Guitar Scales
Guitar scales.
Every scale, in every key, with the fretboard patterns drawn out. Movable shapes, box numbers, and the root notes marked so you can see where the key lives.
- Scales
- 107
- Types
- 13
- Fretboard patterns
- 373
- Tuning
- E A D G B E
How scales work on guitar
Guitar scales are shapes, not note names. Because the fretboard repeats, one pattern played two frets higher is the same scale in a new key — which is why learning five boxes gets you twelve keys.
Reading the diagrams
Low string on the left, frets running down the page. Filled dots are root notes, outlined dots are the rest of the scale, and the number inside each dot is its scale degree.
root notescale notenumbers inside the dots are scale degrees
Major (Ionian) scales
The default. Nursery rhymes, pop choruses, and almost every melody you already know.
The reference scale — every other scale is described by how it differs from this one. Learn one major scale properly and you have the map for keys, chords and the circle of fifths.
Formula 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · 7 — 12 keys
Natural Minor (Aeolian) scales
The sad one. Same seven notes as its relative major, started three semitones lower.
Flatten the 3rd, 6th and 7th of a major scale and you get natural minor. It shares a key signature with its relative major, which is why the two feel like the same room lit differently.
Formula 1 · 2 · ♭3 · 4 · 5 · ♭6 · ♭7 — 12 keys
Harmonic Minor scales
Minor with a raised 7th — the sound of classical cadences and metal neoclassicism.
Raising the 7th of a natural minor gives you a real leading tone, so V becomes a major chord that pulls hard back to i. The gap it opens between the ♭6 and the 7 is the exotic step everyone hears.
Formula 1 · 2 · ♭3 · 4 · 5 · ♭6 · 7 — 12 keys
Melodic Minor scales
Jazz minor. Minor 3rd with a major 6th and 7th on top.
Melodic minor smooths out the awkward leap harmonic minor creates by also raising the 6th. In jazz it is used ascending and descending, and it is the parent of the altered scale.
Formula 1 · 2 · ♭3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · 7 — 12 keys
Major Pentatonic scales
Five notes that never clash — country, folk, and every campfire lead.
The major scale with the two half-step notes removed, which is exactly why it never sounds wrong over a major progression. It is the safest place for a beginner to start improvising.
Formula 1 · 2 · 3 · 5 · 6 — 12 keys
Minor Pentatonic scales
The rock and blues workhorse. If you learn one scale on guitar, learn this one.
Five notes, five boxes, and roughly half of all recorded guitar solos. Pattern 1 is movable, so once you can play it in one key you can play it in twelve.
Formula 1 · ♭3 · 4 · 5 · ♭7 — 12 keys
Blues Scale scales
Minor pentatonic plus the ♭5 — the note that makes it sound like the blues.
Add one chromatic passing note to the minor pentatonic and the whole scale changes character. The ♭5 is a passing tone: lean on it too long and it turns sour, which is the point.
Formula 1 · ♭3 · 4 · ♭5 · 5 · ♭7 — 5 keys
Dorian Mode scales
Minor with a bright 6th — funk vamps, modal jazz, and Santana.
Dorian is natural minor with the 6th raised, which takes the mourning out of minor and leaves something cooler. Play it over a static i–IV vamp and the raised 6th is the note doing the work.
Formula 1 · 2 · ♭3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · ♭7 — 5 keys
Phrygian Mode scales
Minor with a ♭2 — flamenco, Spanish guitar, and a lot of metal riffing.
The ♭2 sits a half step above the root and creates an immediate, unmistakable tension. Phrygian dominant (its harmonic-minor cousin) is the version most flamenco actually uses.
Formula 1 · ♭2 · ♭3 · 4 · 5 · ♭6 · ♭7 — 5 keys
Lydian Mode scales
Major with a raised 4th — film scores and anything that should feel like wonder.
One note separates Lydian from major, and that note (the ♯4) removes the pull toward the subdominant. The result floats instead of resolving.
Formula 1 · 2 · 3 · ♯4 · 5 · 6 · 7 — 5 keys
Mixolydian Mode scales
Major with a ♭7 — dominant chords, blues-rock, and jam-band vamps.
Mixolydian is the scale that matches a dominant 7th chord note-for-note, which makes it the default choice over any V7. It sounds major without ever fully settling.
Formula 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · ♭7 — 5 keys
Locrian Mode scales
The unstable one — a ♭2 and a ♭5 mean it has no stable home chord.
Locrian's tonic triad is diminished, so the scale cannot resolve to itself. In practice it turns up over m7♭5 chords rather than as a key of its own.
Formula 1 · ♭2 · ♭3 · 4 · ♭5 · ♭6 · ♭7 — 5 keys
Whole Tone scales
Six notes, all a whole step apart — dream sequences and augmented harmony.
Perfectly symmetrical, so it has no leading tone and no obvious root. Debussy used it for haze; jazz players use it over 7♯5 chords.
Formula 1 · 2 · 3 · ♯4 · ♯5 · ♭7 — 5 keys