Scales and emotions
See also a post about making chords from scales, and all of these scales in one giant flowchart.
So maybe you want to write a song or an instrumental in a particular mood or style, and you're feeling overwhelmed by all the scales. Here's a handy guide to the commonly used scales in Western pop, rock, jazz, blues and so on. You can play all of these scales and more using the aQWERTYon.
Major scales
These scales have a major third (the note four that is four semitones above the root), which makes them feel happy or bright.
Major scale
Happy; can be majestic or sentimental when slow. The white keys on the piano. Examples: "Mary Had A Little Lamb," "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star."
Mixolydian mode
Bluesy, rock; can also be exotic/modal. Play over C7 chord. Same pitches as F major. Example: "Tomorrow Never Knows" by the Beatles.
Lydian mode
Ethereal, dreamy, futuristic. Same pitches as G major. Example: "Possibly Maybe" by Björk (from the line "As much as I definitely enjoy solitude...")
Lydian dominant mode
Also known as the overtone scale or acoustic scale, because it is close to the first seven pitches in the natural overtone series. Same pitches as the G melodic minor scale and the F-sharp/G-flat altered scale.
Phrygian dominant mode
Exotic, Middle Eastern, Jewish. Same pitches as F harmonic minor. Example: "Hava Nagila."
Harmonic major scale
Majestic, mysterious. "Lord Of The Rings" feeling.
Mixolydian b6
Another film-score-sounding mysterious scale. Same pitches as F melodic minor.
Minor Scales
These scales have a flat third (the note that is three semitones above the root), which gives them a darker and more tragic feel.
Natural minor scale (Aeolian mode)
Sentimental, tragic. Same pitches as E-flat major.
Dorian mode
Hip, sophisticated, jazzy. Same pitches as B-flat major. Example: "So What" by Miles Davis.
Harmonic minor scale
Tragic, exotic, Middle Eastern.
Melodic minor scale
Mysterious, jazzy, very dark. Example: sixties Coltrane. See a blog post about melodic minor.
Phrygian mode
Spanish/Flamenco. Same pitches as A-flat major.
Locrian mode
Very dark and unstable. Use over C half-diminished chords. Same pitches as C-sharp/D-flat major and B-flat natural minor.
Neither major nor minor
Blues scale
Bluesy, obviously. Works great over major and minor chords. C minor pentatonic with sharp fourth/flat fifth added.
Altered scale
Use over a C7 chord to make it sound very intellectual and jazzy. Same pitches as C-sharp/D-flat melodic minor.
Pentatonics
Pentatonic scales have five notes. The blues scale is the minor pentatonic plus the flat fifth.
Major pentatonic scale
Joyful; widely used in world and folk music. Major scale with 4th and 7th removed. Same pitches as A minor pentatonic. Here's a blog post about playing pentatonics on guitar.
Minor pentatonic scale
Widely used in rock, world and folk music. Minor scale with 2nd and 6th removed. Same pitches as E-flat major pentatonic. Here's a blog post about playing pentatonics on guitar.
Synthetic Scales
These scales are based on regular, symmetric patterns.
Chromatic scale
All of the piano keys. Freefalling, anxiety-producing.
Whole tone scale
Dreamy, underwater. Every alternating key on the piano. Same pitches as D, E, F#, G# and A# whole tone scales. Example: Background parts in the Simpsons theme song.
Diminished scale
Dark, mysterious. Same pitches as Eb, Gb and A diminished scales. Examples: modern jazz, movies about Dracula.
Octatonic scale
Dark, mysterious. Same pitches as Eb, Gb and A octatonic scales. Examples: modern jazz, movies about Dracula.