Intervals in the Chromatic Scale:

Wherein Min means 'Minor' and Maj Means Major.

'Per' means Perfect, 'Aug' means Augmented and 'Dim' Means Diminished
Starting from C... Notes away
In every scale each note is described by its
Root:
C
0
distance from the 'Root.' This distance is
nd
Min 2 :
Db
1 up 11 down
called an 'Interval. The smallest interval is
nd
Maj 2 :
D
2 up 10 down
called a 'Half Step' and is a single note away
rd
Min 3 :
Eb
3 up 9 down
from the root note. For instance, a half step
rd
Maj 3 :
E
4 up 8 down
up from 'E' is 'F' and a half step down from
th
Per 4 :
F
5 up 7 down
'C' is 'B'. A 'Whole Step' is the distance two
th
Aug 4 :
F#
6 up 6 down
half steps. A whole step up from 'A' is 'B' and
th
Per 5 :
G
7 up 5 down
a whole step down from 'G' is 'F'. The name
th
Min 6 :
Ab
8 up 4 down
of the interval is determined by overall
th
Maj 6 :
A
9 up 3 down
distance and direction. Common names and
th
Min 7 :
Bb
10 up 2 down
steps needed are listed on the left. A Major
th
Maj 7 :
B
11 up 1 down
2nd is 2 notes up or 10 down, a Minor 6th is 8
Octave:
C
12 up
steps up or 4 down.
On the piano one octave is within the reach
of one hand, though this is not conducive to
playing. Unfortunate, despite being one of
the most versatile instruments (if not the
most versatile) learning scales for improv
takes a bit more memorization than guitar.
Major Scale
Root:
C
nd
Maj 2 : D
Maj 3rd: E
Per 4th : F
Per 5th : G
Maj 6th: A
Maj 7th: B
Octave: C

E
F#
G#
A
B
C#
D#
E

Minor Scale
Root:
C
nd
Maj 2 : D
Min 3rd: Eb
Per 4th : F
Per 5th : G
Min 6th: Ab
Min 7th: Bb
Octave: C

A
B
C
D
E
F
G
A

To the left are the two most common scales in

Western music. Cross referencing the list of
the intervals with the chromatic list in the
upper left and changing your roots will tell
you the notes in the scales. Cross referencing
the intervals with the chromatic listed fret
board will give you the shapes for the scales
on the keyboard.

You might notice that I'm changing between using flats and sharps. To quickly explain this, in
traditional western scales 7 notes are always used without any alphabetic duplicates. For
instance, if you write out an F Major scale and use an 'A' as your Maj 3rd and an A# as your Per
4th this means you've written your scale wrong. (The correct Per 4th for F Major is Bb). Just
follow the alphabet and count slowly until you get comfortable with the process. Also, there is
no E#, Fb, B# or Cb. Refer to the chromatic chart.