Scaler (grunfy)
Learning and science
music theory reference
SHOW HN2018
277points
95comments
#99of 2,155 in 2018
Top 5%of 2018 by points
How HN took it
MixedNo clear lean
20 positive, 27 neutral or asking, 4 mixed, 10 critical, out of 61 comments about the project. Thread score +0.22.
Design: 7 for, 3 againstIdea: 8 for, 0 againstExecution: 0 for, 4 againstDocs: 2 for, 2 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Visually appealing and useful for learning scale positions
From 4 comments
Love this. As someone who has been playing casually for years with a few attempts to use scales and music theory to up my base understanding, this is something I could see myself…
mmartinson on HNThis is quite cool, nice work! I'm a self-taught player and only in the last five years or so have I managed to punch through the fog and begin to understand what I'm doing. This…
markbnj on HNThis is fantastic. I am eternally lazy about mapping out scales. This makes my guitar life easier. Great job!
king_magic on HNThis is amazing! Looking at this I learned and realized a lot of patterns that I never really considered before. One thing about the UX of it - because you haven't gotten enough…
dluan on HN
Good use of SVG
From 2 comments
+1 for using SVG. It looks awesome. Are you using some SVG library or making it "by hand"?
slig on HNNice work, love SVG use. Can this be flipped for left handers?
blueside on HN
Objections
Information dense and hard to read or understand without theory knowledge
From 4 comments
Professional guitar teacher here. I had to look for a few minutes myself before this started making some sense. I'm sorry to say that I can't feed to this to my students as it…
markvdb on HNIt's beautiful but as a fairly experienced musician, I think it's a bit information dense with all the symbols and letters. The aesthetics are great but I'd love maybe some…
sbilstein on HNI'm quite familiar with the music theory behind all of the scales, having played instruments for over 30 years, but I'm not finding the information display or interface to be…
code_duck on HNAs someone who stopped trying to learn guitar around middle school, I'm totally lost. Must make more sense if you're well practiced, I suppose.
tvanantwerp on HN
Lacks labels and explanations for toggles, colors and numbers
From 3 comments
Love this. As someone who has been playing casually for years with a few attempts to use scales and music theory to up my base understanding, this is something I could see myself…
mmartinson on HNThis looks fantastic. Though some labels would be nice. It's difficult to find out what all the colors and the numbers mean. Adding an audio library would be a nice addition.
sonar_un on HNI do not know if the explanation is on the website but I didn't find it. I had difficulties to understand the website even though I have basic understanding of music theory.…
louhike on HN
Note naming errors in some keys such as C# and D# major
From 1 comment
I have one bit of constructive criticism for you. Every single Major/Minor scale should have exactly one each of ABCDEFG, so that written music makes sense — each line/space…
pdpi on HN
Mobile Safari buttons do not update the view
From 2 comments
The last row of buttons don't work on mobile (they don't update the view)
Exuma on HNiOS/safari
Exuma on HN
Requests
Audio or note sounds
From 4 comments
Very useful! If you could also add note sounds, that would be amazing!
feconroses on HNvery cool! did you consider adding note sounds? edit: also, what does the 'b' prefix signify? I'm not familiar with it.
chestervonwinch on HNNice work. I'm really impressed. I think with addition of an audio lib, it'll be perfect.
djangoEm on HNThis looks fantastic. Though some labels would be nice. It's difficult to find out what all the colors and the numbers mean. Adding an audio library would be a nice addition.
sonar_un on HN
Alternate tunings
From 2 comments
Pretty cool! I made something like this a few years ago, but nowhere near as sophisticated. One suggestion: as of late I've been playing guitar in perfect 4ths tuning, and it…
cnasc on HNThis looks amazing! Just started studying intervallic improvisation and this will help alot! do you have any plans to add support for alternate tunings or let the user to modify…
ad1ttya on HN
Left-handed mode
From 2 comments
I would love a left handed one. It's very difficult for me to use otherwise.
bajsreddit on HNNice work, love SVG use. Can this be flipped for left handers?
blueside on HN
Help or explanation for the interface
From 2 comments
I do not know if the explanation is on the website but I didn't find it. I had difficulties to understand the website even though I have basic understanding of music theory.…
louhike on HNLove this. As someone who has been playing casually for years with a few attempts to use scales and music theory to up my base understanding, this is something I could see myself…
mmartinson on HN
Print support
From 1 comment
Thanks for the feedback. I'll add help files and explain scaler/pentanizer differences. Scaler is "traditional" way of learning scales, but I think pentanizer makes more…
machak on HN
Questions
How to read the diagram and what to do with it
From 2 comments
I'm a self-taught moderate guitar player and I feel like this is really cool, but I don't understand any of it. Can someone explain how to read this, and what to do?
teabee89 on HNI had understood what the diagram means, actually I have most of this information internalized... not a great guitar player, but I know the theory. What I don't understand is…
narag on HN
What the pentanizer is and how the colours relate
From 1 comment
First, it must be said that this is super cool, and I love it so much! I've got questions... 1. What is the relationship between the bottom colored dots and the colored notes?…
digsmahler on HN
Will the code be open sourced
From 1 comment
First, it must be said that this is super cool, and I love it so much! I've got questions... 1. What is the relationship between the bottom colored dots and the colored notes?…
digsmahler on HN
Alternatives named
Fretviz
From 1 comment
This looks amazing! Just started studying intervallic improvisation and this will help alot! do you have any plans to add support for alternate tunings or let the user to modify…
ad1ttya on HN
Asciitabs
From 1 comment
Very nice! Love the large collection of scales you have (750!) Do you have them all hardcoded or does the site generate them from base principles / interval patterns? For those…
rocheio on HN
Smartchord
From 1 comment
This is quite cool, nice work! I'm a self-taught player and only in the last five years or so have I managed to punch through the fog and begin to understand what I'm doing. This…
markbnj on HN