What is a scale? A musical scale is a series of notes usually presented in ascending or descending order. Most songs utilize notes from one scale or another to create harmony or disharmony depending on the mood of the piece. Using the iPad is a great way to learn scales. With Scale Tapper learning musical scales becomes interactive.
Scale Tapper for iPad (also for iPhone and iPod Touch) allows you to peak inside the scales themselves to explore how they function. You can even use it to invent your own sequences and harmonies.
On the main iPad interface the sidebar displays the included scales and chords as well as your favorites and personal creations. There are many included examples such as Major, Minor, and Pentatonic. To create your own scale tap on the “+” button. This will clone the current scale (or create a new one) and allow you to edit and name your new scale. Tap on the heart and the current scale will be added to your favorites. One cool feature is the double-tap to transpose.
Included are some famous modes such as Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian and Locrian. With the double-tap to transpose feature of Scale Tapper we can arrive at these modes and others by simple transposition. For example if we double-tap on the D note of the C Ionian we arrive at the D Dorian mode. Many scales are interrelated and we can arrive at them through transposition. As an exercise which mode do you get if you double-tap the D note of the C Dorian?
A great way to explore the scales is with a musical instrument. What’s great about Scale Tapper is that it becomes any stringed instrument you can imagine. Whether you study bass, mandolin, ukelele, guitar, or any exotic/obscure instrument, Scale Tapper will accommodate you. You can even invent your own instrument with whatever tuning you can imagine.
Once you have the scale ready that you want to explore tap on the guitar icon on the toolbar. This will bring up the fretboard. By default it is tuned as a classic 6-string guitar. With the settings wheel you can tune this to whichever instrument you like. The iPad supports between 3 and 12 strings, while the iPhone supports up the 6 strings. You can even customize how many notes per screen and which octave the scale will play at. By pressing the play button you can play back your scale. Pressing the × button during playback allows you to stop the scale. The “Asc/Desc” button allows you to change the direction of the scale. You can also play on the fretboard directly. The fretboard will light up to show you which notes are contained in the current scale and key.
Learning music? Studying scales and chords? Playing a string instrument? Or do you simply want to jam out and have some fun? Whatever your musical background or experience level Scale Tapper can benefit you. It is a complete music theory workshop for your iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch. Available on the App Store.