Scale Central
Scales don’t have to be torture. 😫
They can be fun and creative. And a way to seriously accelerate your progress.
Use this page as a reference or use it to practice.
Within each tab you’ll find sheet music, tabs, audio and lessons links for each scale (including pentatonics and triads). At the bottom of the page you’ll find other lessons on scales (practice, variations, etc.).
A Major
A Major Diatonic (7-note scale)
Upper Octave
Lower Octave (two bows)
A Major Scale (Upper Octave) Variations pdf
A Major Scale (Lower Octave) Variations pdf
A Major Triad
Upper octave: A0-2-E0-0-A2-0
A Major Triad scale
A Major Pentatonic Scale
Full range: G1-2-H3-D1-2-A0-1-2-E0-1-3-4
Lessons
A Major Scale (Lower Octave) Variations
Pentatonic Scales Introduction
Major Pentatonic Scales
Relevant tunes
Tunes Transposed to A Major (Upper Octave)
Tunes Transposed to A Major (lower octave)
Hector the Hero – basic lesson
A Minor
A Dorian (7-note scale)
The A Dorian scale is built from the second step of the G major scale.
A Dorian, upper octave
A Dorian Scale pdf
G Major – A Dorian Alternation
A Minor Triad
Two-octaves: G1-3-D1-A0-L2-E0
Lessons
Relevant tunes
B Flat Major (Bb)
B Flat Major Diatonic (7-note scale)
Lower octave: GL2-3-D0-L1-L2-3-A0-L1
Use this audio for both octaves
Upper octave: AL1-L2-3-L4-EL1-L2-3-L4
Two octave: GL2-3-D0-L1-L2-3-A0-L1-L2-3-L4-EL1-L2-3-L4
B Flat Major Pentatonic
GL2-3-D0-L2-3
Full range: G0-GL2-3-D0-L2-3-AL1-L2-3-EL1-L2-L4
Lessons
F Major And B Flat Major Scale Variations
B Flat Major Scale (Upper Octave) Exercises
Relevant tunes
Lucy Farr’s (coming soon)
B Minor
B Minor Triad
Two-octave: G2-D0-2-A1-3-E1
C Major
C Major Diatonic (7-note scale)
C Major is like the upper octave of G Major, except you start on G3 instead of D3.
G3-D0-1-L2-3-A0-1-L2 (two bows)
C Major Pentatonic Scale
G3-D0-1-3-A0
Full range: G0-1-3-D0-1-3-A0-L2-3-E0-L2-3
C Major – D Dorian alternation
Lessons
Play tunes in the upper octave of G Major, but start one string to the left: Three Tunes in G Major Upper Octave
D Major
D Major Diatonic (7-note scale)
D Major Pentatonic
Full range: G1-2-D0-1-2-A0-1-3-E0-1-3-4
D Major Triad
D0-2-A0-0-D2-0
Two-octave: D0-2-A0-3-E1-3
D Major Double Stop Scale
D0A0-D1A0-D2A0-D3A0-D0A0-D0A1-D0A2-D0A3
Lessons
Fiddler’s Playground #1: String Crossing on D Major
Pentatonic Scales Introduction
Relevant tunes
D Minor
D Dorian (7-note scale)
The D Dorian scale is built from the second step of the C major scale.
D0-1-L2-3-A0-1-L2-3
D Minor Pentatonic
D0-L2-3-A0-L2-3
D Minor Triad
Two-octave: D0-L2-A0-A3-EL1-3
Lessons
Fingering And String Crossing 5
Practice Journey: E Dorian, O’Keefe’s Slide
Relevant tunes
E Major
E Major Diatonic (7-note scale)
D1-2-H3-A0-1-2-H3-E0
E major has the same fingering as the lower octave of the A major scale. Practice with an E Drone.
E Drone
E Minor
E Dorian (7-note scale)
The E Dorian scale is built from the D major scale. To make an E Dorian scale, start on the second step of the D major scale.
Alternating between D Major and E Dorian scales
E Minor Pentatonic
D1-3-A0-1-3-E0
E Minor Triad
Two-octaves: D1-3-A1-E0-L2-4
F Major
F Major Diatonic (7-note scale)
DL2-3-A0-L1-L2-3-E0-L1
F Major Scale Variations pdf
F Major Pentatonic Scale
Full range: G0-1-3-D0-L2-3-A0-L2-3-EL1-L2-3
Lessons
Low First Finger and F Major Scale
F Major And B Flat Major Scale Variations
Relevant tunes
G Major
G Major Diatonic (7-note scale)
Lower octave: G0-1-2-3-D0-1-2-3
Upper Octave: D3-A0-1-L2-3-E0-1-L2
Two-octave: G0-1-2-3-D0-1-2-3 | D3-A0-1-L2-3-E0-1-L2
G Major Scale Variations pdf
G Pentatonic Scale
G0-1-2-D0-1
Full range: G0-1-2-D0-1-3-A0-1-3-E0-L2-3-4
G Major Triad
G0-2-D0-3-A1-3
G Double Stops Scale
Lessons
Practice Journey: G Major, Transposition, Oh Susannah
Relevant tunes
Three Tunes in G Major Upper Octave
G Minor
G Minor Triad
G0-L2-D0-3-AL1-3
G Minor Pentatonic
Z Chromatic Scale!
It seemed fitting to give the chromatic scale the letter Z because it’s a weird, more challenging scale. Plus, unlike other scales which can be played with different root notes, there is only ONE chromatic scale (which contains all 12 notes of Western harmony). However, I teach the chromatic scale on each string. These “learning chunks” make it easier to practice this.
Learning chunks
G chromatic
G0-L1-1-L2-2-3-L4-D0-0-GL4-3-2-L2-1-L1-0
or
G0-L1-1-L2-2-3-H3-D0-0-GH3-3-2-L2-1-L1-0
D Chromatic
D0-L1-1-L2-2-3-L4-A0-0-DL4-3-2-L2-1-L1-0
or
D0-L1-1-L2-2-3-H3-A0-0-DH3-3-2-L2-1-L1-0
A Chromatic
A0-L1-1-L2-2-3-L4-E0-0-AL4-3-2-L2-1-L1-0
or
A0-L1-1-L2-2-3-H3-E0-0-EH3-3-2-L2-1-L1-0
E Chromatic
E0-L1-1-L2-2-3-L4-4-4-L4-3-2-L2-1-L1-0
or
E0-L1-1-L2-2-3-H3-4-4-H3-3-2-L2-1-L1-0
Lessons
Chromatic Scale – Practice Tips
The Chromatic Scale Will Help You Slide
Relevant tunes
Scale practice
Take these lessons to learn and practice new scales. See the tabs above for scale lessons on particular scales (for example G Major, D Minor).
- Major Pentatonic Scales
- Minor Pentatonic Scales
- Minor Pentatonic Scales Workshop
- Mini-Scale Warmups 🆕
- Interval Scale
- Practice Journey: Scale Modes
- Fiddling With The Mixolydian Mode
- Scale Shapes Lesson and Workshop
- Melodic Variation Workshop
- Syncopated Scales
- Eight-Note Patterns
- Chordal Scales
- Full Range Scales for Free Range Fiddlers
- How To Add Double Stops To A Scale
- Triad scales
How do scales work?
These lessons help you to make sense of scales.
- Alternate between a tune and its scale
- Make your own scales
- How To Make Scales Fun
- What are the best scales to learn on the fiddle?
- What the heck is a scale?
- Are scales really necessary?
- What is the slow scale and why should I do this?
- Can I make up my own scales?
Take a practice journey..
- See the Art Of Fiddling course to discover how to make scale practice more creative, fun and productive.
- Remember to integrate scale practice with tunes. Any time you play a tune, play its scale. You can turn this into a game: One Drone, Many Tunes and Dronopoly in G
- Alternate between scales and its tunes in a single practice. This is called Interleaving. Here’s a simple practice routine for this: One Tune, One Scale, Ten Minutes.
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Hiya. The D-major D-dorian alternation file is incorrect. It has the d-major double stop instead.
Thank you very much for letting us know, jbrahney. We’ll work on this. 🙏🏼
On the A major triad, the upper octave and two octave (starts with G1)
the drone is the same. The A0 first note of the upper octave sounds the same as what would be G1 of the two octave drone. Am I not hearing it correctly or am I missing something about the scale?
Hi Amy, thanks for sharing this. You found an audio error on the two octave audio. We’ll get this fixed soon. Your help in noticing this is appreciated 👍🏾