Posts tagged: guitar scale

October 14, 2010

5 Things You Do Not Know About Guitar Scales That You Should

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Today we will look at 5 things you probably don’t know about guitar scales that you should.

Have you ever wondered why some guitar scales are called one thing in one scale book and called something completely different in another book?

What gives?  Who is right?

This brings us to the first point that most guitar players don’t know:

There is currently no standard or uniform system used throughout the world to identify scales by name. Whether you ask two musicians in the same band, or someone on a different continent, you may get completely different names for the same scale!

Some scales are pretty straight forward—they have only a few names.  For example, the Minor scale is also called the Aeolian mode or scale.  This scale is also sometimes called the Ancient Minor Scale.

Then there are those scales with many names.  For example, the Mixolydian b9 b13 scale is also known as: Phrygian Major, Phrygian Dominant, Spanish, Hejaz and it is also known as the Gypsy scale.

I am sure you will agree that this creates quite a bit of confusion when talking about guitar scales.  In fact, this brings up the next 4 things about guitar scales you probably don’t know…

How are Scales Named?

A scale can be named many different ways.  However, scale names are usually determined by:

1.  The geographical region in which the scale is typically used, or found.

2.  The geographical area one lives in.

3.  The institution(s) and or teachers with whom one has studied.

4.  The number of notes in the scale.

What is the Best Way to Understand Scale Names?

You need to learn the mechanics behind scales.  When you understand how scales are constructed and work, you will find it much easier to understand even the strangest of scale names.

When you know how scales are put together, not only will scale names make sense, but also most importantly, you will see many applications for each scale.

Scale Name Tip

Now here is a tip that will help you identify certain guitar scale synonyms.

When you look at some scale names, you will see things like b2 and b6, etc.  What you need to know is the following are interchangeable in scale names:

2 = 9

4 = 11

6 = 13

This means the Mixolydian b13 scale can also be called Mixolydian b6.  A Lydian #9 scale is also known as a Lydian #2 scale.  A Mixolydian #4 could be called Mixolydian #11.  A Locrian Natural 2 scale can be called a Locrian Natural 9 scale.

This article just scratched the surface of the mechanics behind scale names. To learn how to make total sense of guitar scales and modes and apply them to your guitar, check out the ultimate guitar scales resource. Visit  GuitarAccelerator.com now to turbo-charge your playing with your mastery of guitar scales.

June 1, 2010

How Can I Make My Own Guitar Scales?

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This is a great question that I get asked from time to time.  In this post we will look at 6 great ways to create guitar scales.

But before we get into the 6 techniques, we need to cover a bit of background…

Music has been around for a very, very long time.  Ethnomusicologists have found that music was present in even the most primitive tribal cultures. No one so far has been able to determine exactly when music began.

Different cultures use different pitch systems whereby they divide the octave differently than we do in the West.  In Western culture we divide the octave into 12 equal divisions.  This is known as equal temperament.  For comparison, it’s quite common for instruments in India to divide the octave into 22 parts.  The Slendro scale, which is common in Indonesia, divides the octave into 5 parts of which we can only accurately play the first note with our equal tempered tuning.

With the 12 notes we have available to us in the West, there are 479,001,600 possible arrangements!  So yes there are lots of possibilities, however, you will be pretty hard pressed to discover a guitar scale that has never been used or conceived before.

The first thing to understand about guitar scales is that a scale is simply a collection of pitches that have been arranged into a specific ascending and descending order.  Usually, the ascending and descending forms of the scale are the same, but this is not a requirement.  There are some scales where the ascending form is actually different than the descending.

Scales can have as few as 4 notes in them or can have all 12 (this is called the chromatic scale).  Seven note scales (heptatonic scales) are the most common in the West.

Here are 6 ways to create guitar scales.

First check out a good comprehensive guitar scales book such as my book, the World of Scales: A Compendium of Scales for the Modern Guitar Player.  Play through all of the scales and mark off all of the scales you like the sound of.  Once you’ve identified the scales you like, commit them to memory and start to create some melodies, guitar solos and songs.

Second you can work it out manually yourself.  This is a much longer way to go.  All you would do is grab a stack of paper and write out the notes C D E F G A B C. Next, begin to add sharps and then flats and then combinations of the two.  This method becomes more of a mathematical exercise than a musical one.  Once you’re finished, play through your results.

Another way of doing this is to just use numbers.  So you would take the scale degrees that you want, for example 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 and then you would start to add sharps and or flats.  So you could start with 1 b2 3 4 5 6 7; 1 b2 b3 4 5 6 7; etc.

Third, you can start with a chord you want to play a melody over.  You take the chord tones and write them down.  Next you experiment with the notes that are not part of the chord.  Write down the ones that you like and presto—you’ve got a scale.  Again, chances are pretty good that the scale you come up with will already have a name.

Fourth, drop out notes from an existing scale you know.  Let’s say you take a C minor scale and drop out the 4th and the 7th notes.  The result would be C D Eb G Ab C.  This creates a very cool sounding scale.  It’s a Japanese pentatonic (5 note) scale called the Hirajoshi scale.

Fifth, add in notes to an existing scale you know.  Let’s say you start with an A minor pentatonic scale: A C D E G A.  Add a B to this and you get the following 6 note (hexatonic) scale: A B C D E G A.

Finally, let’s say you are looking for a dark sounding scale.  Here’s what you do.  Start with a C major scale.  The notes in a C major scale are C D E F G A B C.

Now here’s the thing to keep in mind—as you add flats to the notes, the scale will sound darker.  As you add sharps, the scale will sound brighter.  Two scales that have a dark sound are C Db Eb F G Ab Bb C  (this is called C Phrygian) and C Db Eb F Gb Ab Bb C (this is C Locrian).

To go the opposite way to create a bright sound you take the C major scale and raise the 4th degree.  Your result is a bright sounding C Lydian :  C D E F# G A B C.

Believe it or not, this just scratches the surface of scale creation.

So you can do it on your own with 100% pure experimentation. Or, you can learn some guitar scale theory to save yourself some time and then add in some experimentation. This will give you hundreds or even thousands of guitar scales at your disposal.

Have fun!

Don J MacLean

March 29, 2010

Guitar Scale Lesson: How to Read Guitar Scale Diagrams

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Before we examine how to play guitar scales, we need to first look at how to read guitar scale diagrams.

The following fretboard diagrams represent isolated sections on the neck of the guitar. The vertical lines represent the strings, while the horizontal lines represent the frets.  The strings are numbered from the thinnest (1), to the thickest (6).

To save space, only the applicable portion of the neck will be shown for each scale.  So, instead of showing all of the frets on the guitar, we will just show a representation of the portion of the neck we need.

Numbers found on the left side of the grid indicate specific frets.  If there are no numbers beside a grid, assume that it represents the first five frets.

How to read fretboard diagrams for scales

Fret-Hand Positioning

All fingerings for guitar scales and melodies using the Berklee system are based on the principle of one finger per fret.  This means that if you position your first finger on the fifth fret, the following will happen: your first finger will play all notes found on the fifth fret, your second finger will handle the sixth fret; your third finger will play notes on the seventh fret and your fourth finger will play notes on the eighth fret.  Of course these fingering principles don’t always apply to chords, but they do for scales and melodies.

In some situations you will find it necessary to have one finger play the notes on two frets.  Instead of shifting your whole hand up or down one fret, it is most practical to leave your hand in one position and have one finger cover the notes on two frets.  The finger that will do the stretching will either be your first finger or your fourth finger.  Occasionally you will encounter circumstances that will require a double stretch with your first and fourth fingers.

guitar scale fingering no stretches

No stretches

guitar scale fingering 1st finger stretch

First finger stretch

guitar scale fingering 4th finger stretch

Fourth finger stretch

guitar scale fingering double finger stretch

Double stretch, first and fourth fingers

C major guitar scale fingering

As you can see in the above fingering for the major scale, each finger is assigned a specific fret and would play any note on that fret.

C major guitar scale fingering 2

The black notes represent the root notes in the scale. The root note is the note that tells you the letter-name of the scale.  The grey notes are the other scale tones.  Other books and publications may use different symbols to indicate the location of the root notes in scales.

Scales are usually practiced from the lowest-pitched-note to the highest.  If the above scale form is positioned so that the first finger is on the 7th fret, you would have a C major scale.  Here is how you would play the C major scale.

C major guitar scale fingering 3

C major guitar scale in tab

Well, there you go.  You now know the basics of reading guitar scale diagrams.  The best way to practice guitar scales at first is to play them ascending and descending­—this will allow you to become familiar with the fingering and sound of the scale.

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