ScaleBook

ScaleBook

www.scalebook.org | github.com/lelandjansen/ScaleBook

The internet it the world’s largest encyclopedia, holding a wealth of information accessible to anyone with a connection. When practicing to achieve my Grade 8 piano exam (through the Royal Conservatory of Music), I noticed one volume missing in this humungous library: Musical scales. These are the note sequences that make up the very foundation of all music, detailing the combination of tones and semitones that depict melodies and harmonies. However, the resources available online are scarce and do not match the quality of print books available for purchase in brick and mortar stores. With the spirit and freedom of the internet in mind, I created ScaleBook (www.scalebook.org), an online musical scale resource designed to surface the very roots of music.

From the initial sketches to the code thus far, everything has been created independently and coded from scratch.

Five features set ScaleBook apart:

  • Design – ScaleBook was created from the ground-up with the user at the forefront of the design. The content matches the aesthetics and quality of print books.

  • Advanced Music Scales – ScaleBook knows every the scales required to complete the Grade 10 piano examination from the Royal Conservatory of Music.

  • Natural Language Processing – ScaleBook understands natural language meaning you can phrase a query in your own words.

  • Computed Scales – The music scales and information behind them (including notes, key signatures, relative scales, etc.) are computed in lieu of drawing information from a database.

  • Free – ScaleBook is free to use and does not contain advertisements of any kind

 

Natural Language Processing

ScaleBook understands natural language meaning you can ask it a query in your own words.

Some things you can ask ScaleBook:

Scales

  • C major

  • blues on fs

  • e double sharp triple flat minor

  • G sharp major (gives enharmonically equivalent A-flat major because G-shrap minor cannot be written with a standard key signature)

  • show me a flat miner scale on e (correctly interprets as E-flat minor, not A-flat minor)

Key signatures

  • What's the key signature of C-flat major?

  • d min ks

  • Which modes have a key of 3 flats?

  • No sharps or flats

  • go to the mixolydian scale with 4 flats

Check

  • Is F minor's key signature 1 flat?

  • is 7 sharps the key of a# minor?

  • c minor has no flats and no sharps, right?

Relative scales

  • What is the relative major of G minor?

  • c# maj rel loc

  • show me all the scales relative to d sharp dorian

Random scale

  • Generate a random scale

  • eb random

  • give me whatever whole tone scale you want

Fun

  • Richter scale

  • Decibel scale

  • On a scale from 1 to 10...

 

Algorithms

To learn more about the algorithms behind ScaleBook and view the code, please visit ScaleBook's GitHub page.