Select pitch classes
Add the notes you want to investigate. Octave does not matter here; every C is treated as the pitch class C.
RONTER AUDIO LAB · HARMONY TOOL
This music scale finder helps you identify scales that contain the notes you already know. Select notes on the keyboard, narrow the search by tonic or scale family, and compare matching scales, modes and interval formulas instantly.
Explore Ronter Sound or continue with more interactive music tools.
Choose the notes you know
Click notes on the keyboard or use the note buttons. Every result contains all of your selected pitch classes.
Matching scales will appear here.
Try C, E and G, or enter the notes from a melody, riff or chord you are exploring.
From a few pitches to possible scales
You do not always begin with the name of a scale. Sometimes you have a melody, several notes from an instrument, or a group of pitches that sounds useful together. The finder reverses the usual process: instead of choosing a scale and receiving its notes, you enter the notes first and inspect scales that can contain them.
Add the notes you want to investigate. Octave does not matter here; every C is treated as the pitch class C.
Leave the tonic open when you are unsure, or choose one to examine scales built specifically from that tonal center.
Results show scales that contain every selected note, with closer matches placed before scales that add more unused tones.
Each result shows its interval pattern and complete pitch set so you can see what the scale adds around your original notes.
One note set can have several answers
A few notes rarely identify one scale by themselves. If you select C, E and G, those three pitches occur inside several different scales. They fit C major, C major pentatonic and other collections, while the same pitches can also appear inside scales built from different tonics.
That is why the results are possibilities rather than a claim that one scale must be the musical answer. Context matters: the tonal center, surrounding harmony, melody and additional notes can all make one interpretation more useful than another.
Add A and D, for example, and a C major pentatonic interpretation becomes a much tighter pitch-set match.
If you also want to experiment with the way musical parts interact after they are recorded, the mixer console simulator provides a different kind of hands-on audio exercise.
The same notes can be heard from different centers
The tonic is the reference point from which a scale's intervals are measured. Choosing a tonic therefore changes the meaning of the same pitch collection.
Formula: 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · 7
Formula: 1 · 2 · ♭3 · 4 · 5 · ♭6 · ♭7
These two examples use the same piano pitch classes but organize them around different tonics. If you are also interested in how musical choices develop into a complete arrangement, explore music as a language of expression .
Different interval patterns create different colors
The music scale tool searches a focused collection of commonly studied scale formulas. Filtering by family makes it easier to compare related structures without filling the result list with unrelated possibilities.
Compare major, natural minor, harmonic minor and melodic minor structures.
Explore Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian and Locrian.
Search major pentatonic, minor pentatonic and blues formulas with fewer scale tones.
Compare whole tone, chromatic and diminished collections when the selected pitches point beyond basic diatonic scales.
Start from the material you actually have
A scale finder is particularly useful when your starting point is not a scale name. You may have several notes from a melody, a guitar riff, a bass line or a chord and want to see which larger pitch collections can contain them.
Enter only the notes you know. If the result list is broad, add another characteristic note. Each additional pitch eliminates scales that cannot contain the complete selection.
Useful principle: a note that distinguishes between two candidate scales often tells you more than several notes they have in common.
Musicians moving from theory into arrangement and production can continue with the overview of music genre recording or explore how a song can develop through mixing, mastering and music production .
Read the structure behind the note names
Transposing a scale changes its note names, but its interval formula remains the same.
Understanding these patterns can also help when discussing musical ideas with other performers. For a broader view of preparing music for a session, see recording songs, tracks and musical instruments .
Scales provide a pitch environment
A scale is more than a sequence played upward and downward. Its notes provide material for melodies and can also be stacked into chords. That connection makes scale recognition useful when studying harmony.
Other scale degrees produce other chords, and their relationships help define the harmonic character of a key. For a different practical perspective on balancing musical parts, try the interactive online audio mixer.
Interactive reference in your browser
The music scale finder online is designed for quick experimentation. Change one note and the matches update immediately, so you can compare several harmonic possibilities without rebuilding the search from the beginning.
When the tonal center is unknown, leave the tonic set to Any tonic and compare the available matches.
Add more known pitches when you need to reduce a broad list of possible scales.
If you know which pitch feels like the tonal center, select it to focus the results around that root.
Look beyond the note names and compare the interval structures of the remaining scales.
Use the answer as the beginning of the exercise
Instead of using the finder only to obtain an answer, use each result as a starting point. Choose a scale, look at its formula, then try to reproduce the notes from another tonic before checking the result.
You can also remove one selected note and predict which additional scales will appear, or add one chromatic pitch and decide which candidates should disappear. That turns a reference tool into an active exercise in interval structure and scale recognition.
For musicians working on the broader mental side of learning and performing, the musician psychology and recording confidence guide explores another part of the preparation process.
Start with the notes you already have
Select a few pitches, compare the matching scale formulas, then add or remove notes to explore how the possibilities change.
Go beyond individual audio tools. Arrange multiple tracks, edit clips, build modular effect chains, add modulation, mix through a Master bus, save projects and export the finished mix to WAV.
Explore 168 free browser-based tools for musicians, singers, producers, engineers and creators. Open a category to find your next tool.
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