Welcome to PianoGroove’s jazz piano scales resource page.
Memorising the basics such as the major scales and minor scales is a vitally important step in understanding harmony. Scales are an essential building block of the jazz language and provide a pool of notes for you to choose from when improvising.
Below you will find downloadable PDFs of the basic scales such as Major, Minor and Pentatonic Scales and also more interesting sounding ‘Jazz Piano Scales’ such as Symmetrical and Modal Scales.
The Circle Of Fifths
The circle of fifths is a handy diagram that outlines the major and relative minor scales. The key signatures are shown next to the key so you can quickly and easily identify the sharps and flats in each scale. Click on the image below to download a PDF copy and you can also find more information on the circle of fifths wikipedia page.
Major Scales
Start here! The 12 major scales provide the foundation for further scales study. Take time to learn these scales thoroughly so that you can play them by memory without the music.
Minor Scales
Once you have mastered the major scales it’s time to learn the minor scales. Unlike the major scale, there are 3 types of minor scale: the natural minor, melodic minor and harmonic minor. Each minor scale has a different use and application in jazz piano and so learning how to construct and apply each one is a important. Check out the lesson on minor scales for jazz piano for more information.
Pentatonic Scales
Pentatonic scales exist in both major and minor keys and provide a good starting point for learning to improvise. Pentatonic scales are particularly useful in a modal setting when playing over 1 chord for an extended period of time.
Listen to the masters of jazz piano such as McCoy Tyner and John Coltrane to get an understanding of the types of sounds created through improvising with pentatonic scales.
Major Pentatonic Scales
Minor Pentatonic Scales
The Half Whole Diminished Scale
The half-whole diminished scale is an 8 note symmetrical scale. The scale alternates half and whole steps until the scale starts again. The scale can be played over dominant chords and has the tensions b9, #9 & #11.
Modal Scales
Modal scales are derived from the major and minor scales and are used in jazz for soloing and improvisation. Learning the major and minor modes gives you a pool of notes to improvise over any chord symbol.
The Modes of the Major Scale
The Major Modes Cheat Sheet
The major modes cheat sheet provides the formulas for each of the major modes in relation to the major scale. Memorising and understanding these formulas will allow you to quickly and easily find the 7 major modes of all 12 keys.
The Modes of the Melodic Minor Scale
The Melodic Minor Modes Cheat Sheet
Similar to the major modes cheat sheet, this resources gives you the formulas for quickly constructing more exotic sounding chord scales. Only 4 of the melodic minor modes are commonly used and these are highlighted in green. 
