Free Bass Scale Chart: Scales, Modes and Arpeggios

Pick a root and a scale and see every note on the bass neck, spelled the way you’d see it on a chart. This free bass scale chart covers the major modes, melodic minor and its modes, harmonic minor, the diminished and whole tone scales, bebop, pentatonic and blues scales, and the jazz arpeggios, on 4-string, 5-string or upright. There’s no signup and nothing to install.

Every scale shows its root, the chord tones of the chord it goes with, one octave on the bass clef, and what it’s for.

How to use the bass scale chart

1. Pick a root and a scale. Black-key roots get the spelling a reader expects, like D♭ major or C♯ Dorian. If you want the other one, press the “Spell it from” link under the title.
2. Read the colors. The root is black, the chord tones of the matching chord are rust, and the rest of the scale is white.
3. Switch to scale degrees to see the numbers instead of the letters.
4. Press Play to hear it up and down the octave, or tap any note to hear it on its own.
5. Print it for your music stand.

Modes or degrees?

In his jazz improvisation primer, Cole Davis puts it like this: “Modes are still really good to learn. A mode is just another way of starting on different notes within the chord. Some people think in terms of modes, Phrygian, Locrian. I think in terms of the actual degrees.”

That’s what the Scale degrees switch is for. D Dorian has the same notes as C major, but on the neck it’s a minor 3rd, a natural 6 and a flat 7 above D.

Try it on So What

So What sits on D minor and moves up a half step for the bridge. From the So What bass line lesson: “It’s mostly Dorian, and on the bridge his line is E-flat Dorian.” Load D Dorian and E-flat Dorian, learn where they sit on the neck, then turn them into lines with the free walking bass line builder.

Scales for your right hand, too

In his upright bass right hand speed lesson, Cole uses scales as the drill: “Alternate your first and middle fingers through a major scale like C major.” And: “Do the scale patterns 10 minutes a day.” Load C major and start there.

For teachers

The chart is free to use in lessons, and you’re welcome to link to it from your studio or school resources page. Every chart has its own link: pick the root, the scale and the bass, then copy the address from your browser, and your students will open the same chart. The Print button gives you the neck, the staff and the note list on one page.

Keep going

• Free Walking Bass Line Builder
• A Jazz Improvisation Primer for Bass Players
• How to Play the So What Bass Line and Walk Like Paul Chambers
• Upright Bass Right Hand Speed: 3 Drills to Play Faster