Musical Scales of the World

Book excerpt: This book is a must for musicians, composers and music producers who want to explore the fascinating variety of musical scales that are now used in world music. Included are hundreds of scales from around the world such as: major and minor scales of Western music, diatonic modes, pentatonic scales, scales used in jazz and bebop, artificial and synthetic scales, scales of Greek folk music, pentatonic scales of Japanese and Chinese music, Ethiopian kinit, African kora scales, scales of Indonesian gamelan music, equal tone scales of Thailand and Burma, musical scales of classical Indian music and more. Each scale is presented in multiple formats including guitar tab, keyboard, note names, staff and where appropriate, details of fine tuning. A transposition pattern is also given for each scale, which enables the musician to practise and play the scale in any key required. An explanation of each scale, together with a description of its characteristics is also provided."