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Basic theory knowledge pt 2: on Guitar!

Let’s now go back to the basic theory post (quite successful over 10k views just the day I posted!) , and let’s see how things apply to guitar…just read the explanatins in red and watch the videos!

Let’s start again:

The natural sounds are:

Sharps and flats.

# = sharp: raises the given note of a half step.

One half-step on guitar is a fret, easy. When you move up a fret (from the headstock to the body of the guitar) you are playing two notes that are a semitone/half-step apart from each other. From G natural to G# you would move up one fret.

## = double sharp: raises the given note of two half steps.

From G natural to G## you would move up two frets.

b = flat: lowers the given note of a half step.

From G natural to Gb you would move down one fret.

bb = double flat: lowers the given note of two half steps.

From G natural to Gbb you would move down two frets.

= natural: cancels sharps and flats.

The Chromatic scale.

In this first video I start from the chromatic scale and show you how to build a major scale:


The chromatic scale contains all 12 natural and altered sound (using sharps and flats).

Notes called with a different name, but identifying the same sound, are called enharmonic (i.e.: C# e Db). The shortest distance between two sound of the chromatic scale is a Half Step, the distance of a fret on the guitar.

Intervals.

An interval is the distance between two notes.

Intervals of a second, third, sixths and seventh are called major. If a major interval is raised by an half step it is calledaugmented. If a major interval is lowered by an half step it is called minor. If lowered by two half steps, diminuished.

Intervals of a fourth, fifth and octave are called perfect. If a perfect interval is raised by an half step it is calledaugmented. If a perfect interval is lowered by an half step it is called diminuished (note the difference).

All the intervals from the tonic of a major scale to any other note of tha scale are major or perfect (i.e. between C and D=major 2nd, C e E=major 3rd, C e F=perfect 4th, and so on…)

Intervals can also be calculated summing up half steps: one half-step on guitar is a fret, easy. When you move a fret up (from the headstock to the body of the guitar) you are playing two notes that are a semitone/half-step apart from each other.

where m=minor, M=major, P=perfect, dim=diminuished, aug=augmented.

How to build a major scale.

Read the theory and watch the video below:

The spacing of the notes in a major scales follow this rule:

WWHWWWH

Where W = Whole step (a major second)  H= Half step

Example : C major

To build major sales in other keys use exclusively either sharps or flats choosing the notes so that a note with the same note is never repeated. In doing so you will only use Diatonic half steps (given by two notes with different name, i.e. C-Db, opposite to Chromatic half steps given by two notes with the same name, as in D –D#).

ON GUITAR:

Major scale – fixed position patterns

The Major scale template above is from PlayGTR.net’s ‘The Guitar Kit’, a free collection of guitar templates.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD ‘THE GUITAR KIT’ FOR ALL THE SCALES AND TEMPLATES YOU’LL EVER NEED!!

This is a list of all the major scales in all keys. The order follows the amount of sharps and flats in the key.

Keys with flats.

Keys with sharps.

Relative minor (key)

Every major key has one relative minor which is made of the same notes, but starting from the sixth note. In other words, starting a minor third below (or a major sixth above) the root of the major scale. For example if we take C major its relative minor is A minor, spelled A B C D E F G.

On guitar: To play the relative minor, just start two notes before the note in the red circle.

Circle of fifths.

The circle of fifths one of the most used ways to summarize all I explained so far. It is very useful to memorize how many and which alterations a specific key has.

I find very useful to memorize FCGDAEB and the same sequence backwards BEADGCF. The first is the order of sharps the second, of flats. So if a key has, for example, 3 sharps (A major) they will be the first 3 notes in the first seqence (F# C# G#).

Harmonized major scale – How to build chords.

A practical application on guitar:

In the example below every note of a major scale identifies a ‘degree’ of the scale. In the example I have used C major, but this is valid for every other major scale in any key.

If I stack on every degree two more notes a diatonic third apart (basically every other one) I end up with different kinds of triads (triad=group of three notes). These triads are shown in the example below. If we analyse the intervals between notes:

a Major Triad has a Maj 3rd and a Perf 5th (Eg. C-E-G: C-E=maj 3rd , C-G Perf 5th).

a Minor Triad has a min 3rd and a Perf 5th.

a Diminuished Triad has a min 3rd and a diminuished 5th.

You will have the same series of chords in all the other keys Eg: F major: F, Gm, Am, Bb, C, Dm, Em.

Already with this knowledge we can understand how to Analyze simple songs or how to write pop songs:

If we stack another note a diatonic third apart from the last note of the above triads we will have Seventh chords.

This again is valid for all the 12 keys. This concept is vital to understand how songs are built and how to pick the correct scale for a solo.

On Guitar this note choice for 7th chords might not work…let’s see some more popular choices to play this on guitar:

With this we can now analyse more complex songs like a simple jazz standard…watch the video:

I hope you enjoyed this lesson!

Basic theory knowledge

What follows is just a brief summary of basic theory and harmony necessary to understand practical applications on your instrument.

The natural sounds are:

Sharps and flats.

# = sharp: raises the given note of a half step.

## = double sharp: raises the given note of two half steps.

b = flat: lowers the given note of a half step.

bb = double flat: lowers the given note of two half steps.

= natural: cancels sharps and flats.

The Chromatic scale.

The chromatic scale contains all 12 natural and altered sound (using sharps and flats).

Notes called with a different name, but identifying the same sound, are called enharmonic (i.e.: C# e Db). The shortest distance between two sound of the chromatic scale is a Half Step, the distance of a fret on the guitar.

Intervals.

An interval is the distance between two notes.

Intervals of a second, third, sixths and seventh are called major. If a major interval is raised by an half step it is calledaugmented. If a major interval is lowered by an half step it is called minor. If lowered by two half steps, diminuished.

Intervals of a fourth, fifth and octave are called perfect. If a perfect interval is raised by an half step it is calledaugmented. If a perfect interval is lowered by an half step it is called diminuished (note the difference).

All the intervals from the tonic of a major scale to any other note of tha scale are major or perfect (i.e. between C and D=major 2nd, C e E=major 3rd, C e F=perfect 4th, and so on…)

Intervals can also be calculated summing up half steps:

where m=minor, M=major, P=perfect, dim=diminuished, aug=augmented.

How to build a major scale.

The spacing of the notes in a major scales follow this rule:

WWHWWWH

Where W = Whole step (a major second)  H= Half step

Example : C major

To build major sales in other keys use exclusively either sharps or flats choosing the notes so that a note with the same note is never repeated. In doing so you will only use Diatonic half steps (given by two notes with different name, i.e. C-Db, opposite to Chromatic half steps given by two notes with the same name, as in D –D#).

This is a list of all the major scales in all keys. The order follows the amount of sharps and flats in the key.

Keys with flats.

Keys with sharps.

Relative minor (key)

Every major key has one relative minor which is made of the same notes, but starting from the sixth note. In other words, starting a minor third below (or a major sixth above) the root of the major scale. For example if we take C major its relative minor is A minor, spelled A B C D E F G.

Circle of fifths.

The circle of fifths one of the most used ways to summarize all I explained so far. It is very useful to memorize how many and which alterations a specific key has.

I find very useful to memorize FCGDAEB and the same sequence backwards BEADGCF. The first is the order of sharps the second, of flats. So if a key has, for example, 3 sharps (A major) they will be the first 3 notes in the first seqence (F# C# G#).

Harmonized major scale – How to build chords.

In the example below every note of a major scale identifies a ‘degree’ of the scale. In the example I have used C major, but this is valid for every other major scale in any key.

If I stack on every degree two more notes a diatonic third apart (basically every other one) I end up with different kinds of triads (triad=group of three notes). These triads are shown in the example below. If we analyse the intervals between notes:

a Major Triad has a Maj 3rd and a Perf 5th (Eg. C-E-G: C-E=maj 3rd , C-G Perf 5th).

a Minor Triad has a min 3rd and a Perf 5th.

a Diminuished Triad has a min 3rd and a diminuished 5th.

You will have the same series of chords in all the other keys Eg: F major: F, Gm, Am, Bb, C, Dm, Em.

If we stack another note a diatonic third apart from the last note of the above triads we will have Seventh chords.

This again is valid for all the 12 keys. This concept is vital to understand how songs are built and how to pick the correct scale for a solo.

Printable PDF: Chord-Scale Ex.

This is an introduction to how to use the right scale for the chord of the moment. I will not be talking about modes yet as I find this creates a bit of confusion at this stage. We have seen how on every degree (=note) of the scale we can build a triad of some kind and add a 7^th to it. These are three examples so you can have the most popular ‘chord shapes’ to play with and on 3 different string sets.

The first is an example in G major: the roots of the chords are all on the 6^th string.

To find the correct scale for the chords just play a G major scale starting from the degree the chord sits on (like I do in the video).

G maj7 = G major from G to G (1^st degree)

Am7     =  G major from A to A (2^nd degree)

Bm7     = G major from B to B (3^rd degree)

And so on…I am sure you get the idea.

The next is an example in C major: the roots of the chords are all on the 5^th string. Watch the video and find the related scales

And again this is an example in F major: the roots of the chords are all on the 4^th string. You know what to do…

In this video I show some examples of very simple chord progressions that originate from the Harmonized Major Scale.

When I say ‘one, four, five’ I mean the song is built by the 1st, the 4th and 5th chord of the harmonized scale. So such song would be C major, F major, and G major and if I wanted to write its structure I’d write it with roman numerals: I IV V. as an example you can think of songs like ‘Twist and shout’, ‘La Bamba’ or similar…again this is just the very basic stuff!

Other common structures are II V I (‘two, five, one’ = Dm G C in C major), I VI IV V and so on…

As I said this is just the beginning, I’ll show you how to understand more complicated songs. Also, will post in the near future  a list of analyzed chords progressions patterns for you to use in your songs.

How to add the 7th to triads from the major harmonized scale?

We have already seen how to find the triads that belong to the major harmonized scale.

..adding the 7th is very simple. If we stack another note a diatonic third apart from the last note we have found, we will have Seventh chords. As a matter of fact, the notes we have used to build the triad where the 1st, 3rd and 5th note of the major scale…the one we are adding is the 7th note of the scale. In C major it will give us the following 7th chords.

Cmaj7 Dm7  Em7    Fmaj7       G7      Am7   Bm7(b5)

Here you will find the most common 7th chords guitar shapes, just print out the file.

Printable file: Common 7th chords

How to analyze triads and more advanced chords?

The starting point is the major triad, in the example in C major, but this concept is valid for all keys, as usual.

The C major chord is built with these three notes:

C  E  G

As we said this triad is built with the Root (C) the 3^rd (E) and the 5^th (G) of the major scale. Also, if we calculate the intervals between the Root and the other two notes we notice that there is an interval of a major 3^rd between C and E and of a perfect 5^th between C and G.

So if I wanted to write a formula for the major triad I would write

C   E  G

1   3   5 (Root-Major third-Perfect fifth)

If now we want to find the chord C minor all we have to do is lower the 3^rd of the chord (E is lowered to Eb)

So now the triad for C minor is

C  Eb  G

1  b3  5 (Notice how the formula changes Root –Minor Thirds – Perfect fifth)

From this I can tell that the difference between a major and minor chord is in the 3^rd.

—

The diminished and augmented triads can be told from the 5^th.

If C major is C E G

C augmented is    C  E   G# (I have raised the 5^th of a halfstep)

Formula             1   3   #5

C diminished is     C  Eb Gb (a minor triad with the flattened 5^th)

Formula             1   b3  b5

In this video I’ll show you how to build the harmonized scale, which is vital to find out what chord belong to a specific key. In the example I am building the Harmonized scale in the key of C major. In one of the successive videos of this series you’ll see that you can use these chords to build a very simple songs in a single key.
The process is fairy simple: I stack on top of every note of the scale two consecutive diatonic 3rds. Let’s say, for example if I start from C, the two notes will be E and G. If I start from D the notes will be F and A…is this easy enough?

In the example below every note of a major scale identifies a ‘grade’ of the scale. In the example I have used C major, but this is valid for every other major scale.

If I stack on every grade two more notes a third apart (basically every other one) I end up with different kinds of triads (triad=group of three notes). These triads are shown in the example below. If we analyze the intervals between notes:

On the guitar, like in the video:

You will have the same series of chords in all the other keys Eg: F major: F, Gm, Am, Bb, C, Dm, Em.

This again is valid for all the 12 keys. This concept is vital to understand how songs are built and how to pick the correct scale for a solo.

Printable PDF: Intervals explained

An interval is the distance between two notes, and it is indicated by ordinal numbers (2^nd, 5^th , 7^th) except when describing the unison (identity of pitch) and the octave (two notes 12 semitones apart).

Intervals of a 2^nd ,3^rd ,6^th ,7^th are called major.

Intervals of a 4^th ,5^th and octave are called perfect.

If a major interval is raised by a half step it is called augmented. If a major interval is lowered by a half step it is called minor. If lowered by two half steps, diminished.

If a perfect interval is raised by a half step it is called augmented. If a perfect interval is lowered by a half step it is called diminished (note the difference).

There are two basic ways to calculate an interval,  that will lead to the same result.

1. Calculating by the number of half steps between the two notes:

where m=minor, M=major, P=perfect, dim=diminished, aug=augmented.

2. Finding  the interval from the major scale. All the intervals from the tonic of a major scale to any other note of that scale are major or perfect (i.e. between C and D=major2nd,  C e E=major3rd, C e F=perfect4rth, and so on…). Of course you need to know your major scales!!

The major scale on guitar

     In this lesson I will show you how to go from the basic major scale down a single string to finding all the notes from a major scale all over the guitar neck. The most popular way to organize all these notes is by grouping them in the famous '5 boxes' so that all the notes are playable in a single 'position'. A position, in very poor words, is nothing but a section of the fretboard, usually just 4/5 consecutive frets, that you can reach without moving your hand.

Printable PDF: Major scale 5 'box' fingerings

     Remember that this is so you understand the concept of finding the notes on guitar: ultimately you should be able to play a major scale starting from anywhere on the guitar.
So try and learn the major scale:

1. In every key
2. Up each single string
3. From the lowest note on the guitar to the highest note reachable
4. Learn them in '1 octave mini positions' starting from every Root you can find like I show in the video.
5. Play them starting from each finger of your left hand.

     This, of course, is something you will not achieve in one day, but trust me it worth the effort.

Good Luck!

From the chromatic scale to the major scale

In this lesson I will take you from learning the chromatic scale on guitar to find how to play a simple major scale. Don’t be fooled by the fancy name: the chromatic scale is just the sum of all the 12 notes we have in our system to make music. These are the 7 natural notes (CDEFGAB) plus the other altered notes (with #=sharp and b=flat).

The famous formula for the major scale as I explain in the video is

W W H W W W H

the video is pretty much self explanatory, and if you want a more in-depth look at the theory behind this, just go to the Freebies section of this website and download the ‘Basic Theory Knowledge’ PDF booklet.