guitar scale theory.doc

7/28/2019 Guitar scale theory.doc

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Guitar scale theory

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part 1 : notes & scales

contents :

Musical notes

Scales- definition- overview

The major scale- example 1 : C major scale

- example 2 : D major scale- example 3 : F major scale

The minor scale- major versus minor- building the minor scale

part 2 - major and minor modes

Musical notes

In music, there are only 12 notes (# stands for "sharp", b stands for "flat") :

A A# (or Bb) B C C# (or Db) D D# (or Eb) E F F# (or Gb) G G# (or Ab)

As you can see, neither B nor E have a "#" and neither C nor F have a "b". Thiswill become more clear when we get to the scale.

This is also called the "chromatic" scale.

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ScalesDefinition :

A scale is the notes you use to get from one note to that same note 1 octavehigher.It can consist of as many notes of the chromatic scale as desired. Most of thetimes, it has 8 notes.The first one is called the "root"-note.

Example : scale of C major
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1 (root) 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 (root + 1 octave)

C D E F G A B C

The position numbers are also called "tones". Be sure not to confuse them with

notes.

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Overview :

There are a lot of scales, depending on the kind of music you like to play. You

might have heard of Dorian, Phrysian, scales. Since this is a beginners course,we'll just concentrate on the 2 most important scales which are the major and

minor scale. They are in fact the foundation of today's rock music.

Before we start with the major scale, you need to know that each song is played

in a certain "key". This means the song is based upon a chord (major or minor).

p.E. a song in the key of C major, a song in the key of D minor,

Mostly, the song even starts with that chord (and often ends with it too).

Examples :"Nothing else matters" by Metallica is in the key of E minor

"Summer of '69" by Bryan Adams is in the key of D major

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The major scale

First you need to know the difference between major and minor.

Major = happy, joyfull (p.E. La Bamba by Los Lobos, or any rock n roll song)Minor = dark, sad (p.E. Angie by The Rolling Stones, Stairway to Heaven by LedZep)

Ballads are quite often in minor keys, fast songs are mostly major.

Example 1 : C major scale

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

C D E F G A B C

Between each note, theres a "space". That is called an "interval".Ill call it a step from now on as this is the word that is most often used for it.

Each step represents a fret on your guitar. Each fret on your guitar is anote.
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There are 3 basic rules for building a major scale :

1. between positions 3+4 and 7+8 there can only be step (1 fret)2. between notes B+C and E+F there can only be step (1 fret)3. between all the other notes and positions theres 1 step (2 frets)

So, the C major scale looks like this (^ is step) :

------^^----^^-----^-----^^-----^^----^^-----^-------

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

C D E F G A B C

This scale has no # or b in it, its a "perfect" scale.

Put these notes on your guitar and you get this (if your guitar has standardtuning) :E F G A B C D E string 1

B C D E F G A B string 2

G A B C D E F G string 3

D E F G A B C D string 4

A B C D E F G A string 5

E F G A B C D E string 6

open 1 3 5 7 9 12

(=1 fret)

Remarks :

the notes on the open string and those on the 12th fret are the same.

From there on, the position of the notes repeats itself.

Between E+F and B+C, theres only 1 fret (1/2 step)

Don't go memorizing these positions right now. We'll learn a very easy way to

memorize the fretboard : the use ofmodes.

Example 2 : D major scale

Since the C major scale was the "perfect" scale, there were no problems with theabove rules, everything fitted perfectly. The D major scale isanother story. This is the hard part. If you can understand this, you're on the

right track. It might take you a couple of times to understand,so don't panic if you need to read this more than once.

The D major scale might contain sharps (#) and/or flats (b). This means we haveto make some changes to the scale. This is what we call "building a scale".
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We start from this : put the D-note as root and continue the notes untill youreach the D an octave higher

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

D E F G A B C D

Don't put any sharps or flats yet, not all of them will be used in this scale.

Let's repeat the 3 basic rules for building a major scale:

1. between positions 3+4 and 7+8 there can only be step (1 fret)2. between notes B+C and E+F there can only be step (1 fret)3. between all the other notes and positions theres 1 step (2 frets)

Following rule 1, we put the steps where they belong, respecting the fact that

between positions 3+4 and 7+8 theres only step

------^^----^^-----^-----^^-----^^----^^-----^-------

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

D E F G A B C D

As you can see, in this case rule n2 is not respected yet. E+F and B+C can only

have step between them, here there are 2 half steps.

This means what we are seeing is not correct. The F we see on position 3 isactually a "hidden" F#.The # means that step is added to the note.

So we make this correction :

------^^----^^-----^-----^^-----^^----^^-----^-------

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

D E F# G A B C D

This means the F-note will not be used in this scale, it is replaced by F#.

We continue going down the scale.

As you can see, rule n2 is still not completely respected. E+F and B+C can onlyhave step between them, here there are still 2 half steps between B+C.

This means what we are seeing is not correct. The C we see on position 7 is

actually a hidden C#.

So we make this correction :


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------^^----^^-----^-----^^-----^^----^^-----^-------

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

D E F# G A B C# D

This means the C-note will not be used in this scale, it is replaced by C#.

Now, all rules are respected, so this means we have reached the final D majorscale.

Put these notes on your guitar and you get this (if your guitar has standard

tuning) :E F# G A B C# D E string 1

B C# D E F# G A B string 2

G A B C# D E C# G string 3

D E F# G A B C# D string 4

A B C# D E F# G A string 5

E F# G A B C# D E string 6

open 1 3 5 7 9 12

As this scale will remain unchanged, you might say "to hell with these stupidrules, I'll just memorize it !". But that would only result in further lack ofknowledge when you want to learn chord theory and so. So, even if it's difficult at

first, it's worth the effort, trust me on that.

Example 3 : F major scale

We start again by putting the F-note as root and continue the notes down the lineuntill we reach the F one octave higher.1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

F G A B C D E F

Again, put the steps where they belong, respecting the fact that between

positions 3+4 and 7+8 there's only step :

------^^----^^-----^-----^^-----^^----^^-----^-------

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

F G A B C D E F

Now for the hard part : as you can see, between A and B there are 2 half steps.But since they are on positions 3 and 4, there can be only step between them.


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Here, we cannot add a sharp to the A, since that would result in the fact thatthere would be a step too much between the G and the A# (3 steps). Thatway, rule n3 would not be forfilled.

Since between B and C there is 1 half step too much, what we are seeing onposition 4 is not a B but a Bb.

We make this correction :

------^^----^^-----^-----^^-----^^----^^-----^-------

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

F G A Bb C D E F

Now all the rules are forfilled and we get the final F major scale.

This is how it looks on the fretboard :

E F G A Bb C D E string 1

C D E F G A Bb string 2

G A Bb C D E F G string 3

D E F G A Bb C D string 4

A Bb C D E F G A string 5

E F G A Bb C D E string 6

open 1 3 5 7 9 12

Remarks :- now that you know this theory, you can try building the other basic major scales(A, B, E and G). Send them to me at [email protected] and I'll be glad tocorrect them (if necessary).Tip : none of the basic major scales besides the F major scale have a flat in them.- once you master the rules perfectly, you can try building A# major, Bb major,etc.

How to use a scale :

1. when you play a song in a certain major key, you will be using the notes inthat scale to solo over the song

2. when building major chords, you will be using the notes of that majorscale

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The minor scale

The correct name of the scale we are about to learn is the "natural minor scale"because there is also the harmonic minor scale and the pentatonic minor scale.

But for now I will simply refer to it as the minor scale.
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Good news ! Once you know how to build a major scale, with the help of somesimple rules you can easily build a minor scale.

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Major versus minor :

Every major scale and chord has what they call "a related minor" scale and

chord. This means that when you play a song in a certain major key, you will beable to use the notes of that major scale to play a song in the related minor

key.

Rule : the 6th tone (the note at the 6th position) of the major scale is therelated minor of that scale.

Example : key of C major

------^^----^^-----^-----^^-----^^----^^-----^-------

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

C D E F G A B C

As you can see, on position 6 we have the A-note. This means that C major isrelated with A minor.So when you play a song in the key of C major, you can use the C major scale aswell as the A minor scale, since they both contain the same notes.

And since the A is the related minor of C, we can also say that C is the relatedmajor of A.

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Building the minor scale :

This one is easy ! All you have to do is put the minor note as root and completethe scale with the same notes as the related major scale.

Example : key of A minor

------^^-----^-----^^-----^^-----^----^^-----^^------1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

A B C D E F G A

Of course, the rules we had for the major scale have changed a little.

For the steps between the notes, nothing has changed, there's still stepbetween B+C and E+F.

The only thing that has changed is the position of the half steps. They are nolonger between 3+4 and 7+8, but now they are between 2+3 and 5+6.

Knowing this, you can also start by building the minor scale to get to the major

scale later. You just need to know that the related major is always onposition 3 of the minor scale.
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Tip : to remember all of this, just keep the C major/A minor scales in mind. Theyare easy to remember since they have no sharps or flats. Since it's the perfectscale, you immediately know where to put the steps (between B+C and E+F).

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part 2 - major and minor modes
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