Scale Finder
Pick the notes you played and ScaleSpace names every scale, mode and arpeggio that contains them, and the chord those notes make, on guitar, bass, ukulele or piano. Free, no sign-up.
How it works
Tap notes straight onto the fretboard or keyboard where you played them, or pick them from the chromatic row. ScaleSpace compares your notes against every scale in all twelve keys and lists the matches, closest first.
A scale that contains exactly your notes is an exact match. A scale that contains them plus others is listed with the notes it adds, so you can see how far your idea sits from a bigger scale. A minor pentatonic is a minor blues scale minus one note, and the finder says so.
Why one set of notes has more than one name
The same notes can belong to several scales depending on which one you treat as the root. C, E flat, F, G and B flat are the C minor pentatonic and also the E flat major pentatonic: the same five notes counted from a different starting point. All seven notes of C major are equally D dorian, E phrygian, F lydian, G mixolydian, A natural minor and B locrian. The finder shows every name rather than picking one for you, because which is right depends on what your music treats as home.
The chord in your notes
Under the scales, the finder names the chord your notes make, with the bass note taken into account. The Chord Finder is the same tool with the chord answer first.
What you can do next
Choosing a result draws that whole scale with your own notes still marked, so you can see which notes you have not used yet. From there you can open it in the full tool to hear it, compare it against another scale, change tuning, or export a printable PDF.