Posts Tagged ‘Scale’

Not too long ago I posted this guitar exercise video: the never-ending chromatic scale. find the original post here:

http://www.playgtr.net/never-ending-chromatic-scale/

Just yesterday I found this video of a clinic by Pat Metheny. Check out the video, what he’s doin at the very beginning is exactly what I am talking about.

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.

This is a scale I use really often and that can be incorporated in many different progressions. The Harmonic major scale is nothing but a major scale (in the example C major C D E F G A B) with the b6th instead of the natural 6th. So C Harmonic Major is C D E F G Ab B. It can be used in progressions like Fm – Cmaj7 (IVm – Imaj7), Abmaj7 – Cmaj7 (bVImaj7 – C  maj7) or G7(b9) – C maj7 (V7(9) – I maj7)…of course these are just some of the options. Try and experiment with the modes from this scale and all the stuff usually done with a major scale, this time with that b6th instead of the natural 6th. Good Luck!

   This is a scale I know as ‘Jog scale’. I am sure even though you might not know it by name, you have heard its sound before, as it is featured in a lot of Beatles tunes, and also a favorite of guitarist Eric Johnson. It has an Indian flavor to my ears…just watch the video and you’ll understand what I mean. In the PDF file below you’ll find the 5 inversions/modes and relative fingerings in the key of G. It sounds best over G7 (or G7sus4), Fmaj7#11, and B7#9, but feel free to experiment… 

Good Luck.

Advanced pentatonic stuff.

There are when times you can get bored of playing just the pentatonic on a blues, or maybe you’ve heard more contemporary blues players like Robben Ford, or blues influenced jazz guys like John Scofield and Scott Henderson. Well, here I come to help you out with a couple of tips: first I go over the ‘blues scale’, still quite a basic concept. Just add the b5 to a minor pentatonic and there you go, you have the ‘blues scale’.

A much more interesting thing happens when you start mixing up the H-W Diminished scale with a minor or major pentatonic scale. This will give you a few nice tensions:

Half step – Whole step Diminished scale in C:

C  Db  Eb  Fb  Gb  G  A   Bb
T  b2   b3  3    b5  5 13  b7

C minor pentatonic:

C  Eb  F  G  Bb
T  b3  4  5  b7

C major Pentatonic:

C  D  E  G  A
T  2   3  5  6

Well, mix and match tastefully and you’ll get some new flavors, guaranteed. Listen to some of the examples I play in the video. Good luck!