Piano scales
InputConfig is completely free on the Mac App Store.
Pick a root note and a scale. You'll see the keys to play, read the note names, and you can press Play to hear it.
Click any key to hear it. Lit keys are in the scale, and the root is the brightest.
How to read a scale
- Half step. From one key to the very next key, black or white.
- Whole step. Two half steps, so you skip one key.
- Root. The note the scale is named after and the one it sounds finished on.
Every major scale uses the same pattern of steps, whole, whole, half, whole, whole, whole, half. Start that pattern on a different root and you get a different set of keys with the same sound. Learn the step pattern once and you can find the scale from any key.
Chords from a scale
For seven-note scales, the list shows the three-note chord built on each note using only notes from the scale. A plain letter is a major chord, m is minor, dim is diminished and aug is augmented. The chord progression generator turns those chords into progressions, and the online piano lets you play them from your computer keyboard.
A note on note names
Seven-note scales are spelled the way sheet music spells them, with each letter used once. That is why F major shows Bb and not A#, and why a few keys show a name such as E# or Cb. E# is the same key as F, and Cb is the same key as B. The lit keys always show which ones to press.
How this fits with InputConfig
These pages are for practice in the browser. InputConfig adds the Mac side: a MIDI keyboard or pad can press shortcuts and turn pages, and a game controller can play MIDI notes and CC into GarageBand or Logic Pro.
Play a game controller as a MIDI instrument shows it step by step. InputConfig is free on the Mac App Store.
More music practice
Questions
What notes are in the C major scale?
C, D, E, F, G, A and B, all white keys. Pick any other root note above to see its major scale on the keyboard.
What is the pattern of a major scale?
Whole, whole, half, whole, whole, whole, half. A whole step skips one key and a half step moves to the very next key, black or white.
What is the difference between major and minor?
The natural minor scale lowers the third, sixth and seventh notes of the major scale by a half step, which gives it a darker sound.
Which chords fit a scale?
Build a three-note chord on each note of the scale using only notes from that scale. The list under the keyboard shows them for seven-note scales.
Related
Completely free. You don't have to make an account, there are no subscriptions, and nothing is locked. Optimized for Apple silicon. Open source on GitHub.
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