ʻUkulele scales are created from a family of notes that sound pleasing together. They serve as the foundation to a tonality (major or minor).
Since the fretboard of an ʻukulele is a crazy matrix, it’s very useful to have scale charts available for reference as you study.
Free PDF Scales Collection
Download over 150 pages of ʻukulele scale reference diagrams and charts in PDF. This free bundle of files includes 14 scale types and a guide on implementing them.
A detailed and expansive guide to the notes on the fretboard, this collection contains a whole book’s worth of charts and instruction – for free.
Once you download and extract the .zip file (just double click on most computers), you’ll have 15 PDF files:
- Read Me – How to Learn Scales
- Major (Ionian Mode)
- Minor (Aeolian Mode)
- Major Pentatonic
- Minor Pentatonic
- Blues
- Dorian Mode
- Phrygian Mode
- Lydian Mode
- Mixolydian Mode
- Locrian Mode
- Harmonic Minor
- Melodic Minor
- Diminished (Whole-Half)
- Whole Tone
Each page looks like this and contains two different chart variations: notes and scale degrees.
Tabs of ʻUkulele Scales:
Root position open scales with fingering diagrams.
All 12 Western notes in scale form shown with alternate fingerings. Can used be used as a “sheet music to tab converter.”
How to play the basic C scale normally, in 3rds, harmonized, and more. Great for deepening your knowledge of the scale.
The first two measures of each staff shows the scale in it’s lowest position starting from the root and the last two measures are an octave higher. If you play an ʻukulele with a high-g then the low ʻukulele scales might sound off, but the note locations are the same – just in different octaves. The “spelling” is to the right of the link and based off of the root major scale.
- Major Scales (Ionian mode) – 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
- Natural Minor Scales (Aeolian mode) – 1 2 b3 4 5 b6 b7
- Dorian Mode Scales – 1 2 b3 4 5 6 b7
- Mixolydian Mode Scales – 1 2 3 4 5 6 b7
- Lydian Mode Scales – 1 2 3 #4 5 6 7
- Phrygian Mode Scales – 1 b2 b3 4 5 b6 b7
- Major pentatonic scales – 1 2 3 5 6
- Minor Pentatonic Scales – 1 b3 4 5 b7
- Blues Scales – 1 b3 4 #4 5 b7
UkeBuddy is a great tool for finding other scales. It’s a bit hard to look at for my eyes, but the information is all there, provided you have an internet connection.
How to Play Basic Major & Minor ʻUkulele Scales
C Major
C D E F G A B C
G Major
G A B C D E F# G
F Major
F G A Bb C D E F
A Minor
A B C D E F G A
E Minor
E F# G A B C D E
D Minor
D E F G A Bb C D
A Major
A B C# D E F# G# A
All About Modes:
Confused about what the modes are? Me too. This page demystifies the theory behind them.
