Guitar/Scales
From Wikibooks, the open-content textbooks collection
Most Western music divides the musical octave (when one note is twice as high as another) into 12 sections, called semitones. On the guitar, each semitone is represented by a fret. Scales start and stop on the octave, and many use 8 notes, although some scales use more or less.
It is important to remember that on the guitar, if you know the pattern of a particular scale, you can move that pattern anywhere else on the fret board and be playing in a different key. By this, I mean if you are playing a major scale, beginning on the fifth fret, which is an A, and then you played the same pattern of notes, but you started on the note G, you will be playing a G major scale. If this sounds confusing to you, read the entire article, and if it is still unclear, see the musical scale article on Wikipedia or the Music Theory wikibook.
There are many different scales: 7 modes of the major scale, three different forms of the minor scale, the blues scale, the pentatonic scale, the whole tone scale, the diminished scale and some scales that originated in Spain and India. There are also very interesting scales from eastern music. It is possible to create your own scales by altering another as you wish, or completely coming up with your own. Remember, most of the scales were built musically, not randomly, using ideas such as a cycle of perfect fifths for the major scale.
All scales in this section are tabbed out for the key of A, meaning that the root note of the scale if on the 5th fret of the low E string. Starting the scale here provides lots of room up and down the neck to play, and helps you learn to make connections between different scale shapes.
Contents |
[edit] Pentatonic Scales
Pentatonic scales are the least complicated, because they only use five notes rather than the seven notes used in the major scale and the other scale modes (see below). Learning the major and minor pentatonic scale patterns is very important, because they make up an important part of all the modes.
[edit] A Minor Pentatonic
Most guitarists feel comfortable beginning with the A minor pentatonic, which is the single most popular scale for solos in western music. Most guitarists know this shape of the Am pentatonic scale by heart, mainly because it is so frequently used in solos. It can also be used for pretty much anything, especially if you want to give it a slightly melancholy sound.
Remember that this scale pattern (and any other scale pattern) can be moved up and down the fretboard to play in any key.
In this diagram, the notes are ordered sequentially up the scale. The different octaves of the root note of the scale (In this case, the A note) are highlighted with a yellow dot.
[edit] Learning the Scale
When you are learning any scale, it is helpful to break it down into smaller chunks, which can be practiced and memorized much more easily. With the A minor pentatonic scale, it is most commonly broken down into these sections. Note that these sections are diagrammed using the online tablature method.
Section 1:
e |--0--------3-- B |-----1-----3-- G |--0-----2----- D |--0-----2----- A |--0--------3-- E |--0--------3--
Section 2:
e |-----3-----5-- B |-----3-----5-- G |--2--------5-- D |--2--------5-- A |-----3-----5-- E |-----3-----5--
Section 3:
e |--5--------8-- B |--5--------8-- G |--5-----7----- D |--5-----7----- A |--5-----7----- E |--5--------8--
Section 4:
e |-----8-----10- B |-----8-----10- G |--7-----9----- D |--7--------10- A |--7--------10- E |-----8-----10-
Section 5:
e |----10----12-- B |----10------13 G |--9-------12-- D |----10----12-- A |----10----12-- E |----10----12--
Practice these basic shapes, one note at a time, because if you learn them well, you will discover that they constantly reappear. Play the shape up and down, and practice things like alternate picking or tremolo picking. It will take a while to learn the shapes by heart, but once you do, practice playing the scale at different places on the fretboard. This is essential - and start early on, or instead of focusing on learning the pattern of frets, you will focus on the individual frets you are playing, and familiar patterns will seem unfamiliar at different places on the fretboard.
[edit] The Blues scale
Please see the Blues section for more lessons.
You can easily modify the minor pentatonic scale by adding a single note and turning it into the blues scale. In the below digram, A blues scale is shown at the fifth fret. The number represent the frets played, and the numbers in parentheses represent the Blue Note which, as the name suggests, is the major source of the blues vibe in the scale. The blue note is not actually part of the Minor Pentatonic scale, although it is often added in for extra colour.
e |--5--------8-- B |--5--------8-- G |--5-----7-(8)- D |--5-----7----- A |--5-(6)-7----- E |--5--------8--
[edit] Major Pentatonic
The major pentatonic is a little more complicated than the minor pentatonic, but if you look carefully you will notice some similarities to the minor pentatonic scale.
It may be difficult to notice immediately, but if you compare the A major pentatonic and the A minor pentatonic, you will notice that patterns are almost exactly the same. Once difference is that the minor pentatonic scale pattern is shifted to the left three frets to make the major scale pattern. Look carefully, and you will see that this is true for every single note.
The other major difference between the two scales is they use different starting notes, which is the main reason why one has a different sound than the other. Understanding this is important for understanding the Church Modes, and other aspects of how scales are related to one another.
e |-----5--------- B |-----5-----7--- G |--4-----6------ D |--4--------7--- A |--4--------7--- E |-----5-----7---
Practice this the same way you practice the minor pentatonic scale. When you feel completely comfortable with both pentatonic scales, begin to explore the other different scales.
[edit] Major Scale
The pattern for any major scale is 2-2-1-2-2-2-1, meaning that the difference from the first note to the second is 2 frets, from the second to the third is 1 fret, etc. The difference in notes can also be called steps, 2 notes being a whole step, and 1 note being a half step. This pattern in steps can be shown as W-W-H-W-W-W-H.
Major scale in the key of A
A - B - C# - D - E - F# - G# - A
W W H W W W H
e:---------------------------4-5- B:-----------------------5-7----- G:-----------------4-6-7--------- D:-----------4-6-7--------------- A:-----4-5-7--------------------- E:-5-7---------------------------
[edit] Minor Scale
The pattern for any minor scale is 2-1-2-2-1-2-2, shown in steps as W-H-W-W-H-W-W
Minor Scale in the key of A
A-B-C-D-E-F-G-A
e |------------------------------5-- B |------------------------5-6-8---- G |------------------4-5-7---------- D |--------------5-7---------------- A |--------5-7-8-------------------- E |--5-7-8--------------------------
The first position movable shape for this scale is shown:
e:-------|---x---|-------|-------|-------| B:-------|---x---|---x---|-------|---x---| G:---x---|---x---|-------|---x---|-------| D:-------|---x---|-------|---x---|-------| A:-------|---x---|-------|---x---|---x---| E:-------|---x---|-------|---x---|---x---|
[edit] Harmonic Minor
The harmonic minor scale is much harder than the pentatonic scales, but definitely satisfying over some minor chords. It gives you a rather "middle-eastern" kind of sound.
But the shape works in any key, just move the shape up or down the neck:
e |--4--5-----7--8-- B |-----5--6-------- G |--4--5-----7----- D |--------6--7----- A |-----5-----7--8-- E |-----5-----7--8--
This looks a little more complicated, and is certainly more difficult to get to sound nice, but when you have mastered it it will sound great!
[edit] Melodic Minor
This scale is actually two scales. Thus when one speaks of a "melodic minor" pattern, one refers to two patterns - one ascending and one descending.
e |-----4--5-----7--8-- B |--------5-----7----- G |-----4--5-----7----- D |-----4-----6--7----- A |--3-----5-----7----- E |--------5-----7-----
The ascending pattern is constructed by raising the 6th and 7th steps of the natural minor scale. So, if you take the major scale, the 3rd will be flatted, while the normally flatted 6th and 7th are raised and become natural. Basically it is the major scale with a flatted 3rd.
The descending pattern is similar to the descending pattern except the 6th and 7th aren't raised. So it is basically a natural minor scale.
[edit] Hungarian Minor
The Hungarian minor scale is a type of combined musical scale. It is akin to the harmonic minor scale, except that it bears a raised fourth. Its tonal center is slightly ambiguous, due to the large number of half steps. Also known as Double Harmonic Minor, or Harmonic Minor #4, it figures prominently in Eastern European music, particularly in gypsy music. Melodies based on this scale have an exotic, romantic flavor.
e |--7--8-----10--11-- B |--7--8--9---------- G |--7--8------------- D |--------9--10------ A |--------9--10--11-- E |-----8-----10--11--
A Hungarian minor scale in the key of C would proceed as follows: C D Eb F# G Ab B. Its scale degrees are 1 2 b3 #4 5 b6 7, and its step pattern is w - h - + - h - h - + - h, where w indicates a whole step, h indicates a half step, and + indicates an augmented second, which looks like a minor third on a keyboard but is notationally distinct.
Chords that may be derived from the scale are:
[edit] Cm
e |-----3------- B |-----4------- G |-----5------- D |-----5------- A |-----3------- E |-------------
[edit] D7b5
e |------------- B |-----7------- G |-----5------- D |-----6------- A |-----5------- E |-------------
[edit] Eb+
e |------------- B |-----8------- G |-----9------- D |-----10------ A |-----7------- E |-------------
[edit] G
e |-----3------- B |-----3------- G |-----0------- D |-----0------- A |-----2------- E |-----3-------
[edit] Ab7
e |-----4------- B |-----4------- G |-----5------- D |-----4------- A |-----6------- E |-----4-------
[edit] Bm6
e |------------- B |-----7------- G |-----7------- D |-----6------- A |-----x------- E |-----7-------
This scale is obtainable from the *Arabic scale by starting from the fourth of that scale. Said another way, the C Hungarian minor scale is equivalent to the G Arabic scale.
In Enix's video game The Illusion of Gaia, the flute melody found in the Inca Ruins uses the C Hungarian minor scale (a #4 is used in the second phrase); this music is also quoted in the music of the Larai Cliff stage, transposed to D.
Joe Satriani has composed several songs using the Hungarian minor scale.
[edit] Church Modes
Back when music was originally being standardized, music was divided into 8 sections, rather than 12, and all compositions were written in that scale. However, the problem with this is that eventually everything begins to sound the same. So in order to combat this problem, they developed different modes of the scale, which essentially just means playing the same notes, but choosing a different starting note.
For example, in the key of C, the notes are C D E F G A B C. If you wanted to play in the 2nd mode, called the Dorian mode, then you would just play the same notes, but start on the second note. So instead you would play D E F G A B C D.
The different modes are called:
- Ionian
- Dorian
- Phrygian
- Lydian
- Mixolydian
- Aeolian
- Locrian
