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Modern Scale Construction

Name
Pattern in whole steps
and half steps
Scale Steps from C to C’
Chromatic Scale H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H C - C♯ - D - D♯ - E - F - F♯ - G - G♯ - A - A♯ - B - C’
Major Scale W-W-H-W-W-W-H C - D - E - F - G - A - B - C’
Minor, Natural W-H-W-W-H-W-W C - D - E♭ - F - G - A♭ - B♭ - C’
Minor, Melodic
   ascending
   descending

W-H-W-W-W-W-H
W-H-W-W-H-W-W

C - D - E♭ - F - G - A - B - C’
C’ - B♭ - A♭ - G - F - E♭ - D - C
Minor, Harmonic W-H-W-W-H-3H-H C - D - E♭ - F - G - A♭ - B(♮) - C’
Whole Tone Scale W-W-W-W-W-W C - D - E - F♯ - G♯ - A♯ - C’
Gypsy Scale W-H-3H-H-H-3H-H C - D - E♭ - F♯ - G - A♭ - B - C’
Pentatonic Scale W-3H-W-W-3H C - D - F - G - A - C’
Octatonic Scale H-W-H-W-H-W-H-W C - C♯ - D♯ - E - F♯ - G - A - A♯ - C’
Blues Scale W-H/H-H-H/H-W-H/H-W C - D/E♭ - E - F/G♭ - G - A/B♭ - B - C’

Scale Degrees

Each note of a scale has a special name in relation to the primary tone.

Degree
Name
1st Tonic
2nd Supertonic
3rd Mediant
4th Subdominant
5th Dominant
6th SubmediantSuperdominant
7th Leading ToneSubtonic