Scale Finder
A scale finder identifies a scale from the notes you give it. Click the notes on the keyboard, type them, or paste a chord progression, and this page lists every scale that contains them — exact matches first, then scales that hold your notes plus a few more. Each result links to the full scale page.
Scales that fit
Pick a result to see it on the keyboard and hear it.
Chords in C Major Pentatonic
Every triad this scale builds, in scale order. The seventh chord on each degree is printed under the triad; the triad itself links to its chord page.
Piano scales chart with fingering
Twelve major and twelve natural minor scales, one octave, with the finger numbers for each hand: 1 is the thumb, 5 the little finger. Print gives you the chart alone, and printing to PDF saves it as a file.
| Scale | Notes | Right hand | Left hand |
|---|---|---|---|
| C Major | C D E F G A B C | 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 | 5 4 3 2 1 3 2 1 |
| G Major | G A B C D E F♯ G | 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 | 5 4 3 2 1 3 2 1 |
| D Major | D E F♯ G A B C♯ D | 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 | 5 4 3 2 1 3 2 1 |
| A Major | A B C♯ D E F♯ G♯ A | 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 | 5 4 3 2 1 3 2 1 |
| E Major | E F♯ G♯ A B C♯ D♯ E | 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 | 5 4 3 2 1 3 2 1 |
| B Major | B C♯ D♯ E F♯ G♯ A♯ B | 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 | 4 3 2 1 4 3 2 1 |
| F♯ Major | F♯ G♯ A♯ B C♯ D♯ E♯ F♯ | 2 3 4 1 2 3 1 2 | 4 3 2 1 3 2 1 4 |
| D♭ Major | D♭ E♭ F G♭ A♭ B♭ C D♭ | 2 3 1 2 3 4 1 2 | 3 2 1 4 3 2 1 3 |
| A♭ Major | A♭ B♭ C D♭ E♭ F G A♭ | 3 4 1 2 3 1 2 3 | 3 2 1 4 3 2 1 3 |
| E♭ Major | E♭ F G A♭ B♭ C D E♭ | 3 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 | 3 2 1 4 3 2 1 3 |
| B♭ Major | B♭ C D E♭ F G A B♭ | 2 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 | 3 2 1 4 3 2 1 3 |
| F Major | F G A B♭ C D E F | 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 | 5 4 3 2 1 3 2 1 |
| A Minor | A B C D E F G A | 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 | 5 4 3 2 1 3 2 1 |
| E Minor | E F♯ G A B C D E | 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 | 5 4 3 2 1 3 2 1 |
| B Minor | B C♯ D E F♯ G A B | 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 | 4 3 2 1 4 3 2 1 |
| F♯ Minor | F♯ G♯ A B C♯ D E F♯ | 3 4 1 2 3 1 2 3 | 4 3 2 1 3 2 1 4 |
| C♯ Minor | C♯ D♯ E F♯ G♯ A B C♯ | 3 4 1 2 3 1 2 3 | 3 2 1 4 3 2 1 3 |
| G♯ Minor | G♯ A♯ B C♯ D♯ E F♯ G♯ | 3 4 1 2 3 1 2 3 | 3 2 1 3 2 1 4 3 |
| E♭ Minor | E♭ F G♭ A♭ B♭ C♭ D♭ E♭ | 3 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 | 2 1 4 3 2 1 3 2 |
| B♭ Minor | B♭ C D♭ E♭ F G♭ A♭ B♭ | 2 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 | 2 1 3 2 1 4 3 2 |
| F Minor | F G A♭ B♭ C D♭ E♭ F | 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 | 5 4 3 2 1 3 2 1 |
| C Minor | C D E♭ F G A♭ B♭ C | 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 | 5 4 3 2 1 3 2 1 |
| G Minor | G A B♭ C D E♭ F G | 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 | 5 4 3 2 1 3 2 1 |
| D Minor | D E F G A B♭ C D | 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 | 5 4 3 2 1 3 2 1 |
Scale dictionary
The 22 scale types this page searches, with the step pattern and the intervals of each. W is a whole step, H a half step.
| Scale type | Steps | Intervals | From C |
|---|---|---|---|
| Major | W–W–H–W–W–W–H | P1 M2 M3 P4 P5 M6 M7 | C D E F G A B |
| Minor | W–H–W–W–H–W–W | P1 M2 m3 P4 P5 m6 m7 | C D E♭ F G A♭ B♭ |
| Dorian | W–H–W–W–W–H–W | P1 M2 m3 P4 P5 M6 m7 | C D E♭ F G A B♭ |
| Phrygian | H–W–W–W–H–W–W | P1 m2 m3 P4 P5 m6 m7 | C D♭ E♭ F G A♭ B♭ |
| Lydian | W–W–W–H–W–W–H | P1 M2 M3 TT P5 M6 M7 | C D E F♯ G A B |
| Mixolydian | W–W–H–W–W–H–W | P1 M2 M3 P4 P5 M6 m7 | C D E F G A B♭ |
| Locrian | H–W–W–H–W–W–W | P1 m2 m3 P4 TT m6 m7 | C D♭ E♭ F G♭ A♭ B♭ |
| Harmonic Minor | W–H–W–W–H–W+H–H | P1 M2 m3 P4 P5 m6 M7 | C D E♭ F G A♭ B |
| Melodic Minor | W–H–W–W–W–W–H | P1 M2 m3 P4 P5 M6 M7 | C D E♭ F G A B |
| Harmonic Major | W–W–H–W–H–W+H–H | P1 M2 M3 P4 P5 m6 M7 | C D E F G A♭ B |
| Hungarian Minor | W–H–W+H–H–H–W+H–H | P1 M2 m3 TT P5 m6 M7 | C D E♭ F♯ G A♭ B |
| Phrygian Dominant | H–W+H–H–W–H–W–W | P1 m2 M3 P4 P5 m6 m7 | C D♭ E F G A♭ B♭ |
| Lydian Dominant | W–W–W–H–W–H–W | P1 M2 M3 TT P5 M6 m7 | C D E F♯ G A B♭ |
| Major Pentatonic | W–W–W+H–W–W+H | P1 M2 M3 P5 M6 | C D E G A |
| Minor Pentatonic | W+H–W–W–W+H–W | P1 m3 P4 P5 m7 | C E♭ F G B♭ |
| Blues | W+H–W–H–H–W+H–W | P1 m3 P4 TT P5 m7 | C E♭ F G♭ G B♭ |
| Whole Tone | W–W–W–W–W–W | P1 M2 M3 TT m6 m7 | C D E F♯ G♯ A♯ |
| Chromatic | H–H–H–H–H–H–H–H–H–H–H–H | P1 m2 M2 m3 M3 P4 TT P5 m6 M6 m7 M7 | C D♭ D E♭ E F G♭ G A♭ A B♭ B |
| Half-Whole Diminished | H–W–H–W–H–W–H–W | P1 m2 m3 M3 TT P5 M6 m7 | C D♭ E♭ E G♭ G A B♭ |
| Whole-Half Diminished | W–H–W–H–W–H–W–H | P1 M2 m3 P4 TT m6 M6 M7 | C D E♭ F G♭ A♭ A B |
| Bebop Dominant | W–W–H–W–W–H–H–H | P1 M2 M3 P4 P5 M6 m7 M7 | C D E F G A B♭ B |
| Bebop Major | W–W–H–W–H–H–W–H | P1 M2 M3 P4 P5 m6 M6 M7 | C D E F G A♭ A B |
How to identify a scale from its notes
Count the notes first. Five notes is usually a pentatonic scale, six a blues or whole tone scale, seven a major, minor or modal scale, eight a diminished or bebop scale. Then look at the distance between them: where the half steps fall is what separates one seven-note scale from another.
The finder does that comparison against every scale instead of guessing at a key signature. It works in pitch classes, so the octave you played the notes in and the order you played them in make no difference. An exact match uses your notes and no others; the results below it are wider scales that still contain everything you played.
What scale to play over a chord progression
A solo stays in key when the scale you play holds every note of the chords under it. Paste the progression and the finder returns the scales that do. The first result is usually the parent scale of the key — the one whose tonic the progression keeps returning to.
Further down the list are narrower choices. A pentatonic scale leaves out the two notes most likely to clash, which is why it is the safe option over a fast progression, and the blues scale puts one note back for tension. Over a single chord you can take a mode instead and let its one altered note colour the whole solo.
Finding the chords that fit a scale
Songwriting runs the lookup the other way: you have a scale and you want the chords that belong to it. Pick any result and the page prints every triad the scale builds, in scale order, with the seventh chord on each degree. Those are the chords available without leaving the scale.
The small number on each chip is the scale degree. A progression built on degrees 1, 4, 5 and 6 sounds settled; one that starts away from degree 1 sounds unresolved until it comes home. Every triad links to its own chord page, with the notes, the inversions and the fingering.
How to practise piano scales
Take one scale at a time, hands separately, and use the fingering in the chart above: the thumb passes under on the third or the fourth note, so the hand never runs out of fingers. Play slowly enough that every note sounds even, then put the hands together.
Start with the scales that use few black keys and add one sharp or one flat at a time. Each row of the chart links to its own scale page, where you can hear the scale and see it on a keyboard, and the exercises turn the same scales into ear training.
Keep going: Major & Minor Scales · Music Theory Exercises
Frequently asked questions
What scale are these notes?
Enter the notes and this page lists every scale that contains them, exact matches first. An exact match uses your notes and nothing else; a wider scale is shown with the number of notes it adds, so you can see how much room it leaves.
How do I find the scale for a chord progression?
Switch the finder to Chords and paste the progression. It collects every note of every chord and searches on that set, then puts the scale whose tonic matches the key of the progression first.
What chords are in a scale?
Pick a result and the page prints every triad the scale builds, in scale order, with the seventh chord on each degree. A seven-note scale gives seven triads; a pentatonic scale gives fewer, because some degrees have no third or fifth to stack.
What scale can I play over these chords?
Every scale the finder returns contains all the notes of your chords, so all of them fit. The first result is the safest choice over the whole progression; a pentatonic result further down leaves out the notes most likely to clash.
Is there a scale finder app?
Yes. Piano Companion has the same lookup on iPhone, iPad, Android and Mac: tap the keys or play them on a MIDI keyboard and it finds every chord and scale that fits, from a dictionary of 10,000+ scales. It works offline and needs no account.
Can I print a piano scales chart with fingering, or save it as a PDF?
Yes. The chart on this page holds twelve major and twelve natural minor scales with the finger numbers for both hands. Print prints the chart on its own, with no navigation around it, and choosing PDF in the print dialog saves it as a file.
Which piano scales should a beginner learn first?
The major scale on the white keys first, then one sharp or one flat at a time in circle-of-fifths order. Add the natural minor scales next, then the pentatonic scales, which fit almost any progression and are the easiest to improvise with.
How many scales does this finder search?
22 scale types on each of the twelve roots, so 264 scales: major and minor, the modes, harmonic and melodic minor, the pentatonic and blues scales, whole tone, the two diminished scales and the bebop scales.
