Scale Synonyms

The Scale Synonyms tool is a popup window, opened by:

Menu: Tools-Scale Synonyms

It reveals, and allows you to explore the synonym scale types among those which you have activated in the Scale Types Options. These are also known as the modes of scales.

Synonym Scales occur where two different scales contain the same set of notes, in a different order or mode.

For a full discussion of these see Synonym Chords or Major Scale Modes in the Tutorials.

The Original and Synonym scale lists are colored red as with other areas in the ChordWizard workspace. You can change these colors with the Display Options.

Controls

Original Scale Type

This list contains all of the activated scale types which have synonyms.

You begin your exploration of scale synonyms by selecting one of these.

Synonym Scale Type

This list contains all of the scale types which can produce a synonym for the scale type selected in the Original Scale Type list.

By default, the first item in the list is selected, but can you can select a different one instead.

Original Scale

Synonym Scale

This area is for constructing a scale based on the Original Scale Type you selected and viewing the properties of the resulting synonym scale.

You do this by selecting a root note for the original scale from the dropdown list.

The first item in the root note dropdown list (and the default selection) is the roman numeral (I). This notation is often used in music to represent the degrees of the Major scale.

In this case, it allows you to see the difference in interval between the Original Scale and the Synonym Scale before you select an actual root note.

Let's take an example. We know that C Major and D Dorian are synonym scales because they both have the notes C D E F G A B (Note the Dorian scale appears only at Intermediate playing level and above).

By selecting Major as the Original Scale Type and Dorian as the Synonym Scale Type, we are presented in this area with an original scale of (I) Major and a synonym scale of (II) Dorian.

This tells us that any scales built from the Major scale type have a synonym scale whose root note is the 2 degree of the Major scale starting on the original scale root note.

The corresponding degrees of the original scale and the synonym scale are shown in the grid between them, so the 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 degrees of the Major scale type correspond to the b7 1 2 b3 4 5 6 degrees of the Dorian scale type, regardless of the root note.

Then if we select an actual root note of C, things become clearer. We find that the synonym scale of C Major is D Dorian,

confirms the (I)->(II) interval shown above, since D is the 2 degree of the C Major scale.

Selecting an actual root note in this way also reveals the actual notes made by each of the corresponding degrees - in this case, C D E F G A B, as we already expect.

Selecting a different root note will produce a different synonym scale and a different set of component notes.

Set Filter to Scale

There are two of these, one each for the Original Scale and the Synonym Scale. They send the selected scale to the filter, helping you to find suitable scale positions for playing it when you return to the workspace.

These buttons are only enabled if you have an actual root note selected for the original scale.

Play Scale

There are two of these, one each for the Original Scale and the Synonym Scale. They play the sound of their respective scales, allowing you to compare the different note orders.

Closes the Scale Synonyms window and returns to the workspace.

Help

Opens ChordWizard Help at this topic.