Who made musical scales?

Answer 1

A 10th-Century monk named Guido came up with names for notes, originally using the first syllables of successive phrases of a song of his day. The text of the song goes

UT queant laxis

REsonare fibris

MIra gestorum

FAmuli tuorum

SOLve poluti

LAbii reatum

Sancte Iohannes

This was the origin of a scale going from UT up to LA. UT was later changed to DO so it would be an open syllable (ut gets clunky if you string the notes together). When they needed a note higher than LA, they took the initials of "Sancte Iohannes" (meaning Saint John) and named the next note SI. Although some countries still use SI as the 7th, it was changed to TI in some places so that each note name would start with a different consonant (because the 5th SO or SOL already starts with S).

The above is, of course one part of the story. The (UT)DO-RE-MI-etc. scale is one pattern of notes, with whole steps and half steps in particular places. It is also referred to as one mode of Medieval music. By starting on a different note and having the half-steps at different places, you get a different mode. later on, most music was being composed using the scale based on DO, and most of the rest was using LA. These came to be called Major and Minor scales. But these are not the only two scales.

Answer 2

I remember reading somewhere that it was Pythagoras, the mathematician. I'm not 100per cent sure, I would like to know myself.

Answer 3

Randy Glenn Togonon

Answer 4

Pythagoras