en.wikipedia.

org

Scale(music)Wikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia
PatternofintervalsintheCmajorscalePlay
Inmusictheory,ascaleisanysetofmusicalnotesorderedby
fundamentalfrequencyorpitch.Ascaleorderedbyincreasingpitchis
anascendingscale,andascaleorderedbydecreasingpitchisadescendingscale.Somescalescontain
differentpitcheswhenascendingthanwhendescending.Forexample,theMelodicminorscale.
Often,especiallyinthecontextofthecommonpracticeperiod,mostorallofthemelodyandharmonyofa
musicalworkisbuiltusingthenotesofasinglescale,whichcanbeconvenientlyrepresentedonastaffwitha
standardkeysignature.[1]
Duetotheprincipleofoctaveequivalence,scalesaregenerallyconsideredtospanasingleoctave,withhigher
orloweroctavessimplyrepeatingthepattern.Amusicalscalerepresentsadivisionoftheoctavespaceintoa
certainnumberofscalesteps,ascalestepbeingtherecognizabledistance(orinterval)betweentwo
successivenotesofthescale.[2]However,thereisnoneedforscalestepstobeequalwithinanyscaleand,
particularlyasdemonstratedbymicrotonalmusic,thereisnolimittohowmanynotescanbeinjectedwithin
anygivenmusicalinterval.
Ameasureofthewidthofeachscalestepprovidesamethodtoclassifyscales.Forinstance,inachromatic
scaleeachscalesteprepresentsasemitoneinterval,whileamajorscaleisdefinedbytheintervalpatternT
TSTTTS,whereTstandsforwholetone(anintervalspanningtwosemitones),andSstandsfor
semitone.Basedontheirintervalpatterns,scalesareputintocategoriesincludingdiatonic,chromatic,
major,minor,andothers.
Aspecificscaleisdefinedbyitscharacteristicintervalpatternandbyaspecialnote,knownasitsfirstdegree
(ortonic).Thetonicofascaleisthenoteselectedasthebeginningoftheoctave,andthereforeasthe
beginningoftheadoptedintervalpattern.Typically,thenameofthescalespecifiesbothitstonicandits
intervalpattern.Forexample,CmajorindicatesamajorscaleinwhichCisthetonic.

Contents
Background
Scales,steps,andintervals
Diatonicscaleinthechromaticcircle
Scalesaretypicallylistedfromlowtohigh.Mostscalesareoctaverepeating,
meaningtheirpatternofnotesisthesameineveryoctave(theBohlenPiercescale
isoneexception).Anoctaverepeatingscalecanberepresentedasacircular
arrangementofpitchclasses,orderedbyincreasing(ordecreasing)pitchclass.For
instance,theincreasingCmajorscaleisCDEFGAB[C],withthebracket
indicatingthatthelastnoteisanoctavehigherthanthefirstnote,andthe
decreasingCmajorscaleisCBAGFED[C],withthebracketindicatingan
octavelowerthanthefirstnoteinthescale.
Thedistancebetweentwosuccessivenotesinascaleiscalledascalestep.
Thenotesofascalearenumberedbytheirstepsfromtherootofthescale.Forexample,inaCmajorscale
thefirstnoteisC,thesecondD,thethirdEandsoon.Twonotescanalsobenumberedinrelationtoeach
other:CandEcreateanintervalofathird(inthiscaseamajorthird)DandFalsocreateathird(inthiscase
aminorthird).

Scalesandpitch

Asinglescalecanbemanifestedatmanydifferentpitchlevels.Forexample,aCmajorscalecanbestartedat
C4(middleCseescientificpitchnotation)andascendinganoctavetoC5oritcouldbestartedatC6,
ascendinganoctavetoC7.Aslongasallthenotescanbeplayed,theoctavetheytakeoncanbealtered.

Typesofscale
Scalesmaybedescribedaccordingtotheintervalstheycontain:
orbythenumberofdifferentpitchclassestheycontain:
Octatonic(8notesperoctave):usedinjazzandmodernclassicalmusic
Heptatonic(7notesperoctave):themostcommonmodernWesternscale
Hexatonic(6notesperoctave):commoninWesternfolkmusic
Pentatonic(5notesperoctave):theanhemitonicform(lackingsemitones)iscommoninfolkmusic,
especiallyinorientalmusicalsoknownasthe"blacknote"scale
Tetratonic(4notes),tritonic(3notes),andditonic(2notes):generallylimitedtoprehistoric
("primitive")music
Monotonic(1note):limiteduseinliturgy,andforeffectinmodernartmusic
"Thenumberofthenotesthatmakeupascaleaswellasthequalityoftheintervalsbetweensuccessivenotes
ofthescalehelptogivethemusicofacultureareaitspeculiarsoundquality."[3]"Thepitchdistancesor
intervalsamongthenotesofascaletellusmoreaboutthesoundofthemusicthandoesthemerenumberof
tones."[4]

Harmoniccontent
Thenotesofascaleformintervalswitheachoftheothernotesofthechordincombination.A5notescale
has10oftheseharmonicintervals,a6notescalehas15,a7notescalehas21,an8notescalehas28.[5]
Thoughthescaleisnotachord,andmightneverbeheardmorethanonenoteatatime,stilltheabsence,
presence,andplacementofcertainkeyintervalsplaysalargepartinthesoundofthescale,thenatural
movementofmelodywithinthescale,andtheselectionofchordstakennaturallyfromthescale.[6]
Amusicalscalecontainingtritonesiscalledtritoniconewithouttritonesisatritonic.Ascaleorchord
containingsemitonesiscalledhemitoniconewithoutsemitonesisanhemitonic.Thesignificanceofthese
categoriesliesintheirbasesofsemitonesandtritonesbeingtheseverestofdissonances,avoidanceofwhich
isoftendesirable.Themostusedscalesacrosstheplanetareanhemitonic.

Scalesincomposition
ThelydianmodePlay,middle,functionsasanintermediarybetweenthewhole
tonescalePlay,top,andthemajorscalePlay,bottom.
Scalescanbeabstractedfromperformanceorcomposition.Theyarealsooften
usedprecompositionallytoguideorlimitacomposition.Explicitinstructionin
scaleshasbeenpartofcompositionaltrainingformanycenturies.Oneormore
scalesmaybeusedinacomposition,suchasinClaudeDebussy'sL'IsleJoyeuse
.[7]Totheright,thefirstscaleisawholetonescale,whilethesecondandthird
scalesarediatonicscales.AllthreeareusedintheopeningpagesofDebussy'spiece.

Westernmusic
ScalesintraditionalWesternmusicgenerallyconsistofsevennotesandrepeatattheoctave.Notesin
thecommonlyusedscales(seejustbelow)areseparatedbywholeandhalfstepintervalsoftonesand
semitones.Theharmonicminorscaleincludesathreesemitonesteptheanhemitonicpentatonicincludes
twoofthoseandnosemitones.

WesternmusicintheMedievalandRenaissanceperiods(11001600)tendstousethewhitenotediatonic
scaleCDEFGAB.Accidentalsarerare,andsomewhatunsystematicallyused,oftentoavoidthe
tritone.
Musicofthecommonpracticeperiods(16001900)usesthreetypesofscale:
Thediatonicscale(sevennotes)thisincludesthemajorscaleandthenaturalminor
Themelodicandharmonicminorscales(sevennotes)
Thesescalesareusedinalloftheirtranspositions.Themusicofthisperiodintroducesmodulation,which
involvessystematicchangesfromonescaletoanother.Modulationoccursinrelativelyconventionalized
ways.Forexample,majormodepiecestypicallybeginina"tonic"diatonicscaleandmodulatetothe
"dominant"scaleafifthabove.
Inthe19thcentury(toacertainextent),butmoreinthe20thcentury,additionaltypesofscaleswere
explored:
Thechromaticscale(twelvenotes)
Thewholetonescale(sixnotes)
Thepentatonicscale(fivenotes)
Theoctatonicordiminishedscales(eightnotes)
Alargevarietyofotherscalesexists,someofthemorecommonbeing:
Scalessuchasthepentatonicscalemaybeconsideredgappedrelativetothediatonicscale.Anauxiliaryscale
isascaleotherthantheprimaryororiginalscale.See:modulation(music)andAuxiliarydiminishedscale.

Namingthenotesofascale
Inmanymusicalcircumstances,aspecificnoteofthescalewillbechosenasthetonicthecentralandmost
stablenoteofthescale,alsoknownastherootnote.Relativetoachoiceoftonic,thenotesofascaleare
oftenlabeledwithnumbersrecordinghowmanyscalestepsabovethetonictheyare.Forexample,thenotes
oftheCmajorscale(C,D,E,F,G,A,B)canbelabeled{1,2,3,4,5,6,7},reflectingthechoiceofCastonic.
Theexpressionscaledegreereferstothesenumericallabels.Suchlabelingrequiresthechoiceofa"first"
notehencescaledegreelabelsarenotintrinsictothescaleitself,butrathertoitsmodes.Forexample,ifwe
chooseAastonic,thenwecanlabelthenotesoftheCmajorscaleusingA=1,B=2,C=3,andsoon.When
wedoso,wecreateanewscalecalledtheAminorscale.Seethemusicalnotearticleforhowthenotesare
customarilynamedindifferentcountries.
Thescaledegreesofaheptatonic(7note)scalecanalsobenamedusingthetermstonic,supertonic,mediant
,subdominant,dominant,submediant,subtonic.Ifthesubtonicisasemitoneawayfromthetonic,thenitis
usuallycalledtheleadingtone(orleadingnote)otherwisetheleadingtonereferstotheraisedsubtonic.
Alsocommonlyusedisthe(movabledo)solfgenamingconventioninwhicheachscaledegreeisdenotedby
asyllable.Inthemajorscale,thesolfegesyllablesare:Do,Re,Mi,Fa,So(orSol),La,Ti(orSi),Do(orUt).
Innamingthenotesofascale,itiscustomarythateachscaledegreebeassigneditsownlettername:for
example,theAmajorscaleiswrittenABCDEFGratherthanABDDEEG.However,
itisimpossibletodothiswithscalescontainingmorethansevennotes.
Scalesmayalsobeidentifiedbyusingabinarysystemoftwelvezerosoronestorepresenteachofthetwelve
notesofachromaticscale.Itisassumedthatthescaleistunedusing12toneequaltemperament(sothat,for
instance,CisthesameasD),andthatthetonicisintheleftmostposition.Forexamplethebinarynumber

101011010101,equivalenttothedecimalnumber2773,wouldrepresentanymajorscale(suchasCDEF
GAB).Thissystemincludesscalesfrom100000000000(2048)to111111111111(4095),providingatotalof
2048possiblespecies,butonly352uniquescalescontainingfrom1to12notes.[8]
Scalesmayalsobeshownassemitones(orfretpositions)fromthetonic.Forinstance,02457911denotes
anymajorscalesuchasCDEFGAB,inwhichthefirstdegreeis,obviously,0semitonesfromthetonic
(andthereforecoincideswithit),thesecondis2semitonesfromthetonic,thethirdis4semitonesfromthe
tonic,andsoon.Again,thisimpliesthatthenotesaredrawnfromachromaticscaletunedwith12toneequal
temperament.

Scalartransposition
Composersoftentransformmusicalpatternsbymovingeverynoteinthepatternbyaconstantnumberof
scalesteps:thus,intheCmajorscale,thepatternCDEmightbeshiftedup,ortransposed,asinglescale
steptobecomeDEF.Thisprocessiscalled"scalartransposition"andcanoftenbefoundinmusical
sequences.Sincethestepsofascalecanhavevarioussizes,thisprocessintroducessubtlemelodicand
harmonicvariationintothemusic.Thisvariationiswhatgivesscalarmusicmuchofitscomplexity.

Jazzandblues
Throughtheintroductionofbluenotes,jazzandbluesemployscaleintervalssmallerthanasemitone.The
bluenoteisanintervalthatistechnicallyneithermajornorminorbut"inthemiddle",givingita
characteristicflavour.Forinstance,inthekeyofE,thebluenotewouldbeeitheranotebetweenGandGor
anotemovingbetweenboth.Inbluesapentatonicscaleisoftenused.Injazzmanydifferentmodesandscales
areused,oftenwithinthesamepieceofmusic.Chromaticscalesarecommon,especiallyinmodernjazz.

NonWesternscales
InWesternmusic,scalenotesareoftenseparatedbyequallytemperedtonesorsemitones,creating12notes
peroctave.Manyothermusicaltraditionsusescalesthatincludeotherintervalsoradifferentnumberof
pitches.Thesescalesoriginatewithinthederivationoftheharmonicseries.Musicalintervalsare
complementaryvaluesoftheharmonicovertonesseries.[9]Manymusicalscalesintheworldarebasedon
thissystem,exceptmostofthemusicalscalesfromIndonesiaandtheIndochinaPeninsulae,whicharebased
oninharmonicresonanceofthedominantmetalophoneandxylophoneinstruments.Acommonscalein
Easternmusicisthepentatonicscale,consistingoffivenotes.IntheMiddleEasternHejazscale,thereare
someintervalsofthreesemitones.GamelanmusicusesasmallvarietyofscalesincludingPlogandSlndro,
noneincludingequallytemperednorharmonicintervals.Indianclassicalmusicusesamoveablesevennote
scale.IndianRgasoftenuseintervalssmallerthanasemitone.[10]Arabicmusicmaqamatmayusequarter
toneintervals.[11]Inbothrgasandmaqamat,thedistancebetweenanoteandaninflection(e.g.,ruti)of
thatsamenotemaybelessthanasemitone.

Microtonalscales
ThetermmicrotonalmusicusuallyreferstomusicwithrootsintraditionalWesternmusicthatusesnon
standardscalesorscaleintervals.MexicancomposerJulinCarrillocreatedinthelate19thcentury
microtonalscaleswhichhecalled"Sonido13",ThecomposerHarryPartchmadecustommusical
instrumentstoplaycompositionsthatemployeda43notescalesystem,andtheAmericanjazzvibraphonist
EmilRichardsexperimentedwithsuchscalesinhisMicrotonalBluesBandinthe1970s.EasleyBlackwood
haswrittencompositionsinallequaltemperedscalesfrom13to24notes.ErvWilsonintroducedconcepts
suchasCombinationProductSets(Hexany),MomentsofSymmetryandgoldenhoragrams,usedbymany
moderncomposers.MicrotonalscalesarealsousedintraditionalIndianRagamusic,whichhasavarietyof
modeswhichareusednotonlyasmodesorscalesbutalsoasdefiningelementsofthesong,orraga.

Seealso
References

1. Benward,BruceandSaker,MarilynNadine(2003).Music:InTheoryandPractice,seventhedition:
vol.1,p.25.Boston:McGrawHill.ISBN9780072942620.
2. Hewitt,Michael(2013).MusicalScalesoftheWorld,pp.23.TheNoteTree.ISBN978095754700
1.
3. Nzewi,MekiandNzewi,Odyke(2007).AContemporaryStudyofMusicalArts,p.34.ISBN9781
920051624.
4. Nettl,BrunoandMyers,Helen(1976).FolkMusicintheUnitedStates,p.39.ISBN9780814315576
.
5. Hanson,Howard.(1960)HarmonicMaterialsofModernMusic,p.7ff.NewYork:AppletonCentury
Crofts.LOC588138.
6. Hanson,Howard.(1960)HarmonicMaterialsofModernMusic,p.7ff.NewYork:AppletonCentury
Crofts.LOC588138.
7. DmitriTymoczko,"ScaleNetworksandDebussy",JournalofMusicTheory48,no.2(Fall2004):219
94citationon25464
8. Duncan,Andrew."CombinatorialMusicTheory",JournaloftheAudioEngineeringSociety,vol.39,
pp.427448.(1991June).AndrewDuncan.ws.
9. ExplanationoftheoriginofmusicalscalesclarifiedbyastringdivisionmethodbyYuriLandmanon
furious.com
10. Burns,EdwardM.1998."Intervals,Scales,andTuning.",p.247.InThePsychologyofMusic,second
edition,editedbyDianaDeutsch,21564.NewYork:AcademicPress.ISBN0122135644.
11. Zonis[Mahler],Ella.1973.ClassicalPersianMusic:AnIntroduction.Cambridge,MA:Harvard
UniversityPress.

Furtherreading
Yamaguchi,Masaya.2006.TheCompleteThesaurusofMusicalScales,revisededition.NewYork:
MasayaMusicServices.ISBN0967635306.

Externallinks
Wikiquotehasquotations
relatedto:Scale
(music)

WikimediaCommonshas
mediarelatedtoMusical
scales.