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How Many Scales Are There? Here Is a List of Scales That Are Possible

As you know, the chromatic scale of 13 notes is the one from which all Western musical scales are drawn. Here’s a breakdown of the 2,047 possible scales you can create using the 13-note (12 semitone) Western chromatic scale (Table 22):

TABLE 22 Number of Possible Scales Using a 13-Note, 12-Interval Chromatic Scale

Number of Notes in the Scale

Number of Notes Possible Scales
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • 13
  • 11
  • 55
  • 165
  • 330
  • 462
  • 462
  • 330
  • 165
  • 55
  • 11
  • 1
  • ----------
  • 2,047

So ... the familiar 8-note “do-re-mi” major scale is only one of 462 possible 8-note scales you could construct by selecting 8 notes from the 13-note chromatic scale.

There are 330 possible pentatonic scales. (Recall that the number of notes in a pentatonic scale is not five; it is six, because the octave note occurs twice.)

Of all the 2,047 possible scales, only a small number lend themselves easily to modulation (key changes) and harmony. Those are the ones you’ll find most useful.

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