When we play a run of single notes in succession, we are producing a Melody, or melodic line. Depending on the order of the notes, and what notes we play, we can make a melody sound happy (major), sad (minor), strong, emotional, cheerful etc. A pattern of notes played at set intervals apart is referred to as a Scale. There are many … Read More
As an example, lets look at the A major scale. As the name suggests, the scale starts on the note ‘A’, and contains the following 7 notes: ‘A’ is referred to as the root note, and we arrive back at A (the octave) after the 7th note (G#), an octave higher. If we refer to our Chromatic Scale (immediately below), we can see the Step Pattern that … Read More
Here we will look at how to play the major scale on the guitar. We will use the C major scale as the first example, since it contains no sharps or flats: Listen: Since it is not entirely functional to play a scale on a single string, we can find the notes of this scale across all strings on the guitar. If … Read More
More generally, we can play a major scale on guitar for any key by using the following movable patterns, which are to be memorized. The numbers in the circles below refer to which finger you should use to hold down the string: 1=index 2=middle 3=ring 4=little finger/pinky Make sure you use the right fingering. FINGERING FOR ROOT NOTE ON 5TH STRING: This pattern … Read More
G MAJOR SCALE IN THIRDS (ASCENDING) Also try this descending. Listen: G MAJOR SCALE IN FOURTHS (ASCENDING) Also try this descending. Listen: G MAJOR SCALE IN FIFTHS (ASCENDING) Also try this descending. Listen: ‘YANKEE DOODLE’ USING THE G MAJOR SCALE Listen:
There are three different types of minor scales: a) Natural Minor Scaleb) Melodic Minor Scalec) Harmonic Minor Scale All three minor scales differ from the major scale by having a flattened third note. This is referred to as a minor third. This gives it its sad, minor sound. Let’s look at the natural minor scale first. A) NATURAL MINOR SCALE The Step Pattern is as follows: 1st to … Read More
B) MELODIC MINOR SCALE The melodic minor scale differs from the natural minor scale in that it has a raised 6th and a raised 7th note. So the step pattern is therefore: So, in the key of A, we get: tone semitone tone tone tone (#6th) semitone (#7th) tone A ^ B ^ C ^ D ^ E ^ F# ^ G# ^ A Frets: 2 … Read More
C) HARMONIC MINOR SCALE The harmonic minor scale differs from the natural minor scale in that it has a raised 7th note. This gives it a kind of Eastern or Arabic sound. The step pattern is therefore: So, in the key of A, we get: tone semitone tone tone semitone 1+1/2tone (#7th) semitone A ^ B ^ C ^ D ^ E ^ F … Read More
G (NATURAL) MINOR SCALE IN THIRDS (ASCENDING) Also try this descending. Listen: G (NATURAL) MINOR SCALE IN FOURTHS (ASCENDING) Also try this descending. Listen: G (NATURAL) MINOR SCALE IN FIFTHS (ASCENDING) Also try this descending. Listen: ‘GREENSLEEVES’ USING THE G MELODIC MINOR SCALE Listen:
There is a wide range of other scales around, all of which have different sounds and different applications. Here are a few of the more popular ones: THE PENTATONIC SCALE As the name suggests, this scale contains only five notes, and is used extensively in blues and rock music. It is a strong, powerful sounding scale and is great for … Read More
