perl -e 'my @scale=("A" .. "G"); my $note = -1; print (($note += 1) %= @scale)' #Working fine 0 perl -e 'my @scale=("A" .. "G"); print (0 %= @scale);' # Not working Can't modify constant item in modulus (%) at -e line 1, near "@scale)" Execution of -e aborted due to compilation errors.