Favorite Scale

[rubleski]

What's everybody's favorite scale to play? This can be major, minor any form, a combination, or your own you made up (?? lol explain it then).

My favorite to play is a C Major in one hand and a C Sharp Major in the other at the same time . . . it just sounds cool.

[monk]

My favorite scale is Catholic b11.

Just the black keys is not bad, too.

I don't like Cb major - it has so many flats that it almost sounds like minor!

Best Wishes,
Monk

[Tash]

i LOVE C# major it's the bomb! and in 3rds and 6ths, particularly 6ths. and it's dominant 7th is great as well. and even the arpeggio is good! there is nothing bad about C# major! and Ab is good too, it's my 2nd fave. i love it how we're able to choose favourites out of what are just the same thing but starting on a different note.

[jbmajor]

I like A major and Eb major scales, as well as the chords when played with an octave bass chord.

[Derek]

My goodness, I use so many different scales and odd combinations of bits of scales all the time in my playing, I'd say its nearly impossible to pick out a favorite. Even the ease of fingering different scales doesn't sway me, as B flat major for example suggests wildly different figures than say F# major.

[nerd]

The chromatic scale is the only one I can play well...

[Spatula]

D minor...its like your fingers are walking in a jungle and then cross the bridge (the two black keys) sooo exotic sounding

[pianojems]

My favorite are C# maj F#maj .

[belvoce]

Mine is D flat major.

[DarkWind]

I am very fond of D Minor and F Minor.

[argerich_smitten]

What about good old B major?  Everyone has to enjoy playing a scale at like 144 to the half note.

[pseudopianist]

My favo scale to play would be D major and E major.

The best sounding scale/key: F minor and Gb major

[jr11]

Why complicate things? Good 'ol C major is just as good a scale as any. B sharp is fine too.  

[rhapsody in orange]

-grins- i like d minor and f minor =) somehow minor scales appeal more to me i don't know why =)

[Nightscape]

I like Db major and F# minor.... those are cool looking.

But I really like the octatonic scale starting on C.  To build it, just alternate between whole and half steps.

C-C#-D#-E-F#-G-A-A#-C

[BoliverAllmon]

pentatonic scales are great also.

[BoliverAllmon]

oh and also d phrygian is bomb. it has e-flat and b-flat in it.

[klick]

Def HATE F# Minor and everything about this scale.

Def LOVE A Major and all tech involved with it.

Fav to play = Eb Major

[klavierspielerin]

F#-minor is my favorite! As far as difficulty, I have problems with A-flat.

[krittyot]

C major is the hardest scale, and B major is the easiest.

I like C major the most though.

[galonia]

My favourite is Eb melodic minor - talk about exotic sounding!

[Rach3]

C minor!

[super_ardua]

Blues scale!!!!

[BoliverAllmon]

dorian tritone is a real cool one also.

[hodi]

my favorite scale is F# Minor because of mendelssohn's "fantasy in f# minor op.28" and "lost illusions (song without words)
after that, C Minor.

[dinosaurtales]

Did anybody mention E major?  It should be the fav for a lot of folks - it fits the hand perfectly.  B major isn't bad, either.

[Pierre_Bezuhov]

A minor Harmonic. It just has agreat sound to it.

[Bob]

Let's see....

I like whole tone ones, just for fun.  I learned a lot of basic fingering idea when I figured out how to play those.

Octatonic sounds cool.  I don't play them though.

I like the lydian mode.

I like the sound, the mellowness, of Db Major.

My hands like B Major, surprise, surprise....

I don't really like sharp minor keys.  They feel prickly.  But I don't play much in them so.... go figure...

[rohansahai]

What an idiotic and pointless topic!! All the answers posted here are influenced by pieces in that particular key rather than the key itself! Anyway, please don't waste precious time discussing these things which won't be of any consequence!!

[BoliverAllmon]

if you don't like it, don't read it.

[Bob]

What an idiotic and pointless topic!! All the answers posted here are influenced by pieces in that particular key rather than the key itself! Anyway, please don't waste precious time discussing these things which won't be of any consequence!!

Not quite.   I just like whole tone and octatonic scales.  B Major fits the hand well -- That has nothing to do with a piece of music.  Sharp minor keys mean you may need to be a little more careful with your fingers.  I don't think it's pointless at all.  It is possible to like some elements of music regardless of what connection they have to a piece of music.  It might be that you like a piece of music BECAUSE it has these musical elements in them.  C Major is definitely easier on the mind and eye with its absence of accidentals.  Not everything on here has to be a lofty academic endeavor.  I really don't think anything here is unconsequential. 


Related thread:  https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php?topic=5130

[ted]

Firstly, as I do not have absolute pitch, the sound of a scale in one key is as good as the sound of it in another. Secondly, I have no particular favourite scale type either. Thirdly, I have been improvising for so long that the physical shape and keyboard pattern don't matter much. In fact, part of the joy of improvisation is that I never know which key, if any key at all, I shall play in. Most often a session will pass through many keys and many patterns.

So on all counts that I can think of, no, I do not have a favourite scale.

[Brian Healey]

I like B major, or C-flat major, because it fits the hand so well. It's probably the scale I play the best. In terms of sound, I like the whole-tone scale. In terms of keys, I always find d minor to be the saddest of all keys (and it always makes me think of Spinal Tap).

[pianowiz82]

I love the octatonic (or diminished) scale!  I can only play it well starting on c and going half-whole-half-whole..etc .  Whole step then half is harder.  But its just cool...cause Bartok used it all the time....and Bartok's cool.

[musicismylife]

I looove A harmonic minor!!

I like the chromatic scales too, especially really fast.