Scale Library
PERF includes 112+ scales organized by tradition and theoretical origin. Each scale includes a description of its cultural context and compositional character.Western Modes
| Scale | Intervals | Character |
|---|---|---|
| Major | 0 2 4 5 7 9 11 | Bright, resolved — foundation of tonal harmony |
| Minor | 0 2 3 5 7 8 10 | Melancholic, introspective — Aeolian mode |
| Harmonic Minor | 0 2 3 5 7 8 11 | Raised 7th creates V-i cadence in minor |
| Melodic Minor | 0 2 3 5 7 9 11 | Jazz melodic minor — minor third, major upper tetrachord |
| Dorian | 0 2 3 5 7 9 10 | Raised 6th — sweet, jazzy. Modal jazz foundation |
| Phrygian | 0 1 3 5 7 8 10 | Lowered 2nd — Spanish, flamenco character |
| Lydian | 0 2 4 6 7 9 11 | Raised 4th — bright, dreamy, floating |
| Mixolydian | 0 2 4 5 7 9 10 | Lowered 7th — blues-rock dominant character |
| Locrian | 0 1 3 5 6 8 10 | Diminished — unstable tritone from root |
Pentatonic & Blues
| Scale | Intervals | Character |
|---|---|---|
| Major Pentatonic | 0 2 4 7 9 | Universal folk consonance |
| Minor Pentatonic | 0 3 5 7 10 | Blues foundation |
| Blues | 0 3 5 6 7 10 | Minor pentatonic + blue note |
Symmetric Scales
| Scale | Intervals | Character |
|---|---|---|
| Whole Tone | 0 2 4 6 8 10 | Debussy — floating, no gravity |
| Chromatic | 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 | All 12 pitches |
| Diminished | 0 2 3 5 6 8 9 11 | Octatonic — Stravinsky, Bartók |
| Double Diminished | 0 1 3 4 6 7 9 10 | Half-whole diminished |
| Triple Diminished | 0 3 6 9 | Fully diminished arpeggio |
Japanese Scales
| Scale | Intervals | Character |
|---|---|---|
| Kumoi | 0 2 3 7 9 | Classical koto — ethereal, serene |
| Iwato | 0 1 5 6 10 | Darkest Japanese pentatonic — Amaterasu’s cave |
| Hon-Kumoi-Joshi | 0 2 3 7 8 | Yatsuhashi Kengyo koto tuning — wabi-sabi |
| Kokin-Choshi | 0 2 3 6 7 9 10 | Modern koto — literary aesthetic |
| Banshiki-Cho | 0 1 3 5 6 8 10 | Gagaku court music — Heian period |
| Naka Zora | 0 2 6 7 11 | ”Middle sky” — tritone tension |
| Shimo-Chidori | 0 1 5 7 8 | Winter plovers — contemplative |
| Noh | 0 2 4 6 9 | Noh theatre — jo-ha-kyu aesthetic |
| Sho | 0 2 3 5 7 9 | Dorian-like extension |
| In Scale | 0 2 3 5 7 8 10 | Dark Japanese mode — introspective |
| Nohkan Flute | 0 2 5 7 10 | Bamboo flute — eerie, otherworldly |
| Karigane-Choshi | 0 3 5 7 9 11 | Wild geese — autumn landscapes |
| Han-Nakazora-Choshi | 0 2 3 6 7 9 11 | Variant koto — tritone heptatonic |
Indian Ragas
| Scale | Intervals | Character |
|---|---|---|
| Yaman | 0 2 4 6 7 9 11 | Evening — serene beauty, devotion |
| Bhairavi | 0 1 3 5 7 8 10 | Morning — pathos, devotion |
| Todi | 0 1 3 6 7 8 11 | Morning — devotional depth |
| Marwa | 0 1 4 6 9 11 | Sunset — spiritual renunciation |
| Lalit | 0 1 4 6 7 9 11 | Pre-dawn — devotional intensity |
| Hindole | 0 4 6 9 11 | Spring — love festivals |
| Kafi | 0 2 3 5 7 9 10 | Midnight — monsoon romance |
| Purvi | 0 1 4 6 7 8 11 | Sunset — quiet mysticism |
| Hansa Dhwani | 0 2 4 7 11 | Swan song — bright, joyful |
| Khambaj | 0 2 4 5 7 9 10 | Evening — sensuous, romantic |
| Bilawal | 0 2 4 5 7 9 11 | North Indian major — bright, pure |
| Goonkali | 0 1 7 8 11 | Sparse — austere, meditative |
| Ravi Shankar | 0 2 3 7 10 | Sitar-derived pentatonic |
| Jog | 0 4 7 8 9 | Evening — nostalgia, melancholy |
Yusef Lateef’s Repository
Mono-Quality Triads
7 scales constructed from consecutive triads of a single quality (all major, all minor, all diminished, all augmented) stacked in various cycles.Quartal Formations
9 scales built from perfect and augmented fourth intervals — Quartal, Quartal Triads, Mixed Quartal Augmented, Quartal Diminished, Inverted Quartal, and others.Hetero-Quality Triads
5 scales combining triads of different qualities (major + quartal, quartal + minor, diminished + quartal, augmented + quartal).Diminished Variations
6 scales derived from diminished structures with interjections and subscriptions of additional notes.Major 7th Interval Variations
8 scales exploring major 7th intervals with varying numbers of subscripted and superscripted tones.Consecutive Major Sevenths
5 scales from stacked major 7th intervals with chromatic additions.Mutated Hexadic Scales
8 six-note scales from mutations of the supra-diatonic system.Intervallic Mutations
4 hexadic scales from intervallic mutation procedures.Other Traditions
| Scale | Intervals | Character |
|---|---|---|
| Chinese Reform | 0 2 4 6 8 10 | Zhou Dynasty — Confucian cosmic order |
| Mongolian | 0 2 5 7 9 | Yuan Dynasty steppes |
| Archaic Greek | 0 1 4 5 7 8 11 | Ancient Phrygian — Dionysian ritual |
| Dolphy Synthetic | 0–11 (all) | Eric Dolphy’s avant-garde formations |
| Yusef Interpolation | 0 2 5 6 | Lateef’s own melodic fragment |
| Tertian Chord | 0 3 4 6 7 10 11 | Stacked major and minor thirds |
| Morphic | 0 1 3 7 8 10 11 | Synthetic — shifting, unstable |
| Infra-Diatonic | 0 1 3 4 6 8 10 | Greek enharmonic genus (12-TET approximation) |
Custom Scale
Set thecustomPitchClasses parameter (0–4095) to define any combination of the 12 pitch classes. Each bit represents a pitch class: bit 0 = C, bit 1 = C#, …, bit 11 = B. For example, 2741 (binary: 101010110101) = C Major.