Free online tool
Guitar Scales Chart and Fretboard Diagrams
Guitar scales on the whole fretboard: pick any key and scale, see the notes, degrees and positions on guitar or bass, hear the scale, and print it.
C major
Sound is the real pitch: a standard guitar's open low E sounds E2, an octave below where guitar music is written.
About the Guitar Scales
The guitar scales tool draws any scale on a guitar fretboard diagram, so you can see exactly where each note sits. Pick a key and a scale, and the neck shows the root notes as filled dots and the other scale notes as outlines. It runs in your web browser, is free, and needs no sign-up.
The library holds all 24 scales, from major and minor to pentatonic, blues, modes and symmetric scales. You can switch between guitar tunings, drop D, and 4-string or 5-string bass tunings. You can also choose how many frets to show, label notes by name, scale degree or interval, and view playing boxes or positions for five-note and seven-note scales. The tool can play the scale aloud or print it.
How to use the Guitar scales tool
- Choose a Key from the 17 tonics, C to B, including the sharps and flats.
- Open the Scale menu. Scales are grouped under Major & minor, Modes of the major scale, Pentatonic & blues, Symmetric (incl. Chromatic) and Other common scales.
- Set Instrument and tuning: Guitar standard, Guitar drop D, Bass 4-string or Bass 5-string.
- Pick Frets shown: 0 to 12, 15, 22 or 24. The default is 15.
- Choose Labels: Note names, Scale degrees (1 b3 5), Intervals (m3, P5) or None.
- Set Show to All frets, Box or Position list, or Fret window (5 frets). In window mode, move the Window starts at fret N slider.
- Tick Left-handed if you play that way round.
- Press Play scale to hear it, or Print this scale. To print every key, use Print all 12 keys.
Box and position options appear only for five-note and seven-note scales; other scales use All frets or the 5-fret window, which works for every scale. Switch Labels to Scale degrees when you want to see the shape of a scale rather than its letter names, because the degree pattern stays the same when you change key. Your settings are written into the page address, so copying the URL keeps the same view.
What is the list of all guitar scales in this tool?#
The tool’s library has 24 scales in five groups: Major & minor, Modes of the major scale, Pentatonic & blues, Symmetric (including Chromatic) and Other common scales. Each scale is a root note plus a fixed pattern of steps. A whole step is two frets and a half step is one fret. The major scale follows whole, whole, half, whole, whole, whole, half. Start that pattern on another root and you get another key, which is why the Key and Scale menus work together.
What are guitar scales for beginners?#
Start with a five-note scale, the minor pentatonic. A minor pentatonic is A, C, D, E and G. On a standard guitar, fret 5 of the low E string is A. Box 1 of A minor pentatonic runs from fret 5 to fret 8; with 22 or 24 frets shown it appears again at frets 17 to 20.
Each string in a pentatonic box carries two consecutive scale notes. The first note on the next string is the lowest scale note above the last note on the previous string. Once you can play one box, the other four boxes follow the same rule.
How do you read a guitar scale diagram?#
Each fret number and each string appears on the diagram. Root notes are filled brass dots, and other scale notes are outlined. Notes outside the chosen position or fret window are dimmed, not hidden, so you can still see the shape around them.
The Labels setting changes what each dot says. Note names show the letters, such as F# G# A# B C# D# E# for F# major. Scale degrees show the role in the scale, such as 1 b3 5. Intervals show the distance from the root, such as m3 for a minor third and P5 for a perfect fifth. Note names use one letter per degree, so F# major contains E# rather than F.
How do seven-note scales work in position view?#
Seven-note scales use three notes per string. The positions follow the standard seven patterns, not CAGED, which the tool does not implement. Position k starts on scale degree k on the lowest string.
For example, C major position 3 starts on E. Its fret shapes are E 0-1-3, A 0-2-3, D 0-2-3, G 0-2-4, B 1-3-5 and high e 1-3-5.
Do bass guitar scales follow the same rules?#
Yes. The bass tunings are 4-string E A D G and 5-string B E A D G, and the same formulas apply. Sound is real pitch: bass E is E1 (MIDI 28), and guitar open low E is E2 (MIDI 40).
For E major, one octave from the lowest E on a 4-string bass gives MIDI 28, 30, 32, 33, 35, 37, 39, 40. These are E1, F#1, G#1, A1, B1, C#2, D#2, E2.
Which modes and jazz guitar scales are included?#
The Modes of the major scale group holds the seven modes built from the major scale; Dorian and Mixolydian are common in jazz guitar. The Other common scales group adds scales such as the altered scale, bebop dominant, Phrygian dominant and Lydian dominant. Each mode uses the same notes as its parent major scale, but starts on a different degree, so the sound changes while the fretboard shapes stay related.