Scale Types for A
Explore scale types for A, grouped by their common traits. Each group highlights patterns and sounds that share similar interval structures. Studying them helps you understand relationships between scales and navigate the fretboard more effectively.
Diatonic Modes and Common Derivatives
Seven-note modes derived from the major scale or similar heptatonic structures used in Western tonal and jazz harmony.
Major/Minor Harmonic and Melodic Families
Traditional Western major/minor families and their harmonic/melodic variants, often used in classical, jazz, and world fusion contexts.
Pentatonic Scales
Five-note scales used across global musical traditions, including major/minor pentatonics, modal pentatonics, and jazz extensions.
Blues Scales
Blues and composite blues scales derived from pentatonics with added chromatic tones.
Bebop Scales
Eight-note jazz scales formed by adding a passing tone to diatonic or modal structures.
Symmetric and Synthetic Scales
Scales built from repeating interval cells or synthetic formulations used in modern classical, jazz, and avant-garde contexts.
Messiaen Modes
Modes of limited transposition created by Olivier Messiaen, widely used in modern classical and film scoring.
World, Traditional, and Raga Scales
Pentatonic, hexatonic, and heptatonic scales from non-Western traditions including Japanese, Indonesian, Middle Eastern, and Indian raga systems.
Hexatonic and Modern Jazz Scales
Six-note or hybrid scales associated with modern jazz harmony that don’t fit cleanly into bebop or pentatonic groups.