Theory

Scale Sharing

Layer up to four scales on one fretboard, with shared notes as pie-slice dots and roots, 3rds and 5ths ringed.

Guitar
Ukulele
Banjo
Bass

Scale Sharing on guitar with four scales listed: C Major (blue) and A Minor (green) switched on, F Major and G Major switched off. The fretboard shows each note in one of the two colours, with dots split into blue and green pie slices where the scales share a note.

C major and A minor: the same seven notes, so every dot is shared.

Scale Sharing on guitar with F Major (orange) switched on alongside C Major and A Minor. Dots are split into pie slices of up to three colours, and the one note F Major adds, B♭, appears as a solid orange dot.

Add F major: only B♭ is new, shown as a solid orange dot.

Scale Sharing on guitar with all four scales switched on: C Major, A Minor, F Major and G Major (purple). The one note G Major adds, F♯, appears as a solid purple dot, and the rest are pie slices of several colours.

All four scales at once: F♯ is the only note G major adds.

Scale Sharing on ukulele with four scales listed: C Major (blue) and A Minor (green) switched on, F Major and G Major switched off. The fretboard shows each note in one of the two colours, with dots split into blue and green pie slices where the scales share a note. The four strings are labelled A, E, C and G.

C major and A minor: the same seven notes, so every dot is shared.

Scale Sharing on ukulele with F Major (orange) switched on alongside C Major and A Minor. Dots are split into pie slices of up to three colours, and the one note F Major adds, B♭, appears as a solid orange dot.

Add F major: only B♭ is new, shown as a solid orange dot.

Scale Sharing on ukulele with all four scales switched on: C Major, A Minor, F Major and G Major (purple). The one note G Major adds, F♯, appears as a solid purple dot, and the rest are pie slices of several colours.

All four scales at once: F♯ is the only note G major adds.

Scale Sharing on banjo with four scales listed: C Major (blue) and A Minor (green) switched on, F Major and G Major switched off. The fretboard shows each note in one of the two colours, with dots split into blue and green pie slices where the scales share a note. The five strings are labelled D, B, G, D and g, and the short g string starts at the 5th fret.

C major and A minor: the same seven notes, so every dot is shared.

Scale Sharing on banjo with F Major (orange) switched on alongside C Major and A Minor. Dots are split into pie slices of up to three colours, and the one note F Major adds, B♭, appears as a solid orange dot.

Add F major: only B♭ is new, shown as a solid orange dot.

Scale Sharing on banjo with all four scales switched on: C Major, A Minor, F Major and G Major (purple). The one note G Major adds, F♯, appears as a solid purple dot, and the rest are pie slices of several colours.

All four scales at once: F♯ is the only note G major adds.

Scale Sharing on bass with four scales listed: C Major (blue) and A Minor (green) switched on, F Major and G Major switched off. The fretboard shows each note in one of the two colours, with dots split into blue and green pie slices where the scales share a note.

C major and A minor: the same seven notes, so every dot is shared.

Scale Sharing on bass with F Major (orange) switched on alongside C Major and A Minor. Dots are split into pie slices of up to three colours, and the one note F Major adds, B♭, appears as a solid orange dot.

Add F major: only B♭ is new, shown as a solid orange dot.

Scale Sharing on bass with all four scales switched on: C Major, A Minor, F Major and G Major (purple). The one note G Major adds, F♯, appears as a solid purple dot, and the rest are pie slices of several colours.

All four scales at once: F♯ is the only note G major adds.

Scale Sharing answers a question that’s hard to see on paper: what do these scales have in common, and where?

How it works

View up to four scales. Each gets its own colour – blue, green, orange or purple – and they’re drawn on one fretboard. Use the instrument tabs above the screenshots to see it on guitar, ukulele, banjo or bass; the strings and tuning follow the instrument. Where scales share a fret, the dot is split into pie slices, one per scale.

Tap the eye to show or hide a scale; tap the trash to remove it.
Your list is saved between sessions.

Chord tones

The root, 3rd and 5th of each scale are bolded in its note list and ringed on the fretboard – solid dots get a full ring, shared pie-slice dots ring only their own slice. These are the “chord homes”: aim for them when picking individual strings or moving between chords. Turn Highlight Triad Notes off in Settings for a plainer view.

Ideas to try

Major vs its relative minor – identical notes, different home.
Dorian vs Aeolian – find the single note that gives Dorian its brighter sound.
The scales for each chord in a song – see where they overlap so you can move between them with the least hand movement.