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Guitar scales?!?!

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(@tanthalas)
Eminent Member
Joined: 17 years ago
Posts: 16
Topic starter  

Hi all!

What in the world are guitar scales? I see them written as lessons on the internet everywhere (i've never had a guitar lesson before) but nobody actually explains what they are and why I should learn them.

Any gurus wish to enlighten me?


   
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(@joehempel)
Famed Member
Joined: 16 years ago
Posts: 2415
 

I think that scales are just a series of notes from say C to C or E to E, the scale always starts and ends on the same note and can be worked anywhere on the fretboard of the guitar.

The way it works like the C Major Scale is:
C D E F G A B C

That particular scale goes C-D (whole step), D-E (whole step), E-F(half step), F-G (whole step), G-A (whole step), A-B (whole step), B-C (half step).

You can take that formula of WWHWWWH on any note to get that particular scale like say the E Major scale:

E-F#, F#-G#, G#-A, A-B, B-C#, C#-D#, D#-E

I looks kind of complicated because of all the sharp signs, but it follows the exact same pattern

If you were to do a minor scale it would be a bit different:
WHWWHWW

So the Em scale would be
E-F#, F#-G, G-A, A-B, B-C, C-D, D-E

You can apply that to anywhere on the fretboard as well.

Just an FYI though, if you see something that says tone or semi-tone, it's the exact same thing as full step and half-step, just different words.

I'm still pretty new to the scale thing, so if I'm wrong in any of this I hope someone will correct me.

In Space, no one can hear me sing!


   
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(@noteboat)
Illustrious Member
Joined: 21 years ago
Posts: 4921
 

Joe's pretty much got it. I'll just add a couple little points.

There's really no such thing as a guitar scale... there are lots of musical scales that can all be played on guitar.

The word "scale" comes from a Latin word that means "ladder" - we "scale a cliff" etc. In music, a scale is a set of tones in order - always rising or falling, like steps in a ladder. And any one musical scale, like any one physical ladder, always has the same arrangement of steps. But in actual use in music we can combine ladders - going up one and down another, for instance.

When people talk about guitar scales what they really mean is guitar scale fingerings. Because of the way fretted instruments are constructed, any fretted instrument* - guitar, banjo, mandolin, whatever - gets the same type of sound anywhere on the neck as long as the same fingering is used, and there are no open strings. So if you learn a G major scale with no open strings, you can automatically play any other major scale... you just have to know where to move your hand.

* - it's not literally true it works for ANY fretted instrument; it won't work for instruments that aren't fretted for a chromatic scale (dulcimer, sitar, etc). But it's true for all the common instruments used in pop/rock in the western world.

Guitar teacher offering lessons in Plainfield IL


   
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(@fretsource)
Prominent Member
Joined: 18 years ago
Posts: 973
 

As for "why" you should learn them, there are several reasons:

Technique - As the various scales are just the notes that are used in various styles of real music, neatly arranged in order of pitch, practising them methodically provides an efficient way to improve things like accurate finger placement on the frets, smooth movement between frets and strings, controlled tone and dynamics, and speed. These skills transfer readily to real music that's based on the notes of those particular scales. For example - If you want to play Flamenco guitar, then practising the 'Flamenco Phrygian' scale will train your fingers to move efficiently among the note patterns that you will constantly encounter in Flamenco music. Of course, that alone won't make you a Flamenco guitarist, but at least it's heading in the right direction.

Fretboard knowledge - Learning the notes of individual scales (not just moveable scale patterns) and practising where to find them, is a good way to get to know the fretboard.

Theory - Scales are an important part of music theory. The major scale is especially important in this regard as it's the standard reference for constructing chords. Every chord has a 'formula' that specifies which notes of a major scale need to be included (or modified) to produce a particular chord. For example, the chord A minor has the formula 1, flat 3 & 5, meaning that the chord A minor contains the first, flat 3rd and 5th notes in reference to the A major scale producing the notes A C & E (the notes of A minor). Knowing the formulas means you can quickly construct countless chords, but it goes without saying that you first have to know the major scale in order to do that.

Improvising - many guitarists improvise solos by choosing notes from a scale that's associated with the type of music they want to improvise in. It means they can play those scale notes in any order that sounds musical and be confident that they'll fit. Many rock guitarists often use the notes of pentatonic scales to get the notes they want. It stands to reason that the more they've practised pentatonic scales, the more expertly they will be able to locate and play in any order the notes contained in them, and also the more confidently they can step out of the 'safe' scale notes into uncharted territory if they feel like expanding their musical horizons.


   
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(@wes-inman)
Illustrious Member
Joined: 20 years ago
Posts: 5582
 

Scales can also be thought of as a sequence of notes that sound "good" over certain chords or chord progressions.

The Major Scale is thought of as a happy sounding scale. Here is a video of a young lady giving a guitar lesson on the C Major Scale. She plays it in two different positions in this lesson. You can play the C Major Scale all over the guitar, but it is always the same exact notes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=me2qbnDi-B4

The Minor Scale has a sad or melancholy feel to it. Here is the C Minor Scale, note how it sounds a little different from the C Major scale.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHPNTYHTntE

There are many, many scales, and each has it's own feel or mood. Musicians choose different scales to convey different feeling or moods.

Here is a video with the Arabic scale. Listen how it has an Eastern sound or feel to it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGS03rL_G24&feature=related

If you know something better than Rock and Roll, I'd like to hear it - Jerry Lee Lewis


   
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(@tanthalas)
Eminent Member
Joined: 17 years ago
Posts: 16
Topic starter  

thanks for all the great replies!!!

Any idea on what scale and what note to start with? This is all a little confusing!


   
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(@fretsource)
Prominent Member
Joined: 18 years ago
Posts: 973
 

thanks for all the great replies!!!

Any idea on what scale and what note to start with? This is all a little confusing!

C MAJOR

Major scales are the most important of all scales in Western music (world-wide, in fact) and C major is the simplest of all major scales as it contains only natural notes CDEFGABC. All other major scales contain flat or sharp notes. You can play a one octave version of the C major scale like this:
E-------------------------------------
B-------------------------0--1---------
G------------------0--2--------------
D------0--2---3----------------------------
A---3------------------------------------
E-------------------------------------
Those are the frets on strings (0=open string) in case you don't read tab - play slowly from left to right (ascending) and then from right to left (descending). Use your first finger for any notes on fret 1, your second for notes on fret 2 and your third for notes on fret 3, making sure that your fingertip is placed just behind the fret of the note you're playing and that each note sounds clear (no buzzes). Repeat until you can do it smoothly and effortlessly
Also, memorise the note name of each note - C D E F G A B C. Calling out the name as you play it helps you associate notenames with position and sound. If you play it correctly you might recognise it as the familiar Do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti-do scale, that some singers practise.


   
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(@guitarmc)
New Member
Joined: 15 years ago
Posts: 2
 

If you can figure out how to read these scale charts that I created, they might help. All of my lesson plans are available at my website for no cost.
Feel free to check it out at this link:
http://guitarstyles.org/lesson-plans


   
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(@the-hass)
Eminent Member
Joined: 16 years ago
Posts: 14
 

Do guitar scales get played horizontaly or verticaly on the fretboard? I just ask because it is confusing because i have seen them done both ways but which ones should be horizontal and which should be vertical?


   
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(@kent_eh)
Noble Member
Joined: 18 years ago
Posts: 1882
 

Do guitar scales get played horizontaly or verticaly on the fretboard? I just ask because it is confusing because i have seen them done both ways but which ones should be horizontal and which should be vertical?

They're both valid.
Given that a scale is just a group of related notes, you can play them any place you find those notes on the guitar neck.

All in one position, all on one string, diagonally across the fretboard, separated from each other by half the neck... Doesn't matter what the fingering pattern, as long as you hit the correct notes -- wherever you find them.

Now, that said, the most common way that beginners are taught is to play scales in one position (exactly like Fretsource shows above).
Once you start exploring your way around the fretboard the other options start being useful learning exercises.

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So I looked like I was deep


   
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