Types of scales
Scale major
Formula T - T - S - T - T - T - SThat's a scale. bright and stable. It's the reference scale of Western music: from it come the tones, the diatonic chords and the solphis (do, re, mi...). Example: C major (Do - re - Mi - Fa - Sol - La - Si).
Scale natural minor
Formula T - S - T - T - S - T - TThat's a scale. dark and melancholic. He shares notes with his relative greater and is the base of ballads, boleros, rock and regresion in minor tone. Example: A natural minor (La - Si - Do - re - Mi - Fa - Sol).
Scale harmonic minor
Formula T - S - T - T - S - T ½ - SThat's a scale. with an Arabic or Flemish air. The seventh degree goes up to have a sensitive that leads to the tonic and from it the dominant chord (V7) comes up in minor tone. Example: A harmonic minor (La - Si - Do - re - Mi - Fa - Sol).
Scale melodic minor
Formula T - S - T - T - T - T - SThat's a scale. lower than first and light as they come up. In classical music it's used as it goes up (with sixth and seventh high) and it's low as a natural minor and in jazz it's used as an equal in both directions. Example: A melodic minor (La - Si - Do - re - Mi - Fa - Sol).
Scale major pentatonic
Formula T - T - T ½ - T ½That's a scale. open, cheerful and without tensions. Five notes without semitones: It's ideal for improvising about bigger chords in pop, country, Andean music and rock. Example: C major pentatonic (Do - re - Mi - Sol - La).
Scale minor pentatonic
Formula T ½ - T - T - T ½ - TThat's a scale. and with a great deal of character. It's the most widely used scale to improvise in rock and blues and the first that they usually learn guitarist and bassist. Example: A minor pentatonic (La - Do - re - Mi - Sol).
Scale blues
Formula T ½ - T - S - S - T ½ - TThat's a scale. minor pentatonic with "blue note" that gives them its dirty color. He adds the fifth diminished to minor pentatonic and is used for blues, rock, jazz and funk soles. Example: A blues (La - Do - re - Mi por - Mi - Sol).
Frequently asked questions
What's a musical scale?
It's a series of notes ordered from grave to acute from a main note (the tonic), following a fixed pattern of tones and semitones. That pattern gives each scale its color: the greater sounds bright, the lower darker and the pentatonic open and without tensions.
What's the difference between the bigger and the smaller scale?
They change the third, sixth and seventh degrees: in the natural minor they are half tone lower. That's why Do mayor (Do - re - Mi - Fa - Sol - La - Si) and Do minor (Do - re - My - Fa - Sol - La - Si -) share the tone but sound quite different. We explain it to you in detail at [best and least explained scales]](/blog/escalas-mayores-y-menores-explicadas).
What scale do you have to learn first?
At the piano, Do mayor, because it's only with white keys. At the guitar, the minor pentatonic of La (at 3), that's the basis to improvise in rock and blues. Then it's worth following the order of circle of quintas): Sun, re, la... adding a sustained at once.
What good are the scales?
To get to know the notes of a tone, understand where the chords of a song come from, improvise and gain agility and precision on their fingers. They are also the basis of reading and listening exercises of music admissions.