It’s important for jazz musicians to learn their scales. While the major scales are important, they are only the beginning.
Tetrachords are a wonderful way to learn your scales. Once you understand the basic tetrachords, you can combine these tetrachords into scales.
A Tetrachord is a four-note scale.
Instead of having to remember 8 separate notes, if you understand tetrachords you can remember 2 tetrachords instead of the 8 or 9 notes.
While I have written at length about tetrachords at the links above, this article simplifies the relationship between tetrachords and scales. I’ve used music notation in the linked articles above, but this summary contains only intervals, not standard notation.
Here is a PDF of the 17 Important Jazz Scales in Tetrachords
Key: W=Whole-Step H=Half-Step b3=Minor Third
10 Important Tetrachords
Name of Tetrachord Intervals Numbers
Major Tetrachord WWH 1 2 3 4
Minor Tetrachord WHW 1 2 b3 4
Phrygian Tetrachord HWW 1 b2 b3 4
Whole-Tone Tetrachord WWW 1 2 3 #4
Diminished Tetrachord HWH 1 b2 b3 3
Harmonic Tetrachord Hb3H 1 b2 3 4
Mixolydian Blues Tetrachord WHH 1 2 b3 3
Blues 1 Tetrachord b3WH 1 b3 4 #4
Blues 2 Tetrachord Hb3W 1 b2 3 #4
Chromatic Tetrachord HHH 1 b2 2 b3
Now that we have listed the tetrachords in terms of their intervals and numbers, let’s show how these tetrachords are used to make up the 17 Most Important Scales in Jazz.
16 Most Important Scales in Jazz by Tetrachords Intervals
Name of Scale Tetrachord 1 Separating Interval Tetrachord 2 Extra Note
Major WWH W WWH
Dorian (minor) WHW W WHW
Phrygian (minor) HWW W HWW
Lydian (major) WWW H WWH
Mixolydian (dominant) WWH W WHW
Aeolian (natural minor) WHW W HWW
Locrian (half-diminished) HWW H WWW
Half-Whole Diminished HWH W HWH W
Whole-Half Diminished WHW H WHW H
Altered Scale HWH W WWW
Lydian Dominant WWW H WHW
Whole-Tone Scale WWW 0 WWW
Locrian #2 WHW H WWW
Blues Scale b3WH 0 Hb3W
Major Bebop (descending!) HWH H WHW W
Minor Bebop (descending!) HHH W WWH W
Mixolydian Bebop (descending!) HHH W WHW W
*Remember that the 3 Bebop Scales listed are DESCENDING, not ascending.
17 Most Important Scales in Jazz by Tetrachord Name
Name of Scale Tetrachord 1 Separating Interval Tetrachord 2 Extra Note
Major Major W Major
Dorian (minor) Minor W Minor
Phrygian (minor) Phrygian W Phrygian
Lydian (major) Whole-Tone H Major
Mixolydian (dominant) Major W Minor
Aeolian (natural minor) Minor W Phrygian
Locrian (half-diminished) Phyrgian H Whole-Tone
Half-Whole Diminished Diminished W Diminished W
Whole-Half Diminished Minor H Minor H
Altered Scale Diminished W Whole-Tone
Lydian Dominant Whole-Tone H Minor
Whole-Tone Scale Whole-Tone 0 Whole-Tone
Locrian #2 Minor H Whole-Tone
Blues Scale Blues 1 0 Blues 2
Major Bebop* (descending!) Diminished H Minor W
*Minor Bebop* (descending!) Chromatic W Phrygian W
Mixolydian Bebop* (descending!) Chromatic W Minor W
*Remember that the 3 Bebop Scales listed are DESCENDING, not ascending.