How many music scales are there?
Scales are typically listed from low to high. A scale is octave-repeating when every pitch in the scale appears in every possible octave. An octave-repeating scale can be represented as a circular arrangement of pitch classes, ordered by increasing (or decreasing) pitch class. For instance, the increasing C major scale is, C-D-E-F-G-A-B-[C], with the bracket indicating that the last note is an octave higher than the first note. Or C-B-A-G-F-E-D-[C], with the bracket indicating an octave lower than the first note in the scale. This single scale can be manifested at many different pitch levels. For example a C major scale can be started at C4 (middle C; see scientific pitch notation) and ascending an octave to C5; or it could be started at C6, ascending an octave to C7. Scales may be described according to the intervals they contain: for example: diatonic, chromatic, whole tone or by the number of different pitch classes they contain: very common: pentatonic, hexatonic, heptatonic have f
