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Free scale library

Ukulele Scales

Look up any ukulele scale on any tuning. This free scale library covers 44 scales (essential, modes, minor + jazz, European exotic, Middle Eastern, East Asian + Pacific) across standard high-G, low-G, baritone (DGBE), and D-tuning. Pick a root and a scale, and the tool lights every position on the neck where a scale note lives, with the root highlighted. Hear the scale played ascending or descending with realistic plucked-string audio, mirror the diagram for left-handed players, and copy a shareable link.

Free ukulele scale library. 44 scales, 4 tunings, whole-neck diagrams. Tap to hear ascending or descending, copy a link to share.

Features
  • 100% free
  • 44 scales
  • 4 tunings
  • Audio playback
  • Lefty mode
Tuning
Lefthanded
Root note
Scale

Most used C scales

The five scales you'll meet most often in pop, folk, blues, rock, and worship songs on the C root: Major, Natural Minor, Major Pentatonic, Minor Pentatonic, and Blues. Learn these five and you can play along with most of the popular songs in the UkuTabs catalog. Click any card to load it into the main workspace above.

How to read a ukulele scale diagram

A scale diagram is different from a chord diagram. Instead of showing one shape with a few fingers pressed down, it lights up every position on the neck where a note from the scale lives. You'll usually see two or three dots per string across the first twelve frets, and those are the only places the scale notes appear.

The root note (the scale's home pitch) is highlighted in a different colour from the rest, so you can see where the scale's tonal centre lands. In C Major, for instance, every C across the neck is marked in brick red while the other six notes of the scale (D, E, F, G, A, B) appear in olive. Press any lit position and you're guaranteed to be in the scale.

Reading the diagram works the same way as reading a chord: the four vertical lines are the strings (G, C, E, A from left to right in standard tuning), the horizontal lines are the frets, and the thick bar at the top is the nut. Open strings sit just above the nut. The numbers along the bottom mark important frets (3, 5, 7, 9, 12) to help orient you.

Scales repeat every twelve frets. The pattern of dots you see in the first twelve frets is identical to the pattern from fret twelve onward (just shifted up an octave), which is why most scale charts stop at the 12th fret marker.

All C scales

How ukulele scale names work

Scale names follow a tight pattern. The capital letter is the root note, the same as a chord. What follows describes the family the scale belongs to: how many notes it has, what interval pattern it uses, and what musical mood it carries. Hover any card below for the deeper context: the intervals from the root, what the scale sounds like, and where you'll hear it in real music.

Maj
Major1 2 3 4 5 6 7, bright + stable
m
Natural Minor1 2 ♭3 4 5 ♭6 ♭7, sad + dark
MajPent
Major Pentatonic1 2 3 5 6, folk + country
mPent
Minor Pentatonic1 ♭3 4 5 ♭7, blues + rock
Blues
Blues1 ♭3 4 ♭5 5 ♭7, bluesy tension
Dor
Dorian1 2 ♭3 4 5 6 ♭7, jazzy minor
Phr
Phrygian1 ♭2 ♭3 4 5 ♭6 ♭7, dark + Spanish
Lyd
Lydian1 2 3 ♯4 5 6 7, dreamy + floaty
Mix
Mixolydian1 2 3 4 5 6 ♭7, bluesy major
Loc
Locrian1 ♭2 ♭3 4 ♭5 ♭6 ♭7, dark + unstable
Harm
Harmonic Minor1 2 ♭3 4 5 ♭6 7, dramatic minor
Mel
Melodic Minor1 2 ♭3 4 5 6 7, jazz minor
Chrom
ChromaticAll 12 notes, every semitone
Exotic
Exotic scalesArabic, Hungarian, Japanese…

Frequently asked questions

Short answers to the questions ukulele players ask most about scales, modes, and how this tool works.

How do I read a ukulele scale diagram?

A scale diagram lights up every fretboard position where a note from the scale lives, across all four strings and twelve frets. The root note is highlighted in a different colour so you can see where the scale's home pitch lands. Pressing any lit position keeps you in the scale.

What's the difference between a scale and a chord?

A scale is a set of notes (usually five to seven) arranged in order from a root pitch. A chord is a small subset of those notes (usually three to four) played together as a stack. Most chords used in a song are built from notes in the song's key scale, which is why scales are the foundation for soloing, improvising, and writing melodies.

What's the difference between standard, low-G, and baritone tuning?

Standard ukulele tuning is g-C-E-A with a re-entrant high G string. Low-G uses the same letter names but drops the G string an octave for extra bass range. Baritone tunes D-G-B-E like the bottom four strings of a guitar. Each tuning shifts where each scale note appears on the fretboard, so this tool recomputes every diagram when you switch. To hear each tuning and tune your own instrument, try the online ukulele tuner.

Which scale should I learn first on ukulele?

The major scale, then the minor pentatonic. The major scale is the foundation for understanding every other scale, mode, and chord on the instrument. Minor pentatonic is only five notes, easy to memorise, and instantly usable for blues, rock, folk, and pop melodies. After those two, branch into natural minor and the blues scale.

What's a mode?

A mode is the major scale started from a different note. The seven notes stay the same, but the starting point shifts the sound. C Dorian, for example, uses the notes of B♭ major but starts on C. Each mode has its own flavour:

Dorian is jazzy-melancholy, Phrygian is dark and Spanish, Lydian is dreamy, Mixolydian is bluesy major, Locrian is unstable. They're all closely related to the major scale they came from, just with a different focal point on the same set of notes.

How do I play these scales, ascending and descending?

Click Play Up to hear the scale played from the root upward one octave. Click Play Down for the same notes in reverse. Each note is plucked individually using Karplus-Strong synthesis (the classic plucked-string algorithm). No audio files downloaded, everything runs in your browser.

What's the difference between pentatonic and blues scales?

The minor pentatonic has five notes: root, ♭3, 4, 5, ♭7. The blues scale adds one more, the ♭5 (also called the "blue note"), between the 4 and the 5. That extra chromatic note gives the blues scale its characteristic tension and is what makes a phrase sound "bluesy".

Can I share a specific scale with someone?

Yes. Click the Share button and the page URL is copied to your clipboard. The link encodes the root, scale, tuning, and handedness, so anyone who opens it lands on the exact same scale diagram.

How do I switch to left-handed mode?

Toggle the lefthanded switch above the fretboard. The whole-neck diagram mirrors instantly: the G string moves to the right and the A string to the left, matching what a left-handed player sees looking down at their own ukulele.

How many scales does this tool cover?

44 scales across six families: Essential (Major, Natural Minor, Major + Minor Pentatonic, Blues), Modes of major (Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Locrian), Minor + Jazz (Harmonic Minor, Melodic Minor, Altered, Augmented, three Bebop scales, Chromatic, Hawaiian, Hindu), European Exotic (Hungarian Major + Minor, Neapolitan Major + Minor, Gypsy, Flamenco, Enigmatic), Middle Eastern (Arabic, Byzantine, Egyptian, Ethiopian, Jewish, Mohammedan, Algerian, Eastern), and East Asian + Pacific (Balinese, Chinese, Hirajoshi, Iwato, Japanese, Mongolian, two Pelog variants).

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