Scales

Everything about scales and modes: how they relate, what their names mean, and how they differ.

Greek modes (aka Church modes)ScalesEssential

The seven traditional names, in order, and one scale rotated seven ways.

Scale DegreesBasic ConceptsEssential

What each numbered position in a scale is called, and why the names matter.

Relative vs. Parallel ModesBasic ConceptsEssential

Same notes, different tonic - or the same tonic, different notes.

ComparisonsScales

Two modes on the same tonic, one note apart.

What Makes a Scale “Harmonic”?Basic ConceptsScales

What the name actually means, and the gap it leaves behind.

Modal Families Beyond the Major ScaleScales

Other scales with famous rotations of their own, the way the major scale has the Greek modes.