See scales and modes on the fretboard: major, minor, pentatonic, blues, modes, whole tone, diminished, in all 12 keys, any tuning, 12 to 22 frets, note names, intervals or degrees, left-handed mode.
Formula : 1 ♭3 4 5 ♭7
The tool shows every note of the scale across the chosen section of the neck. It does not split them into numbered positions (the five pentatonic boxes, the seven CAGED positions): that split varies between methods, and we prefer to show the whole scale rather than impose a system.
Fingerings are not shown: they depend on the starting position, the tempo and the hand. Exotic scales (double harmonic, Hungarian, scales with more or fewer than seven notes beyond the diminished and whole tone) are not included; the sixteen entries cover the essentials of rock, blues, pop, jazz and metal.
Finally, the tool does not play the scale: to hear it, use the chord dictionary or the progressions, or better still, play it on your guitar.
The minor pentatonic, no question. Five notes, one box shape at the 5th fret in A minor, and it works over almost all blues and rock and a good share of pop. Add the blue note for the blues scale, then the major scale when you want to understand where chords come from.
A mode is a scale that starts on another degree of the major scale: Dorian starts on the second degree, Mixolydian on the fifth. The notes are the same as the parent major scale, but the resting note changes, and with it the colour. D Dorian uses the notes of C major but revolves around D.
Start by identifying the key of the song, then play the matching scale: major or major pentatonic over a major key, natural minor or minor pentatonic over a minor key. Over an isolated dominant 7 chord, Mixolydian or the blues scale work. The tool highlights the notes of the tonic chord to help you aim for the notes that sound right.
Yes, but not all at once. Learn the first position thoroughly, then the second, and above all the move from one to the other by sliding along a string. Positions are not isolated boxes: the goal is to see the whole scale across the neck, which the 22-fret mode of this tool shows well.
The notes of the scale do not change, but their location on the retuned strings does. Select your tuning in the tool and the fretboard updates: in drop D, everything played on the sixth string shifts up a whole tone, the rest stays put.
Last updated: 11 September 2026
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