Scale Explorer
Most scale pages start from a name. This one starts from the notes: switch the twelve degrees on and off, and the fretboard — plus the naming line under it — keeps up. If what you build has a name, you get told which one, and which parent scale it is a mode of.
Loading the scale explorer…
How to use it
- Pick a key and an instrument. The board redraws for any of the site's fretted tunings.
- Toggle degrees. Click the numbered buttons — or any fret — to add or remove that degree everywhere it appears.
- Read the naming line. It reports every named scale matching what you built, plus which parent scale it is a mode of.
- Name it and share it. Saved scales stay in this browser; the share link carries the whole scale, so it works anywhere.
Want a named scale on a full page instead, with patterns and positions? Start at guitar scales, or read how the modes relate.
Illustrated reference
From selected notes to musical names
Two original note sets: A different bass note or tonic can change the interpretation. C E G | C major chord C D E G A | C major pentatonic
Use the correct naming task: Names can be ambiguous; read all matching results. Scale: Toggle degrees around a chosen tonic. Chord: Enter sounding notes or a valid guitar shape. Verify: Check every note and listen to the proposed name.