Learning Guitar Scales
Jan 14, 2010 Guitar Articles
Posted by
Paul Gian
We’ve finally arrived at the fun part! You’re going to get a quick crash course in some basic music theory, and enough examples to get you playing as soon as possible. Let’s go ahead and get started with scales.
Scales: The Building Blocks of Music
A scale is a series of notes which typically spans from the root note to its unison (one octave higher). For example, the following series of notes creates the chromatic scale from A (root) to A (unison):
A-B-C-C#-D-D#-E-F-F#-G-G#-A
This scale doesn’t sound very ‘musical’, though, does it?
That’s because we need to leave out some notes in order to create the kind of scale our ears are accustomed to from listening to ‘western’ music — and by ‘western’, I’m referring to the music created in Europe and the United States.
The kind of music we’re used to listening to (classical, rock, country, folk, blues,etc) relies primarily on the major and minor scales. These scales follow a formula from which they can be constructed for any key. In order to keep things simplified, we’re going to stick to the major
scale for now.
Formula for Creating a Major Scale
Whole Step
Whole Step
Half Step
Whole Step
Whole Step
Whole Step
Half Step
So, what do all these whole steps and half steps mean? Take a look at your fretboard again.
Each individual fret represents a half step. In other words, if you were to place your finger on any note, then move it up (or down) just one fret, you’ve moved a half step in terms of “distance” between notes.
Now, if you place your finger on a fret, then move up or down by skipping the fret in between, you’ve moved position by a whole step.
So, let’s say that we want to create the G Major scale. Based on our formula, the pattern of notes is as follows: G-A-B-C-D-E-F#-G. The first whole step is the interval from G to A, just to be clear.
Also, there is one thing you need to know before going any further:
The distance from B to C and E F is ALWAYS a HALF STEP!
There is no such thing as a ‘B sharp’ or ‘E sharp’. All of the ‘natural’ (not sharp, not flat) notes have an interval of a whole step between them except for the intervals of B to C and E to F.
Keep this fact in mind when you are using the formula to construct scales in other keys, as it will help you determine which notes are raised (sharpened) or lowered (flattened) within that key.
Named Scale Degrees
In order to learn music theory, you need to memorize some terminology pertaining to the function of each note within the key defined by the scale.
Scale degrees describe how each note ’sounds’ relative to the key.
An ‘E’ in the key of G Major, for example, suggests a minor interval because its position within the scale is submediant (also known as the ‘relative minor’). However, if you are IN the key of E Major, then your ears will hear that E as a ‘resolution’ back to the key.
The Named Scale Degrees
·1st – Tonic or ‘key’ note
·2nd – Supertonic
·3rd – Mediant
·4th – Subdominant
·5th – Dominant
·6th – Submediant
·7th – Leading Tone
·8thth – Tonic or ‘Unison’
Each of these degrees has either a ‘major’ or ‘minor’ sounding quality to it depending on whether the key you’re in is major or minor. This is because the intervals (distance between two notes) are defined differently for the major and minor scales.
For this report, we’re focused solely on major scales, so let’s look at the quality of the intervals between scale degrees in a major scale:
·1st – Tonic
·2nd – Minor 2ndnd
·3rd – Minor 3rdrd
·4th – Perfect 4thth
·5th – Perfect 5thth
·6th – Minor 6h
·7th – Major 7thth
·8th – Tonic
This may not make much sense right now, but the value of this information will become clear as we move on to discuss chords.
Music theory will help greatly in learning to play guitar. Stay tuned for more guitar lessons and how to play guitar courses.
Tags: guitar scales, learn scales on guitar, Learning Guitar Scales, scale of guitar, what is a guitar scale
