D E F G G# A B C	W W H W H H W H

When you compare the two scales (transposed in C), you can see that the only difference is the augmented fifth.

Click on the notes to hear the major Bebop scale.

The Bebop scales of the ScaleTwister

Major-BeBop	C D E F G G# A B C	W W H W H H W H
Dom7 BeBop	C D E F G A Bb B C	W W H W W H H H
Half Dim.BeBop	C C# D# F F# G G# Bb C	H W W H H H W W
Minor-BeBop-Scale 1	C D Eb E F G A Bb C	W H H H W W H W
Minor-Bebop-Scale 2	C D Eb F G G# A B C	W H W W H H W H

Application

The scale fits with the major seven chord and augmented major seven chord. A C major Bebop scale can also be played as a bridge over the following chord progression: Cmaj7- Bm7b5 - E7 - Am

Chords

C-Major BeBop-Scale:

C

Cmaj7

Cmaj7#5

Cmaj9

C6

Dmaj7

Amaj7

Over minor chords you can also play the parallel major Bebop scale that is a minor third higher than the root of the chord.

To the theory of parallel scales.

Es-Major BeBop-Skala:

Cm

Cm6

Cm - maj7

With the Chord-ClockClock on the Utilities color circle you can easily read the notes of a chord.

Harmonic Major b6

The harmonic b6 major scale is almost the same as the major scale! The only difference is that the sixth note is diminished by a half note.

The scale got the name from the harmonic minor scale, which has the III and VI degree diminished. Here are the three scales mentioned for comparison:

Scale	Interval	Transposed to C
Major Scale	WWHWWWH	C D E F G A B C
Harmonic Major b6	WWHWHTH	C D E F G Ab B C
Harmonic Minor	WHWWHTH	C D Eb F G Ab B C

Click on the notes to hear the harmonic major b6 scale.

Application

This scale is used for augmented chords.

Chords

Chord	Structure
C+ / C5+ (augmented)	1 3 #5

Harmonic Minor 6th Mode

What has a minor scale lost on the major color circle?

A look at the creation of harmonic minor scale please?

For the VI mode of the harmonic minor scale place F at the first position and let follow the other notes in ascending order. That's it!

Scale	Note sequence	Interval	Transposed to C
Harmonic minor scale	A B C D E F G# A	W H W W H T H	C D Eb F G Ab B C
VI mode harmonic minor	F G# A B C D E F	T H W H W W H	C D# E F# G A B C

Click on the notes to hear the harmonic minor 6th mode — scale

Chords

Cm

Cmb5

Cm6

C°

With the Chord-Clock on the utilities color circle you can easily read the notes of a chord.  

Lydian +4

The lydian mode is the fourth mode of the major scale and has also a major characteristic. To the 7 modes of the major scale

Degree	Scale	Note sequence	Interval	Transposed to C
>I	Iinic (Major)	C D E F G A B C	W W H W W W H	C D E F G A B C
>IV	Lydian (+ 4)	F G A B C D E F	W W W H W W H	C D E F# G A B C

When you compare the two scales (transposed to C), you can observe that the only difference is the augmented fourth degree.

Click on the notes to hear the Lydian +4 scale.

Chords

C

Cmaj7

Cmaj9

C6

Cmaj7#11

With the Chord-Clock on the utilities color circle you can easily read the notes of a chord.

Application

• The fourth degree of the major scale (F) sounds dissonant when played over a major 7 chord (Cmaj7) and should be avoided. With the lydian scale you can avoid this problem!
• If exclusively the Lydian mode is used, the symbol Cmaj7#11 appears for the score. (with the option 11 a F is added to the Cmaj7 chord. With the symbol #11 the F is augmented to F#).
• The Lydian scale can be used as a substitute for other modes.

To mode substitution

The three Lydian scales for comparison

	Lydian (+4)	W W W H W W H	C D E F# G A B C
	Lydian expanded (+4+5)	W W W W H W H	C D E F# G# A B C
Dom7	Lydian (+4) dominant	W W W H W H W	C D E F# G A Bb C

Lydian augmented

This scale is the third mode of the melodic minor scale. The fourth and fifth degree are augmented by a half note. This is a good reason to examine the modes of the melodic minor scale a little closer!

The 7 modes for the melodic minor scale

Degree	Scale	Note sequence	Interval	Transposed to C
I	Melodic minor	A B C D E F# G# A	WHWWWWH	C D Eb F G A B C
II	Phrygian #6	B C D E F# G# A B	HWWWWHW	C C# D# F G A Bb C
III	Lydian expanded	C D E F# G# A B C	WWWWHWH	C D E F# G# A B C
IV	Lydian dominant	D E F# G# A B C D	WWWHWHW	C D E F# G A Bb C
V	Hindu / 5.Modus	E F# G# A B C D E	WWHWHWW	C D E F G G# Bb C
VI	Locrian #2	F# G# A B C D E F#	WHWHWWW	C D Eb F Gb Ab Bb C
VII	Diminished whole note scale	G# A B C D E F# G#	HWHWWWW	C C# D# E F# G# Bb C

Click on the notes to hear the Major Lydian augmented +4 +5 scale.

Application

The expanded lydian scale contains an augmented major seven chord (C E G# B) for which there is no standard symbol. This chord is therefore written as following.

Chord

Chord	Structure
Cmaj7#5	1 3 5# 7
Cmaj7 augm	1 3 5# 7
Cmaj7+	1 3 5# 7

Augmented

This scale contains 6 notes and when you transpose it you will notice that there are only four different variations! The fifth variation has the same notes as the first.

C	D#	E	G	G#	B	C	T H T H T H
C#	E	F	G#	A	C	C#	T H T H T H
D	F	F#	A	Bb	C#	D	T H T H T H
D#	F#	G	Bb	B	D	D#	T H T H T H
E	G	G#	B	C	D#	E	T H T H T H

Click on the notes to hear the Major Augmented scale.

Diminished begin with H Step

The Half note — Whole note scale consists of eight notes and is built by alternating half and whole note steps. It is a diminished symmetric scale. To the overview of the symmetric scales.

(The diminished scale that is built by alternating half and whole note steps, but starts with a whole note step, is on the minor color circle)

When transposing you will notice that there are only three variations for the Half note — Whole note scale, respectively you only have to learn three patterns.

In C	C	C#	D#	E	F#	G	A	Bb	first variation
In C#	C#	D	E	F	G	G#	Bb	B	seconde variation
In D	D	D#	F	F#	G#	A	B	C	third variation *
In D#	D#	E	F#	G	A	Bb	C	C#	same notes as in C

* The third variation (in D) contains the same notes as the Whole note — Half note scale in C (first mode). Look Diminished, begin with W step on the minor color circle)

The fourth variation (D#) contains again the same notes as the first variation. The scale repeats itself in frequency of a minor third, which leads to the following arrangement.

C	+ minor third	D#	+ minor third	F#	+ minor third	A	first variation
C#		E		G		Bb	second variation
D		F		G#		B	third variation

The three preceding variations of the scale can be played to above major keys.

Click on the notes to hear the Major Diminished scale.

Application

In the 40's, the BeBop area, these diminished chords were often used as intermediate chords or as substitutes for major seven chords on the V degree and are an essential part of Jazz music.

In general this diminished scale fits with dominant seven chords (the scale could also be depicted on the Dom7 color circle) with diminished fifth and diminished second. The sound of John Coltrane and Michael Brecker is often associated with this scale.

Chords

Chord	Notes
C7b9	C C# E G Bb
C7b9b5	C C# E F# Bb

The symmetric scales

A symmetric scale has the property that its modes result in the same scales as the original scale.

The chromatic scale

The chromatic scale has exclusively half note steps intervals. Every mode of this scale is also a chromatic scale.

C

C#

D

D#

E

F

F#

G

G#

A

Bb

B

Whole note scale

All intervals of this scale are whole note steps. Because of its structure the scale can be transposed only once. There are only two variations! To whole note scale.

C

D

E

F#

G#

Bb

C#

D#

F

G

A

B

Diminished symmetric scale

Diminished symmetric scales consist of alternating half and whole note steps. The Whole note — Half note scale starts with a whole note step. This scale is also in short called Diminished scale. To whole note- half note scale.

The Whole note — Half note scale starts with a whole note step.

C

D

D#

F

F#

G#

A

B

W

H

W

H

W

H

W

The Half note — Whole note scale starts with a half note step.

C

C#

D#

E

F#

G

A

Bb

H

W

H

W

H

W

H

Major — Blues — Scale

On the ScaleTwister the major pentatonic is listed with two Blue Notes. The traditional Blues form is 12 measures long and has a chord progression of I degree (Tonic), the IV degree (Subdominant) and the V degree (Dominant). Playing the 12 measures is called chorus and over the whole progression the same blues scale can be played.

Click on the notes to hear the Blues-Scale.

General Blues Scale

You can always use the general blues scale it does not matter if it is a major or minor blues. It is a minor pentatonic scale expanded with a diminished fifth. Here is the construction:

Scale	Note Sequence	Intervals
Pentatonic minor scale	C Eb F G Bb C	T W W T W
General blues scale	C Eb F Gb G Bb C	T W H H T W

Chords

C7

C9

C11

C13

C7b5

C7#9

B.B.King Blues-Scale

B. B. King uses a variation of the general blues scale, instead of the diminished VII degree the VI degree is used and thus it sounds happier.

B.B. King Blues-Scale

C Eb F Gb G A C

T W H H W T

Major- Blues 1: xpanded Pentatonic Major Scale

For a major blues you can also embed the Blue Notes into the pentatonic major scale or the mixolydian major scale.

Scale	Note Sequence	Intervals
Major pentatonic	C D E G A C	WWTWT
+ 1. BlueNote	C D E G A Bb C	WWTWHW
+ 2. BlueNote	C D Eb E G A Bb C	WHHTWHW

You can find the mixolydian major scale with Blue Notes on the Dom7 color circle.

Major Blues 2, Expanded Mixolydian Scale

You can find the mixolydian mode on the V degree of the major scale. This scale contains already the diminished VII degree and has a major characteristic too.

Scale	Note sequence	Intervals	Transposed to C
Major scale (I mode)	C D E F G A B C	WWHWWWH	C D E F G A B C
Mixolydian (V mode)	G A B C D E F G	WWHWWHW	C D E F G A Bb C
Mixolydian + 2 Blue Notes	G A Bb B C Db D E F G	WHHHHHWHW	C D Eb E F Gb G A Bb C

Chords

C

C6

C7

C9

Cmaj7

Cmaj9

Application

The real Blue Notes are between Eb and E, Bb and B or Gb and G. With string instruments this effect is realized by playing for example Eb and then bending the string slightly.

With wind instruments Blue Notes are played with the so called "lipping down" technique, by e. g. playing an E and then changing the note downwards. On the ScaleTwister you can find various Blues Scales. This link gets you to an overview of blues scales.

Example of a major blues progression with suitable scales

If you constantly play the same blues scale over the entire chorus you might run out of ideas. Fortunately you have access to other scales to keep your improvisation interesting.

C7	F	C7	Gm7 / C7
C-Major blues / C-General blues scale / G-Melodic minor			F-Major
F7	F7	C7	Em7 / A7
C-Melodic minor		C-General blues scale	D-Harmonic minor
Dm7	G7	C7 / A7	Dm7 / G7
C-Major / D-Dorian	Ab-Melodisch Moll	C-Blues

Blues-Scales

Major Blues Scales

General blues scale	C Eb F Gb G Bb C	T W H H T W
B. B. King blues scale	C Eb F Gb G A C	T W H H W T
Major pentatonic + 1. Blue note	C D E G A Bb C	W W T W H W
Major pentatonic + 2. Blue note	C D Eb E G A Bb C	W H H T W H W

Minor Blues Scales

General blues scale	C Eb F Gb G Bb C	T W H H T W
Expanded general blues scale	C D Eb F F# G Ab Bb C	W H W H H H W W

Dom7- Blues - Scales

General blues scale	C Eb F Gb G Bb C	T W H H T W
Mixolydian + 2 Blue  Notes	C D Eb E F Gb G A Bb C	W H H H H H W H W