Every scale, on your fretboard, with a live band. Free.
Pick a scale, build a progression, play along: a live band and a fretboard that lights up the right notes in time.
✓ Completely free✓ No account needed✓ Works in your browser
Your progression. Your scales. The fretboard follows.
Drop in the chords you want to practice. Tag each one with a scale, dorian here, altered there, harmonic minor on the turnaround. Press play and StringScales plays the band live, in any key, tempo, and style, lighting up the right notes on the fretboard for every chord.
1.Drop in the chords you want to practice
2.Tag each one with a scale: dorian here, altered there
3.Press play and follow the lit notes, chord by chord
As many chords, loops, and progressions as you want. It's all free.
Start from a preset, shape the sound
No need to start from a blank timeline: load a preset progression, from the popular classics or browsed by scale, so a hungarian minor gets changes that actually fit it. Then shape the band in the playback controls: styles from blues shuffle to bossa, per-instrument mixing, tempo, even concert pitch.
Preset progressions, popular or matched to your scale
Tempo, mixing, instrument styles, and concert pitch
The whole thing is free. Not a trial, not a tier.
All scales, all keys, every standard fretboard and tuning. The progression builder, the scale annotations, the live backing band, every style and tempo. No chord limits, no loop limits, no locked features, no ads. A free account only adds saving: keep your progressions and pick them up on any device.
✓ All keys✓ 3-notes-per-string and CAGED✓ Any scale, including exotic✓ No ads
Intuitive Scale Visualization
Explore a wide array of scales for various stringed instruments, visualized right on your fretboard.
Learn pentatonic scales, blues scales, traditional scales,...
Or go beyond the basics with any exotic scale you can think of!
StringScales is the perfect practice tool for visual learners
Fretting Hand Positions
Master efficient 3-notes-per-string and CAGED patterns to navigate the fretboard with ease.
Look at the fretboard vertically or horizontally, left or right-handed.
Explore different tunings, change your instrument,... it's up to you!
Your fretboard - your journey
Built by a guitarist who got tired of guessing
"I'm a guitarist and developer in Belgium. I built StringScales because I spent years knowing the theory and still going blank when it was time to solo. This is the tool I wanted: see the changes, see the scale, play. It's free because I want people to actually use it."
Kevin, founder
230 members already practicing
Questions you should be asking
Is it really completely free?+
Yes. Every feature: all scales and keys, the progression builder, per-chord scale annotation, the live backing band, all styles and tempos, unlimited progressions and saves. No trial, no premium tier, no locked features, no ads.
How do you make money then?+
Right now, I don't. StringScales is built and run by one developer, and the hosting costs are small. In the future there may be paid extras for teachers and paid learning content, but the tool itself stays free.
How is this different from iReal Pro?+
iReal Pro generates backing tracks and shows chord symbols and scale suggestions as notation. StringScales plays the band too, but it also shows the scale you chose for each chord directly on the fretboard, lighting up the notes in time with the audio. You see where to play, not just what the chord is called.
Backing tracks are free on YouTube. Why use this?+
A YouTube track is one fixed progression, in one key, and it tells you nothing about what to play over it. StringScales plays the exact chords you choose, live, in any key, tempo, and style, and highlights the right scale on the neck for every chord as it plays. It's a practice instrument, not a playlist.
Do I need an account?+
No. Everything works without one. Create a free account only if you want to save progressions and pick them up on another device.
What instruments does it support?+
StringScales is built for stringed instruments: guitar, bass, banjo, ukulele, and more, with alternate tunings and different fretboard types.
Does it support microtonal or non-standard tunings?+
Yes. There is an experimental microtonal playground: tunings from 19 to 53 tones per octave, the Kite guitar, just intonation, Scala (.scl) import, and a custom fretboard designer where you place frets in cents, even fretless. It is its own area of the app for when you want to go beyond standard tuning.
Does it work on my phone or tablet?+
Yes. StringScales runs in the browser and works on phones, tablets, and desktops. You can practice on the same device you watched the video on.
Popular scales
C majorA minor pentatonicE minor bluesA minor bluesG majorall scales
Curious about microtonal guitar?
Explore tunings from 19 to 53 tones per octave, the Kite guitar, just intonation, and a custom fretboard designer where you place frets in cents, even fretless. A separate playground for when standard tuning gets too small.
Open the microtonal playground →
Stop guessing where the notes are
Open the fretboard and play your first progression in the next five minutes. Free, no account needed.
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