Music Scale Calculator

The music scale calculator lets you find notes in a scale, the numeric formula, and the semitone pattern. By default, all three results are shown, but you can choose what to display by selecting an option in the Display field.

1. Choose the root note. The first note of a scale upon which the scale is built. For example, if you're looking for notes in C major, you should choose C as the root note. Skip this step if you don't care about music scale notes and just want the semitone pattern.

2. Select the category into which you think your scale falls. If you're unsure, check the list of music scales at the bottom of the article (some categories are pretty arbitrary).

3. Pick the name of the scale.

4. Check the results at the bottom — the scale notes, the numeric formula, and the semitone pattern.

Read on to find out what the numbers in the formulas mean and how to build scales.

Let's have a look at the semitone pattern of the major scale:

2, 2, 1, 2, 2, 2, 1

The digits represent the number of semitones (half steps) between consecutive notes (called degrees of a scale). 1 means one semitone, 2 means two semitones (a whole tone), 3 means three semitones, and 4 means two whole tones.

The major scale pattern above says: there are 2 semitones between the first and the second note of the scale, 2 semitones between the second and the third note, 1 semitone between the third and the fourth, and so on.

Example:

Let's build an A major scale using the above pattern:

• First note is the root note — A.
• Second note has to be 2 semitones (a whole step) higher than A, so it's B.
• Third note — from B, we go another step up. There's a half step between B and C, so we need to raise C by a semitone. You get C♯.
• Fourth note — 1 semitone up from C♯ is D.
• Fifth note — 2 semitones up from D is E.
• Sixth note — 2 semitones from E is F♯.
• Seventh note — 2 semitones from F♯ is G♯.
• Eighth note in the major scale is just the first note again — A.

This way, we found the notes in the A major scale:

A, B, C♯, D, E, F♯, G♯, A

You can use the semitone calculator to find out the number of semitones and frequencies in hertz of any given pair of musical notes.

Using the numeric formula, you can build scales based on the major scale. The numbers in the numeric formula stand for the degrees (notes) of a scale. 1 is the root note, 2 is the second note, and so on.

The accidentals next to the numbers tell you whether you should raise (♯) or lower (♭) the note of a major scale to get the target scale. If you have two sharps/flats, you raise/lower the note by a semitone twice.

Example:

Let's build a C minor scale:

1. The starting point is C major, which you can build using the semitone pattern:

   1:C 2:D 3:E 4:F 5:G 6:A 7:B 8:C

   (The first note is C, the second is D, and so on.)

2. Then we check the formula for the natural minor scale:

   1, 2, ♭3, 4, 5, ♭6, ♭7, 8

3. Now we apply the formula for the minor scale to major scale notes:

   • First note doesn't change; it's just 1, so C.
   • Second note also stays D.
   • Third note - there's a flat sign next to the 3, so we have to lower the third note of the C major scale - E - by a semitone. We get E♭.
   • Fourth note stays the same - F.
   • Fifth note stays the same - G.
   • Sixth note - ♭6 means we lower A by a semitone. We get A♭.
   • Seventh note - we lower B and get B♭.
   • Eighth note stays C.

Here's the result - C minor notes:

C, D, E♭, F, G, A♭, B♭, C

Here is the alphabetical list of music scales included in the music scale calculator and their designated categories:

Musicians use the concept of interference beats and beat frequency in tuning and playing their instruments, and the frequency of waves helps with the music scale.