The way I look at it, there are only 7 scales in music!
The definition of a scale is a group of notes that doesn’t have 2 consecutive half steps and no interval larger than a minor third!
with definition this in mind there are only 7 scales in existence:
4diatonic
major 1234567 (7modes)
melodic minor 12b34567 (7modes)
harmonic minor 12b345b67 (7modes)
harmonic major 12345b67 (7modes)
3 symmetrical
diminished 12b34b5b6bb77 (2modes)
whole tone 123#4#5b7 (1mode)
augmented 1#235b67 (2 modes)
This definition of scales gives you every possible combination of 4 part chords with 3 available tensions and basically gives you the complete outlook that is necessary to play through any harmonic possibility.
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