How to play every major and minor scale all over the fretboard. For example, in the key of g, i and vi are g and em. The following scales in 1, 2, and 3 octaves with fingerings and music theory are covered in the book. The minor pentatonic scale has a minor third, which may clash with the chords minor third. In this lesson, youll learn what the modes are, how they look on the guitar and how you can use modes in your solos and improvisation. Oct 07, 2019 the minor blues scale comes from the minor pentatonic scale, which comes from the full 7note natural minor scale. A resource for learning guitar theory and applying it to the guitar fretboard. But, just enough to help give meaning to fretboard movement. Heres a list of all 7 modes of the c major scale in order. Each scale is illustrated in more than one fretboard position, giving you. The guitar scales chart book is suitable for all guitarists. The minor 3rd also known as a flat 3rd or b3 for short is the tone which makes a scale or chord minor. Look, music theory works the same for every instrument out there.
Music theory 1 is a guitar lesson course for anyone brand new to music theory. Once we return to the root at fret 12, the e note one octave higher than the open e, the scale would start over again, so it can be viewed as a cycle. Scales are groups of notes ordered by pitch or frequency, either going up in pitch or down. The chord structure for the minor scale is the same for all keys. A minor contains the same notes, however, we start on the root a. Also, the natural minor scale and dorian mode are common, but phrygian mode isnt. Jun 24, 2019 alternatively, the guitar scales chart book can be printed and kept in a binder for safekeeping and quick reference or simply viewed onscreen. My practical music theory book should explain enough that you will.
My blues lead guitar series will teach you all about using the minor pentatonic, the blues scale, the major pentatonic, dorian and mixolydian modes. Common open and closed scale patterns up to four sharps or flats, two octaves some three octaves, and examples of open string shifts. What guitar scales to learn guitar music theory by desi. Scale, chord, arpeggio and cadence studies in all major and minor keys presented in a convenient twopage format. The chords of the minor scale music theory for guitar.
Jan 05, 2019 minor arpeggios are formed from the notes of the minor chord, which are built from the root. What guitar scales to learn guitar music theory by desi serna. The rule in general music theory is that when you use mel minor, you always descend in natural minor. It is formed from the 6th degree of the major scale, so if you took the time to really learn the major scale across the fretboard, you are half way in knowing the minor scale already. The practical guide to modern music theory for guitarists. I write absolutely everything using the knowledge that i teach within these two lessons. Oct 25, 2012 guitar scales handbook is the product of these efforts and is designed for beginner through advanced guitarists. The relationship between the major and minor scales and between the 1st and 6th chords is often described as being relative. The major scale is your starting point should be the first scale you learn, because it is the basis of chords and other types of scales. You will learn about various types of minor scales, major scales, and modes which will enable you to. This lesson shows you how to identify a scales intervals to determine whether it can be played over major or minor chordsprogressions. The easy way to find the relative major scale is to use your fingers on the guitar. All improviser that learned to use major and minor scales have to learn, after that, to use the relative minor scale. The term modal scales is applied to a group of scales commonly used in pop and jazz music.
The c major scale and the a pure minor scale are related. I have a dvd and download called master the major scale which goes into a detailed practical approach to learning to use that. Which book would you suggest for understanding scales and. If the theory gets a bit much a digest, have a go at playing the scales and come back to the theory when you are ready. Whenever we use the terms flat or flattened we simply mean to lower a note by one semitone half step. There are two basic types of music tonalities and keys. And its not that you want to know all music theory. The trick is to find interesting and effective exercises to make your fingers remember those scales. Minor arpeggios are formed from the notes of the minor chord, which are built from the root. Understanding guitar modes isnt as hard as many people believe it to be. The only difference between a major triad and a minor triad is the third scale degree, which is flattened in the minor chord. In music, a scale is a series of notes played one at a time in ascending and descending fashion.
A complimentary music theory overview for the guitarist, by. Scales covered include all the modes of the major scale, as well as the harmonic minor, diminished, whole tone, augmented and melodic minor scales. To put this in practical terms, lets consider a g natural minor scale. Music theory can be complicated but we need to know it if we want to make sense of everything and improve our guitar knowledge and playing. The minor scales ascend in melodic minor, and then descend in natural minor. In my attempt to explain guitar scale theory, ill use enough theory to thoroughly discuss the concept while avoiding. Since the root is on the e note open low e string, this is an e major scale. This gives the major and minor scales a different sound. Both scales are used to create different types of sounds, major scales have a happy sound and minor scales have a sad sound.
Damon ferrante, guitar instructor and music professor, guides you through 100 stepbystep lessons and 18 streaming videos that are designed to improve your guitar technique, musicality, and give your playing and songwriting more power, color and expressiveness. Scale patterns gives you a clear process for dominating the fretboard for any given scale. I have also included the 5 box patterns you need to learn in order to memorize the scales in all keys. This is known as the minor triad, the basis of minor scales and chords. So having learnt your major scales as i hope you all are, because they are the most used scale in all of music. Guitar theory reveals that the major scale is stacked in thirds to make triads and chords. This book of written lessons is an excellent tool and reference manual to develop and enhance your guitar skills. Guitar scales handbook is the product of these efforts and is designed for beginner through advanced guitarists. Comfortably numb the guitar solos go from relative major to minor later in the song get ready the riff is minor and the chorus major try messing around with the major and minor pentatonic shapes above and come up with a little riff or bassline. It makes more sense to think all chord types relative to the major scale.
Relative minor and major scales simplifying theory. Notice when playing a minor scale it has a slightly darker sound. Use these instructional materials to help open up guitar avenues and to examine different chords and rhythms, lead guitar techniques, learning the fretboard, music theory, scales, and the world of playing over chord changes. Scales, chords and exercises the scale section shows how to use the major scale to learn music theory in terms of the guitar fretboard. Pdf includes notation, tab, fingering, some diagrams, tips, and more.
Home guitar theory guitar scales minor scale on the guitar the minor scale aka aeolian mode should be the second scale you learn. Even though minor chords can be built the same way by stacking thirds from the minor scale, its not the preferred method. You just need to know how your notes are arranged on fre. Guitar notes learn intervals, scales and chords the easy way. My latest book focuses mostly on the things that are really worth knowing, not so much on the rest. Jul 04, 2019 major scales for classical guitar pdf beginner to intermediate classical guitar.
The major and minor pentatonic scales are some of the most common scales in pop, rock and blues music. The answer is that the pentatonic scale is either major or minor depending on which note is functioning as the tonic, which means primary pitch called root when dealing with a chord. It was created that way in order to function with certain chord progressions. In other words, every note in the scale is associated with a chord. How to play every major and minor scale all over the fretboard part 1. Music theory for guitar natural minor scale youtube. All of the essential guitar scales are included, such as blues, pentatonic and major shapes. Major scales for classical guitar pdf beginner to intermediate classical guitar. The c major scale is also our first mode, the ionian mode. The first thing you may notice is that the notes are the same as the c major shape above. The right kind of music theory gives us a better understanding of the scales we play and why we play them.
The first step in understanding guitar theory is learning guitar scales. The two most common pentatonic scales are the major pentatonic and minor pentatonic scales. The minor blues scale comes from the minor pentatonic scale, which comes from the full 7note natural minor scale. If you learn the major scale and its applications, you will be able to understand how chords are constructed its not that complicated, know why your favorite songs sound the. Guitar instruction book and online guitar video lessons to teach you how to play guitar scales, chords. When learning guitar scales, there are two main types of scale youll come across major scales and minor scales. In this case, the minor pentatonic scale contains the minor seventh, so that note sounds great. Having spent so many years studying songs and theory and scales and chords on the guitar, this book is of little use to my playing now. Guitar players use scales to play melodies, riffs, solos, and bass lines. Once again, bending the minor third up to the major third is a nice bluesy sound.
Dominant chords have a major third and a minor seventh b7. With this i mean that the order in which the major and minor chords appear is always the same. Difference between major and minor pentatonic guitar players often ask me what makes pentatonic scale patterns major or minor. Guitar players can use several types of scales and patterns to play melodies, riffs, and solos, but some are used far more than others. The guitar scales chart book features all of the widelyused guitar scales pentatonic, blues, etc. Just like major and minor chords, both have unique applications when it comes to harmony. Free guitar scales pdf 84 scale and arpeggios chart. Starting with the first degree of the major scale, the chord qualities go as follows. This pdf contains the diagrams for all the major and minor pentatonic scales in all keys for guitar in standard tuning.
G major is the relative major of e minor, and e minor is the relative minor of g major. Beginners guide to guitar notes, intervals, scales and chords guitar theory on scales, chords and the smaller elements of music, intervals and notes robert callus august 3, 2018 4 comments one thing that used to confuse me when i started learning guitar was the relationship between the notes on the neck. Basics of the relationship between major and minor scales on. It is a very helpful booklet with all the diatonic major and minor scales. Root, major 2nd, major 3rd, perfect 5th, major 6th fret distances from root note.
Minor chords chord theory guitar chords diagrams scales. All the essential scales and modes in an easytofollow format by nathaniel gunod and l. Music theory 1 guitar course scales lesson 8 youtube. Youll be exploring these harmonic differences in more depth in the individual scale lessons, but lets first clear up some key differences. The difference between major and minor pentatonic scales. In this lesson, we are going to discuss the theory behind pentatonic scales and look at how to play them up and down the neck.
You can get more diagrams in the tuning of your choice by using my interactive web app here. I regularly make copies of the exercises for my students to help them better understand the songs and concepts theyre learning. So far we have only been looking at how major chords are built from notes of the major scale. Jul 25, 2016 music theory 1 is a guitar lesson course for anyone brand new to music theory. Basics of the relationship between major and minor scales. In guitars you have certain shapes and fingering patterns which you can apply for different major, minor, diminished scales. The above is meant to show you the intervals of the major scale. Each scale degree of the major scale produces a triad and major or minor chord. Inspire a love of reading with prime book box for kids. To learn guitar scales is a great way of exploring the fretboard of the guitar and finding the patterns that will help you with improvising solos and also it will increase the flexibility and strength of your fingers the more exercises you do. The trick is to find interesting and effective exercises to make your fingers remember those scales one recommendation i can make here is william lea. Links to streambuy my beautiful debut classical guitar ep start of a. Basics of the relationship between major and minor scales on the. The theory can be a bit confusing, but once you get a hold of the basic concepts, its actually quite easy to use modes on the guitar.
This interactive book and video course is all that you will ever need for learning guitar scales. A complimentary music theory overview for the guitarist. Think in some major scale, for example, c major scale. The minor arpeggio differs from the major arpeggio in that the 3rd interval is a minor 3rd 12 step lower as opposed to a major 3rd. The c major scale and a natural minor scale are from the only keys with no flats or sharps. Many people are confused by the term minor scale because there are a few minor. Music theory for guitarists the very basics of major, minor, scales. Have a desire to learn more about music theory for guitar. Its designed to give you a good overview of the basic building blocks for understanding music and music theory. We still use the major scale as the foundation for all chord types whether they be minor, seventh or any other chord type. Use these instructional materials to help open up guitar avenues and to examine different chords and rhythms, lead guitar techniques, learning the fretboard, music theory,scales, and the world of playing over chord changes. The ebook contains the most important scales for beginners, such as major and minor, but also shows more advanced patterns such as triads arpeggios, seventh chords arpeggios, pentatonic and blues scales scales and arpeggios are an important topic to master for those who are learning how to play guitar, so grab this book and enjoy it. Most people think of major scales as being very happy sounding and minor scales more sad sounding.
Modes are different than the regular major and minor scales most students are familiar with. Scales are presented as fretboard diagrams, as well as in notation and tab. Major scales for classical guitar pdf sheet music, tab. Includes an indepth 12 page explanation that leads to complete understanding of the fundamentals of major and minor scales, chords, arpeggios and cadences plus a clear explanation of scale degrees and a twopage guide to fingering the scales and arpeggios.
Little wing intro jimi hendrix tab and chord progression. Relative minor scale is really used in improvisation, because it gives more ideas to solo. Just like the major scale, the natural minor scale has 7 scale degrees. Nov 27, 2017 look, music theory works the same for every instrument out there. Scale notes make patterns on the fretboard, which guitarists finger and pick position to position. The major scale is actually the basis of western music as we know it. This includes the minor scale and all the modal scales that have greek names such as dorian, phrygian, lydian, and so on.