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In music theory, a scale is any set of musical notes ordered by fundamental frequency or pitch.
A scale ordered by increasing pitch is an ascending scale, and a scale ordered by
decreasing pitch is a descending scale.
Scale” comes from a Latin word which means ladder. A scale is the tonal basis of
music. It is a set of tones from which you can build melodies and harmonies. The tones
of a scale are ordered according to their pitch. Since scales create various distinctive
moods, atmospheres and tonal flavors, there are as many scales as there are cultures
around the world.
The major scale, minor scale and the church modes are all based on the diatonic scale.
They consist of the same tones but the center tone (the tonic) is different.