THE JOURNAL OF THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA VOLUME 21, NUMBER 6 NOVEMBER, 1949

Musical Scales and Their Classification*

J. MrrRRA•rBARBOU•
Music Department,Michigan State College,East Lansing, Michigan
(ReceivedMay 20, 1949)

A musical scaleis a sequenceof musicalintervals in a certain
range, such as an octave; a mode is a cyclic permutation of a
scale;a key is a modeat a certain pitch-level;a raga is a melodic
pattern of a key. There are 66 heptatonicscales,462 heptatonic
modes,and 5544heptatonickeys.For eachkey thereare thousands
of possibleragas,or a total of many millionsof ragas.
Most writers, confusingscalesand modes, have listed com-
paratively few of the possiblescales.The older writers were
further limited by harmonic considerations.Slonimsky's scales
and melodicpatterns (1947) are mostly ragas,in which, as with
Schillinger(1946), symmetry is paramount; Slonimsky'spenta-
tonic and heptatonicscalesare actually modes.
The inverse of a scale contains the same intervals in reverse
order.The complementof a scalecontainsall the notesof an octave
not in the scale itself. A scale may be measuredby the total
mean-squaredeviation of all its intervals.
The notation of a heptatonicscaleas a harp scale(with seven
letter names)agreeswith the deviationindex. However, the func-
tion of notesin the scalemay often be expressedby fewer than
sevenletter names or by two different names for the same note.
For the composer,the intensivestudy of individual scaleswill be
more rewardingthan the listing of thousandsof keys or millions
of ragas.

F, VERYBODY
is acquainted
withsomemusical My first interest in the theory of scalesarosefrom
scales--thediatonicor heptatonicscale,the Scotch readingBusoni'slittle book, A New Estheticof Music.•
pentatonic scale, Debussy'shexatonic or whole-tone SinceBusoniformed new scalesby placingsharpsor
scale.These familiar scalesare presentedas Examples flats beforevariousnotesof the C major scale,eachof
l(a), (b), and (c). (The numbersbeneaththe notesin his scaleshad exactly sevendifferent letter names.In
the examplesare the number of semitonesin the suc- an article2 on the mathematicalbasisof Busoni'sscales,
cessiveintervals.)The purposeof this articleis to show I called them "harp scales," i.e., scalesformed by
how extensivethe families of scalesare, to differentiate differentsettingsof the pedalsof the harp. But not all
between scales and the related concepts of modes, heptatonic scales can be norated with seven letter
keys, and ragas, and to indicate briefly how an un- namesunlessdoublesharpsand flats are used.Thus the
familiar scalemay be used.The study is based upon notationof someof the scaleswasby no meanssimple.
the ordinary division of the octave into twelve equal It does not necessarilyfollow that musical scales
semitones. If the basis had been an octave with more shouldoften be notated rather clumsilyjust to be in
than twelve parts, either equal or unequal, the total accordancewith Busoni's wholly unscientificexperi-
number of available scales would have been corre- ments. My further study of scales,however,included
spondinglygreater. an attempt to classifyall the scalesin a particularscale
family through the mean-squaredeviations of their
NOTATION USED intervals from those of the ideal scale,that in which
the intervals are all equal. The whole-tonehexatonic
Sincein equal temperamentthere is no pitch differ- scale(l(c)) is suchan ideal scale,and the heptatonic
encebetweenF sharpand G flat, for example,it might and pentatonicscalesin Examplesl(a) and (b) come
seem to be a matter of indifference which of these
nearest the ideal for their respectivefamilies. The
would be usedin a particular scale.However, F sharp, detailsof this method of classification are beyondthe
as the first sharpin a succession
of sharpsin a key sig- limits of the presentarticle.
nature, might be preferredto G flat, the fifth flat. Or Another attempt at classificationwas based upon
perhapsF sharpwould be usedin a melodicsequence the numberof perfectfifths in eachscaledegreewhen
suchas F, F sharp, G; G flat in one suchas F, G flat, the notesare arrangedin order of sharpnessin a spiral
B flat. The determiningfactor in the latter casewould of fifths. For example,the notesof the ascending form
be the fact that the interval G flat-B flat is a major of the melodicminor scale (2(b)) would be E flat (B
third and as suchis regardedas simplerthan F sharp- flat), F, C, G, D, A (E), B. SinceneitherB flat nor E
B flat, a diminishedfourth. However, in the examples is in the scale, its quintal pattern would be 211112.
for this article each heptatonicscaleis notated with Without elaborating upon this method either, it is
seven different letter names, for reasonswhich are sufficientto note that the resultsobtainedby it agree
given below. Both of the given fragmentsof a hypo- perfectly with those for the mean-squaredeviation
thetical scalewould thus have a G flat, sinceno scale method referred to above. This being the case,there
would contain both F and F sharp. • FerrucioBusoni, Entwurf ½inerneuenA esthetikder Tonkunst
(1907);Englishtranslationby Th. Baker(G. Schirmer,
Inc., New
* This articlewaspresentedasa paperwith the sametitle before York, 1911).
the 20th AnniversaryMeetingof theAcoustical Societyof America • J. M. Barbour, "Synthetic musical scales," Am. Math.
on May 5, 1949, in New York, New York. Monthly 36, 155-160 (March, 1929).
586

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 MUSICAL SCALES AND THEIR CLASSIFICATION 587

seemsto be ample justificationfor usinga notation in
which there are as many fundamentalsymbolsas there
are notesin the scale.A scalethus revealsat a glance
approximatelywhere it belongsin its scalefamily. In
practice,as will be discussed
at the end of the article,
notation might well depend upon the function of a
note in the particularpassagein whichit is beingused.
CLASSIFICATION OF HEPTATONIC
462• 12 or 5544. These include no duplicationswhat-
ever. One may compute similarly the number of the
modesfor all scales,with from one to twelve notes in
them. First, choosea keynote. Each of the remaining
elevennotesin the octavemay then be either taken or
rejected,for a total of 2• or 2048 modes.For the grand
total of keys, multiply 2048 by 12, which gives24,576
keys, an impressivefigureindeed.
SCALES

CHARACTERISTICS OF RAGAS
The simplestmethodof classifyingscalesis by their
intervals. But it is a very rough method, since the The conceptsof scale,mode,and key are not difficult
heptatonicscalefamily, for example,comprisesonly to grasp. But the word "raga" will probably need
sevenclasses.Of these, the first classmay be called greater elucidation.In India a raga is a melodicpat-
diatonic, since its members are formed by various tern? This includeswhat we understandby mode,but
permutations of five tones and two semitones.The has several additional features. One of these is the im-
numberof suchscalesis 6!/5 !2! or 3. These scalesare portanceof the "amsa" or dominant. In our common
shownas Examples2(a), (b), and (c). major and minor scalesthe dominant is always the
The secondclass of heptatonic scalescontains an fifth degree,as G in the scaleof C. The primary raga,
augmentedsecond,as D flat-E or A flat-B, together Sankarabharana,found in Southern India, has the
with three tones and three semitones. The number of
same notes as our C major scale. But its amsa is E.
scalesin this classwill be 6!f3 !3! or 20. Two of these Conceivablythere might be other ragas with these
scalesare shownas Examples3(a) and (b). same scalenotes and the same keynote, but with dif-
In Class111 there are two augmentedseconds,one ferent amsas.
tone, and four semitones.Hence there will be 6!/4!2! Furthermore, many secondaryragas are transilient,
or 15 of these scales,two of which are shown as Ex-
that is, they omit one or more notesof the raga from
amples4(a) and (b). which they are derived. But in someof them, the notes
Class IV contains the interval of the doubly aug- omitted in ascentare presentin descent,as in Bilahari
mented second,as G flat-A sharp, together with two (5(a)), which is pentatonicascendingand heptatonic
tonesand four semitones.It also comprises6!/4!2! or descending.Again, certain notes may be used only in
15 scales.Three of thesescalesare shownas Examples ascent,alternative notes in descent.See, for example,
7(a), (b), and (c). the raga Chenchurutti(5(b)), whichis exactlylike our
No examplesare shownof the remainingthreeclasses. C majorscale,exceptfor a B flat in the descending form.
Class V containsboth an augmentedand a doubly The previousexamplecomesa little closerhome; for
augmentedsecond,as well as five semitones,and so we toohavescaleswith variablenotes.In the Gregorian
consists of 6 !/5! or six scales.ClassVI is distinguished modes,B flat was often substitutedfor B, especially
by a triply augmentedsecond,as G flat-A double whenflankedby two A's. Our melodicminor ascending
sharp, togetherwith a tone and five semitones.Thus it wasshownin Example2(b). Its descending form would
alsoconsistsof 6 !/5! or six scales.ClassVII comprises have both B flat and A flat in place of B and A. Thus it
only onescale(6!/6!), with six semitones and a quad- would be a raga of a non-atonicscalein which both B
ruply augmented second,as G double flat-A double and B flat, A and A flat are present.
sharp. The third earmark of a raga is the frequent use of a
HEPTATONIC MODES AND KEYS
short melodicmotive. For exampie, Mohana, our com-
The sum of the scalesin thesesevenclassesis 66, mon pantatonicscale(l(b)), is characterizedby the
the great majority of which have not been consciously three notesshownin 6(a). Our own musicis not devoid
employedby composers.For each scale there will be of suchmotives:the Volga motive in 6(b) is not con-
sevencyclicpermutations,dependingupon which note fined to the familiar Boatmen's Song; almost any
is chosenas the tonic or keynote. Sincethesepermuta- Hungarian dance usesthe cadential formula in 6(c);
tions of the common diatonic scale are called ecclesiastic and the augmentedsecondsof the Gipsy scale are
stressed rather than avoided.
or Gregorianmodes,the word"mode" may be applied
to eachof the 66X 7 or 462 permutations.As a check In SouthernIndia there are 72 primary ragas(most
on this number,observethat in forminga modeone of them corresponding to our modes),and a total of
note is taken as the keynoteand six of the remaining between 500 and 1000 ragas altogether. That means
notesin the octaveare then chosento go with it. That that on the average there are no more than ten sec-
is, there are as many modesas the combinationsof 11 ondaryragasderivedfrom oneprimary raga. In theory,
things,taken 6 at a time, 11!/6 !5! or 462. there are many times that number. Let us ignore the
Any of the twelvenotesin the octavemay be chosen possibilityof changinga raga by changingits amsaor'
as the keynoteof oneof these462 modes.Thus the total aH. A. Popley,TheMusic of India (AssociationPress,Calcutta
number of transposedheptatonicmodes or keys is and London, 1921).

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588 J. MURRAY BARBOUR

i t 3 ! ! 3,

{,•)c

Fro. 1. Examplesof musicalscales,ragas,motives,and melodicfragments.

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 MUSICAL SCALES AND THEIR CLASSIFICATION 589

dominant. Then let us assumethat in any heptatonic 7(c) also, contain the same intervals ascendingas
raga either one, two, or three notes,not includingthe descending.They are three of the ten self-inverse
keynote, may be omitted in ascentor in descent,but scales,other examples including the three scales of
not in both. One note may be omitted in 2X6!/5! or Class I and the Gipsy scale.The inverseof any scale
12 ways; two notesin 22X6!/4!2! or 60 ways; three containsthe sameintervalsin reverseorder. Omitting
notes in 2aX6 !/3 !3! or 160 ways. Thus there are a the ten self-inversescales,the remaining 56 fall into
total of 232 ways to omit not more than three notes. 28 pairs of mutually inversescales.In a suitable key
Let us assumefurther that the raga's characteristic the inverseof the harmonicminor scale(7(a) and (b))
motive contains any three notes of the raga. These differs from it at only one point, an E rather than an
may be chosenin 7!/4! or 210 ways. The complete E flat. On the other hand, the inverse of the Greek
pattern of omittednotesand motivescan thusbe varied chromaticscale(7(c) and (d)) happensto havean E flat
in 232X210 or 48,720 ways. And this is for just one in place of an E.
heptatonicmode.For the 5544 heptatonickeys, multi- For reasons obvious to anyone familiar with the
ply by 5544, for a total of 270,103,689ragas--many piano keyboard, the basic heptatonic scale is often
millionsof which would probably be useless. called the white-key scale and the corresponding
CONTEMPORARY AND EARLIER WRITERS pentatonic scale the black-key scale. Since the two
ON SCALES scalesincludeall the notesof the octave, the one is the
complementof the other. Any other heptatonic scale
The astronomicalsize of the number just given is has as its complementa pentatonicscalecontainingall
reminiscentof the figuresreachedby JosephSchillinger. 4 the notesnot in the given scale.The Greek chromatic
For example,he mentions207,360,000"melodic forms scale and its pentatonic complement are shown as
in a 5-unit sectional scale on four tonics." It is to be
Examples9(a) and (b).
noted that, although Schillingerdevotesa chapter of Any attempt to evaluate scalesmust take into ac-
his book to ordinary scales, his chief interest is in count not only inverse pairs and self-inversescales,
symmetric scales,those obtained from a division of but complementaryscalesas well. The principle of
several octaves into two, three, four, six, or twelve selection is the same whether one chooses the notes to
parts. Sincemany of thesescaleswouldhave duplicated be used in a scale or those to be omitted. The one scale
pitches if reduced to a single octave, they are ragas is like a photographicnegative, the other the positive
rather than scales or modes.
print made from it. Here the study of complementary
The fascinating "melodic patterns" of Nicolas hexatonicscalesis important, for the complementof a
Slonimsky 5are in the main just Schillinger'ssymmetric hexatonicscaleis another hexatonicscale,which should
ragas, set down in notes. Slonimskyalso has a section have the same index.
devoted to heptatonic scales.These are of the first
three classesonly, in which there are potentially 38 POSSIBILITIES OF A SINGLE SCALE

scales.But, with much modal duplication, he found It was because of such considerations that the devia-
only 2•)of the 38. Similarly,he listsonly23 undupli- tion formula was derived to which reference was made
cared pentatonic scales, or slightly more than one- in an earlier paragraph.As was explained there, the
third of the 66 in the entire pentatonicfamily. notation of heptatonicscalesas harp scalesis correlated
Discussionsof scalesby such writers as Delezenne,6 with their rank based upon deviations from a norm.
Gandillot,7 Hatherly, 8 and Alexander Ellis,9 failed to This notation was responsible for someof the oddities,
include many genuine scalesbecauseof various re- such as the G flat-A sharp of the Class IV scales.In
strictions,especiallyby the authors' insistencethat a actual practice there is no reasonwhy this interval
scalehave at least two perfect fifths. But 18 of the 66 might not often be F sharp-Asharpor its enharmonic
heptatonicscaleshave only one fifth in our notation, equivalentG flat-B flat or perhapsF sharp-Bflat.
and 13 more have no fifths at all.
As an exampleof how the notesof a scaletake on
INVERSE AND COMPLEMENTARY SCALES different color, dependingupon the melodic context,
let us considerthe Class III scaleshown in 10(a). As
As examplesof scaleswith no perfect fifths, see the
the furthershortmelodicfragments(10(b) through(g))
ClassIV scales7(a) and (b). Both of thesescales,and
show,the scale,as originally notated, may be made to
• JosephSchillinger, The SchillingerSystemof Musical Com-
position(Carl Fischer,Inc., New York, 1946). give the dark feelingof D flat minor; equallywell, it
* Nicolas Slonimsky,Thesaurusof Scalesand Melodic Patterns servesas C minor; with a slight changeof notation, it
(New York, 1947). is in A flat minor; with further changesof notation,
6 C. E. J. Delezenne,"Note sur le hombredesmodesmusicaux,"
Recueil des travaux de la socidt6des sciences,de l'agriculture et not of pitch, it becomesE minor; it easilyassumesthe
desarts, de Lille 8, 57-71 (1826/27). brighterhuesof E major; it paysits respectsto bonny
7MauriceGandillot, Essaisurla gamme(Gauthier-Villars,Paris, Scotlandin C major.
1906).
8S. G. Hatherly, A Treatiseon ByzantineMusic (A. Gardiner, The detailedstudy of suchsubtlebeautiesof melody
Paisleyand London, 1892). obtainablefrom a singlescalewill prove most fruitful
9It. L. F. Itelmholtz, Sensationsof Tone, English translation
by A. J. Ellis (LongroansGreenand Company,London, 1885) to the composer,rather than the overwhelming figures
second edition. of 24,000keysor 270,000,000ragas.

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