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Scales & arpeggios, on four strings

Every scale, mode and arpeggio in the catalog, mapped to the bass — positions, patterns, the metronome, and the bass clef.

A free account opens the major scale, its seven triads and their arpeggios. The full catalogue is on the Rising Star plan. Create the free account — or see the plans.

Major & its modes

  • Major (Ionian)The familiar do-re-mi scale — the bright home base of most Western music.Free with an account
  • DorianA minor-sounding mode with one bright spot — a raised 6th — loved by folk and jazz.Rising Star plan
  • PhrygianA dark minor mode whose lowered 2nd gives it a Spanish, exotic flavour.Rising Star plan
  • LydianA major scale with a raised 4th, giving a floating, dreamy film-score sound.Rising Star plan
  • MixolydianA major scale with a lowered 7th — the relaxed sound of blues, rock and folk tunes.Rising Star plan
  • Natural minor (Aeolian)The standard sad-sounding minor scale, built from exactly the notes of its relative major.Rising Star plan
  • LocrianThe darkest mode — lowered 2nd and 5th make it unstable, so it is rarely a home key.Rising Star plan

Minor scales

  • Harmonic minorA minor scale with the 7th raised, creating a dramatic gap that pulls hard back to the tonic.Rising Star plan
  • Melodic minor (ascending)A minor scale with raised 6th and 7th, smoothing out harmonic minor’s big gap on the way up.Rising Star plan

Harmonic-minor modes

  • Locrian natural 6Locrian brightened by a natural 6th — the second mode of harmonic minor, a warmer half-diminished colour.Rising Star plan
  • Ionian #5 (augmented major)A major scale whose raised 5th gives it an augmented glow — the third mode of harmonic minor.Rising Star plan
  • Dorian #4 (Ukrainian Dorian)Dorian with a raised 4th — the fourth mode of harmonic minor, a klezmer and Eastern-European folk favourite.Rising Star plan
  • Phrygian dominant (Spanish Phrygian)Phrygian with a major 3rd — the fifth mode of harmonic minor, the classic flamenco and klezmer sound.Rising Star plan
  • Lydian #2Lydian with a raised 2nd on top of its raised 4th — the sixth mode of harmonic minor, bright to the point of exotic.Rising Star plan
  • Super-Locrian bb7 (altered diminished)The altered scale with its 7th lowered once more — the seventh mode of harmonic minor, as dark as scales get.Rising Star plan

Melodic-minor modes

  • Dorian b2 (Phrygian natural 6)Dorian with a lowered 2nd — a moody jazz colour, the second mode of melodic minor.Rising Star plan
  • Lydian augmentedLydian with a raised 5th on top of its raised 4th — bright and otherworldly.Rising Star plan
  • Lydian dominant (overtone)A raised 4th plus a bluesy lowered 7th — the classic scale for colourful dominant chords.Rising Star plan
  • Mixolydian b6 (melodic major)Major at the bottom, minor at the top — Mixolydian with a lowered 6th.Rising Star plan
  • Locrian natural 2 (half-diminished scale)Locrian softened by a natural 2nd — the usual choice over half-diminished chords.Rising Star plan
  • Altered (Super-Locrian)Every colour note above the root is altered — the go-to scale for maximum-tension dominants.Rising Star plan

Pentatonic & blues

  • Major pentatonicA five-note major scale with the semitones removed, so almost anything you play sounds good.Rising Star plan
  • Minor pentatonicThe five-note minor scale behind countless rock and blues solos.Rising Star plan
  • Minor bluesThe minor pentatonic plus one extra “blue note” squeezed between the 4th and 5th.Rising Star plan
  • Major bluesThe major pentatonic with the flat third slipped in - the bright, rolling blues of country and western swing.Rising Star plan
  • Dominant bluesWhat players really run over a dominant seventh: the major scale with a flat seven and the blue third.Rising Star plan
  • Dominant pentatonicFive notes of mixolydian - a major pentatonic with the flat seven instead of the sixth.Rising Star plan

Symmetric

  • Whole toneEvery step is a whole tone, giving a floating, dreamlike sound with no pull to a home note.Rising Star plan
  • Diminished (half–whole)Half and whole steps alternating, starting with a half — a tense jazz scale for dominant chords.Rising Star plan
  • Diminished (whole–half)Whole and half steps alternating, starting with a whole — the classic scale over diminished chords.Rising Star plan
  • ChromaticEvery one of the twelve keys in order — pure finger-work with no key centre.Rising Star plan

Arpeggios

  • Major arpeggioThe notes of a major chord — root, 3rd and 5th — played one at a time.Free with an account
  • Minor arpeggioThe notes of a minor chord played one at a time.Free with an account
  • Diminished arpeggioA minor arpeggio with the 5th lowered — tense and unstable.Free with an account
  • Augmented arpeggioA major arpeggio with the 5th raised — evenly spaced and mysterious.Rising Star plan
  • Dominant 7th arpeggioA major chord plus a lowered 7th — the chord that wants to resolve home.Rising Star plan
  • Major 7th arpeggioA major chord plus a major 7th — a warm, jazzy four-note sound.Rising Star plan
  • Minor 7th arpeggioA minor chord plus a lowered 7th — mellow and smooth.Rising Star plan
  • Half-diminished 7th arpeggio (m7b5)A diminished triad with a lowered 7th — the wistful “minor 7 flat 5” sound.Rising Star plan
  • Diminished 7th arpeggioFour notes all a minor 3rd apart — maximum tension, repeating every three semitones.Rising Star plan

Bass sound: Karoryfer Samples (CC0) · real recordings, per note