Definitions To Know
Interval – The pitch distance between 2 notes.
Chords – 3 or more notes played together.
Arpeggio – “broken” chord, or notes from a chord played apart from each other.
Major Chord – 1st, 3rd and 5th scale steps (notes from the Major scale: 1, 3, 5.
Minor Chord – 1st, flat 3rd and 5th scale steps (notes) from the Major scale: 1, b3, 5.
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The Major Scale
The major scale can be defined as a 7 note scale separated by the following intervocalic distances: whole-step, whole-step, half-step, whole-step, whole-step, whole-step, half-step (W W H W W W H). The major scale is the most important scale that we will address. It’s the benchmark scale that we compare all other scales and chords to. When you hear a musician describing a scale or chord with terms like “flat three”, “sharp seven” etc. they’re referring to adjustments of the major scale to create this other scale or chord. “Trust me now, believe me later”... learn the construction of the major scale and know how to use it to create chords and scales as I have and will continue to show you through my lessons.
It is important to be able to construct major scales across a single string. It’s important to see this pattern and to be able to recreate it on any string and from any fret. If you have not done so already, it would behoove you to review that lesson and get that skill down. Knowing this construction is obviously crucial, but then we must graduate to more usable forms of the scale.
See the diagram on the following page for the first form of the major scale that I want you to learn.
I use this form all the time to determine the key of a particular song, to construct chords, to analyze chords and a myriad of other musical reasons. Another great thing about this scale, as with all scales on the guitar, is that it is completely mobile or movable. Unlike a lot of other instruments - like the piano or wind instruments - the guitar allows its player to transpose scales very easily by playing the same pattern lower or higher up on the fret board. That is to say that if you took the G major scale and move all the dots up one fret and play the same exact pattern one fret higher, you will now be playing the G#(sharp) major scale.
Move it up another fret and you will now be playing A major. Take that same G major scale and drop it down a half-step, or one fret towards the nut or tuning pegs and you will now be playing in the key of Gb(flat) or F#(sharp). For more advanced guitar players this concept is not new to you. For those that are just coming to understand these concepts it’s important to understand how the scales move. It will save you a ton of energy and time if you grasp this concept correctly now instead of skipping over it.
So again, all the dots within a specific scale will move up uniformly. For instance if you’re moving the scale up 5 frets, every dot moves up 5 frets exactly. You will use the exact same fingering higher up the neck that you use in lower positions near the nut. This is a skill that can be developed with perseverance and detail. Don’t be a slacker! Learn this scale and open up your playing. As we progress in our studies I’m going to show you that this is the most useful tool for a guitar player to know.
Practice makes perfect, and allowing your fingers to practice what your head just learned is a surefire way to integrate this into your knowledge. So this is how I want you to practice the scale. Place your fretting hand in the 2nd position (this means to slide your hand up 1 fret from the open position so that your 1st finger is behind the 2nd fret, your 2nd finger is behind the 3rd fret and so on).
For this scale, keep your hand in this position. Don’t move your hand up or down the guitar neck while you play the scale. Doing so will better ensure that you play the correct fingers on the correct fret. Now play through the scale slowly and systematically and say the scale step numbers for each note as you play it (for example 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 (or 1)).
This will help with developing your ear and understanding the number system. This will also increase your finger dexterity and help to increase speed. Don’t try to play the scales quickly, however. That will only slow your learning process. There is plenty of time, once you master the scales, to play them quickly.
Once you get G major down, slide the entire form up one fret. Remember that all the notes should move up 1 fret uniformly and that the fingering will be exactly the same as it just was for the G major scale. Before you play each scale, audibly say the name of the scale (for example, “G# major”). This will help you understand what you are playing. Continue to move the scale up the guitar fret board one fret at a time and naming the scale before you play it. Do this across the entire fret board until you get to the end.
Make sure that you play the same scale down the fret board towards the nut. It may take a little figuring out – which is good for your brain - but attempt to play the scale in the open position as well.
Notice on the second diagram how we can play this same form starting at the 5th string instead of the 6th string. This will save you time by allowing you to memorize one form and use it by starting from either the 6th or 5th strings. To play the fifth string root form of this scale you will start in the same position (2nd) for C major. You will use the same exact fingering and still say the number of each scale step as you play it.
Also, don’t forget to audibly say the name of the scale before you play it. The letter name of the scale is the first scale degree. Again, play this all the way up the fret board and play it down to the open position as well.
In regards to picking the scales, the beginner guitarist should probably stick with down strokes while the intermediate and advanced guitar players should incorporate alternate picking (strict up and down picking). Alternate picking can be frustrating and difficult in the beginning (and is for everybody who just first attempts it). So if you’re attempting alternate picking, take it slowly.
The brain learns a lot faster when you do things slowly. Trying to do this quickly when you haven’t done it systematically and slowly will only slow down your learning process. Don’t fall into the trap that says you have to practice fast to play fast.
Now stop reading, and go get that guitar!!!
In the following diagrams, the finger I want you to use to fret the indicated note is marked right under the fret board. The tonic (root) note of the scale is indicated by the red circle around the note.
6th String Root G Major Scale Form (1 octave)
6th String Root G Major Scale Form (2 octave)
5th String Root C Major Scale Form (1 octave)
5th String Root C Major Scale Form (2 octave)
Single String Scale F Major Scale (1 octave)
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Relative Major and Minor
For every major key there is a relative minor key. Conversely, for every minor key there is a relative major key. In short, these relative keys share the same set of notes (the following red lettering denotes the tonic of the scale).
For example, the key of C major contains the following set of notes: C, D, E, F, G, A, B; while the key of A minor has the same set of notes: C, D, E, F, G, A, B. Because these scales share the same notes, they have a special relationship that we refer to as being “relative.” Since “A” is the tonic or key in “A minor,” we usually see the notes written in this order: A, B, C, D, E, F, G (as a side note, it’s common practice to start and end scales with their tonic note). This works the same for all keys.
The key of G major contains the following set of notes: G, A, B, C, D, E, F#; while the key of E minor has the same set of notes: G, A, B, C, D, E, F# - making them relative as well. However, we would usually see the notes in the key of E minor written in this order: E, F#, G, A, B, C, D.
So why should we care about the subject of relative major and minor? Be
cause it will literally double your productivity in regards to music theory, lead guitar and a myriad of other applications. With this knowledge, knowing one major scale would allow you to play over any major or minor chord progression! More on that later!
So make sure you read this entire section through several times until you get the concept. It’s invaluable knowledge that will increase your understanding of the fret board and music in general.
Now let me show you the easiest way to find the relative major or minor of any song in any key. Here is the rule: If you know the major key that you are in, move down exactly one and a half steps, or 3 frets on the same string and that specific note’s name will be the relative minor key.
For instance, let’s say we are looking for the relative minor of G major. On the low E string, play the G on the third fret. Moving down three frets or one and a half steps from this fret will bring you to the open E. Remember how we said earlier that G major’s relative minor was E minor?
Let’s try another example with C major. So play C on the A string, which is the third fret. Moving down three frets or one and half steps from this fret will bring you to the open A. Remember how we said earlier that C major’s relative minor was A minor?
I can feel you getting it!
Okay, let’s try one last one for the key of D major. On the open A string play the D, which is the 5th fret. Now you try it yourself. What was the rule? Move down 3 frets or one and a half steps. You should have discovered the “B” at the 2nd fret. So B minor is the relative minor of D major. Conversely, if a song is in a minor key and you want to define the relative major, you just do the opposite by moving up 3 frets.
If you wanted to find the relative major of A minor, you would move up three frets from the open A, which would give you a “C”. See how easy that is?
So here’s the fun part! If you know any songs in a minor key, find out what the tonic is, move up 3 frets from the tonic and you have your relative major. Now you can play that major scale over the song in the minor key and it will sound harmonic or pleasant to your ear. It's helpful to know the entire major and minor scales but I will sometimes use this technique to play a scale that I’m less familiar with to see if it produces different melodies and licks that differ from what I might normally play.
So now you might be saying to yourself, “Why even differentiate between a major key and its relative minor if they use the exact same notes?” Think about the subject of a speech for a moment. If I said that I was doing a speech about war, it could be in support of war or against war – depending on how I phrase things. This speech on war might include keywords like: money, defense, lives, freedom, etc., but HOW I use these words determines my stance.
Get it?
The relative major/minor relationship is very similar in that we are using the same notes (words and phrases of the speech), but we are saying it differently in each scenario and emphasizing different notes as per what key we are in. Also, think of the actual subject of the speech as the tonic. The tonic of the key is often times the note that is used to end a musical phrase. So if we were in the key of A minor, many of our phrases will end with an A, while in the key of C major many of our phrases would end with a C.
As you know by now, I am a big advocate of putting things learned into practice immediately. If these concepts make sense to you without picking up a guitar, then they might stick with you for a little while. However, putting them to practice immediately will make them a VERY real part of you – so don’t sell yourself short!
Your homework is to find the key of any song. How do you do that? For a small amount of folks, you will be able to do this “by ear.” For those that have not developed this technique yet (yes this is a LEARNED skill), find out the key to the song of your choice using any means available (ask a friend, do a Google search, watch a tutorial, grab the sheet music, JUST DO IT!!).
If a song is in a major key, find its relative minor using the above method. Or even better yet, if it’s in a minor key, find its relative major and try your hand at “noodling” the major scale over the top of that song. To start off you may just play the scale up and down, but as that becomes boring to you, try to come up with your own phrases, licks or musical ideas. No matter how simple or silly you think they may sound, they are the workings of great masterpieces.
EVERY composer, rock star, and songwriter has started at these simple steps. They are CRUCIAL and you going through the exercises are going to make you the guitar player that you envision.
Now go pick up your guitar!!
Although you already know how to do this without the below cheat sheet, here’s a list of each major scale and its relative minor.
C b major – A b minor
G b major – E b minor
D b major – B b minor
A b major – F minor
E b major – C minor
B b major – G minor
F major – D minor
C major – A minor
G major – E minor
D major – B minor
A major – F# minor
E major – C# minor
B major – G# minor
F# major – D# minor
C# major – A# minor
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The Power of the Pentatonic Scale
A pentatonic scale is a musical scale with 5 notes per octave - in contrast to a heptatonic (seven note) scale, such as the major and minor scales.
The pentatonic scale is easily the most widely used scale throughout world music including rock, pop, blues, jazz and other contemporary and traditional genres of music. It differs from the major scale in that there are 2 notes not present. Musicians evaluate chords and scales according to the major scale (It’s our benchmark for comparing chord and scale embellishments). So, if you took the 4th and 7th note out of the major scale you would have the major pentatonic scale.
Yep, it’s that simple!
But there is something special about the pentatonic scale that makes it sound unique and why it’s so widely used. Think about the ingredients in a recipe. A simple recipe with 3 or 4 ingredients can often times taste better than something with 30 ingredients.
In the case of notes, more is not always better. If we are comparing the major pentatonic scale to the major scale, then the notes represented would be 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6. Remember we said that the 4th and 7th notes of the major scale are not played.
The minor pentatonic has the same shape, but as you will see in the diagram that follows, it would be played in a different place. If you already know the minor scale, then just take out the 2nd and 6th scale degrees (notes) - everything else stays the same. If this part does not make sense to you, hang in there. You can also learn this by memorizing and knowing how to use the forms.
So how would we actually use this scale? Play an A minor pentatonic scale over an A minor chord progression and it will sound pleasant to the ear. For instance, have a friend play the following progression: A-, C, F, G. Then play an A minor pentatonic scale over that and you will find that it is “harmonic,” or pleasant to your ear (no bad notes). The G major pentatonic scale played over a G major chord progression will also sound harmonic to your ear. Have a friend play this progression: G, G, C, D and play a G major pentatonic scale over that and you will find it pleasing to your ear.
Note that you must use the associated minor pentatonic scale over a minor chord progression (i.e. - A minor pentatonic over an A minor chord progression. Conversely, you must use the associated major pentatonic scale over a major chord progression. For instance, if my chord progression is in “A minor,” then I would use the A minor pentatonic scale. If my chord progression was in “A major,” then I would use the A major pentatonic scale over the top of it and it would sound harmonic.
These are good “rules of thumb” to follow; however, music is art and technically there are no
rules in art! Anything goes! I say that for two reasons. The first reason, if you play music long enough, you will discover every rule being broken at some point. The second reason is to free your mind from rules that might limit you in music.
With that being preached, a good musical rule to live by is “Learn all the rules...and then forget them!” There have been many musical greats that have said similar things, so adhere to this wisdom.
For instance, in blues, it is common practice to play a minor pentatonic scale over a major chord progression. “But you just said...” I know! Musical rules can be broken, but not before you learn how to do it the “right” way first. Try it for yourself. Check out my lesson on the 12 bar blues progression. The chord progression that I cover is A7, D7 and E7. Those 3 chords are major chords.
In fact, when played together, those 3 chords create a chord progression that suggests that A major is the key. However, the A minor pentatonic scale sounds great over this. Try it out for yourself with a friend. In fact, try both the A minor pentatonic scale and the A major pentatonic scale and see how differently each one sounds.
So what can you do now that you have this knowledge? Well, in short you can play melodies over nearly any chord progression that you hear. In order to do this, first find is the song’s key Ask someone, look at the sheet music, Google search it, do SOMETHING. If it is in a major key, use the associated major pentatonic scale over the top and “noodle” around with the notes to create melodies.
A lot of Tom Petty’s songs use the pentatonic scale, but again he doesn’t make it a rule, it just happens a lot. Conversely, if the song is in a minor key, use the associated minor pentatonic scale to noodle over the top of it. Get it? If it’s an A minor chord progression, then use an A minor pentatonic scale. If it’s a G# major chord progression, use a G# major pentatonic scale. It’s that easy!
Guitar Mastery Simplified: How Anyone Can Quickly Become a Strumming, Chords, and Lead Guitar Ninja Page 5