Heptatonic scale are considered subsets of a twelve-pitch scale roughly analogous to the Western chromatic scale. The first and fifth melakarta tones, corresponding to the first and eighth chromatic tones, are invariable in inflection, and the fourth melakarta tone, corresponding to the sixth or seventh chromatic tone, is allowed one of two inflections only, a natural ("shuddah") position and a raised ("tivra") position. The second and third melakarta tones can be picked from the 4 chromatic tones (second through fifth), and similarly for the sixth and seventh. Thus the number of possible forms is equal to twice the square of the number
Scale (music) the 20th century, additional types of scales were explored: A large variety of other scales exists, some of the more common being: Scales such as the pentatonic scale may be considered "gapped" relative to the diatonic scale. An "auxiliary scale" is a scale other than the primary or original scale. See: modulation (music) and Auxiliary diminished scale. In many musical circumstances, a specific note of the scale is chosen as the tonic—the central and most stable note of the scale. In Western tonal music, simple songs or pieces typically start and end on the tonic note. Relative to a choice