Scales
Every scale, mode and arpeggio here plays in any key, ascending or descending, one crotchet per note, with the speed ladder — and standard fingering for both hands where a real standard exists.
Major & its modes
- Major (Ionian)The familiar do-re-mi scale — the bright home base of most Western music.
- DorianA minor-sounding mode with one bright spot — a raised 6th — loved by folk and jazz.
- PhrygianA dark minor mode whose lowered 2nd gives it a Spanish, exotic flavour.
- LydianA major scale with a raised 4th, giving a floating, dreamy film-score sound.
- MixolydianA major scale with a lowered 7th — the relaxed sound of blues, rock and folk tunes.
- Natural minor (Aeolian)The standard sad-sounding minor scale, built from exactly the notes of its relative major.
- LocrianThe darkest mode — lowered 2nd and 5th make it unstable, so it is rarely a home key.
Minor scales
Harmonic-minor modes
- Locrian natural 6Locrian brightened by a natural 6th — the second mode of harmonic minor, a warmer half-diminished colour.
- Ionian #5 (augmented major)A major scale whose raised 5th gives it an augmented glow — the third mode of harmonic minor.
- Dorian #4 (Ukrainian Dorian)Dorian with a raised 4th — the fourth mode of harmonic minor, a klezmer and Eastern-European folk favourite.
- Phrygian dominant (Spanish Phrygian)Phrygian with a major 3rd — the fifth mode of harmonic minor, the classic flamenco and klezmer sound.
- Lydian #2Lydian with a raised 2nd on top of its raised 4th — the sixth mode of harmonic minor, bright to the point of exotic.
- 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.
Melodic-minor modes
- Dorian b2 (Phrygian natural 6)Dorian with a lowered 2nd — a moody jazz colour, the second mode of melodic minor.
- Lydian augmentedLydian with a raised 5th on top of its raised 4th — bright and otherworldly.
- Lydian dominant (overtone)A raised 4th plus a bluesy lowered 7th — the classic scale for colourful dominant chords.
- Mixolydian b6 (melodic major)Major at the bottom, minor at the top — Mixolydian with a lowered 6th.
- Locrian natural 2 (half-diminished scale)Locrian softened by a natural 2nd — the usual choice over half-diminished chords.
- Altered (Super-Locrian)Every colour note above the root is altered — the go-to scale for maximum-tension dominants.
Pentatonic & blues
- Major pentatonicA five-note major scale with the semitones removed, so almost anything you play sounds good.
- Minor pentatonicThe five-note minor scale behind countless rock and blues solos.
- Minor bluesThe minor pentatonic plus one extra “blue note” squeezed between the 4th and 5th.
- Major bluesThe major pentatonic with the flat third slipped in - the bright, rolling blues of country and western swing.
- Dominant bluesWhat players really run over a dominant seventh: the major scale with a flat seven and the blue third.
- Dominant pentatonicFive notes of mixolydian - a major pentatonic with the flat seven instead of the sixth.
Symmetric
- Whole toneEvery step is a whole tone, giving a floating, dreamlike sound with no pull to a home note.
- Diminished (half–whole)Half and whole steps alternating, starting with a half — a tense jazz scale for dominant chords.
- Diminished (whole–half)Whole and half steps alternating, starting with a whole — the classic scale over diminished chords.
- ChromaticEvery one of the twelve keys in order — pure finger-work with no key centre.
Arpeggios
- Major arpeggioThe notes of a major chord — root, 3rd and 5th — played one at a time.
- Minor arpeggioThe notes of a minor chord played one at a time.
- Diminished arpeggioA minor arpeggio with the 5th lowered — tense and unstable.
- Augmented arpeggioA major arpeggio with the 5th raised — evenly spaced and mysterious.
- Dominant 7th arpeggioA major chord plus a lowered 7th — the chord that wants to resolve home.
- Major 7th arpeggioA major chord plus a major 7th — a warm, jazzy four-note sound.
- Minor 7th arpeggioA minor chord plus a lowered 7th — mellow and smooth.
- Half-diminished 7th arpeggio (m7b5)A diminished triad with a lowered 7th — the wistful “minor 7 flat 5” sound.
- Diminished 7th arpeggioFour notes all a minor 3rd apart — maximum tension, repeating every three semitones.