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Old 08-13-2008, 04:29 AM
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Default Major And Minor Scales Explained
Ok, a lot of people will just give you the box shapes and say "Here, go practice these." While theory buffs will explain to you that scales are made up of whole steps and half steps. And that the Major Scale is WWHWWWH and a Minor Scale is made up of WHWWHWW or else they'll go into intervals and get you even more confused while not giving you any patterns and thinking you'll figure it out yourself.

I'm gonna try to give the best of both; give you the patterns to practice, and then explain it so you understand how it all makes sense while throwing in some theory as well. And don't expect to learn this all at once, it'll take time and practice.


Ok, now that the pretty little introduction is out of the way, I'll start with the box shapes. In these shapes the numbers have nothing to do with the frets. They stand for what degree of the scale each note is. R is the root note, or first note of the scale, and this determines what key you are in.

For example, G Major in the first position would be:
Code:
|-----------------------------2-3-5--|
|-------------------------3-5--------|
|-------------------2-4-5------------|
|-------------2-4-5------------------|
|-------2-3-5------------------------|
|-2-3-5------------------------------|
These are all relative to whatever note you decide is your root note, which is what scale you are in. Here are the shapes of the Major Scale

Code:
1st position
|-7-|-R-|---|-2-|
|---|-5-|---|-6-|
|-2-|---|-3-|-4-|
|-6-|---|-7-|-R-|
|-3-|-4-|---|-5-|
|-7-|-R-|---|-2-|

 
2nd position 
|---|-2-|---|-3-|-4-|
|---|-6-|---|-7-|-R-|
|-3-|-4-|---|-5-|---|
|-7-|-R-|---|-2-|---|
|---|-5-|---|-6-|---|
|---|-2-|---|-3-|-4-|

 
3rd position 
|-3-|-4-|---|-5-|
|-7-|-R-|---|-2-|
|-5-|---|-6-|---|
|-2-|---|-3-|-4-|
|-6-|---|-7-|-R-|
|-3-|-4-|---|-5-|

 
4th position 
|---|-5-|---|-6-|---|
|---|-2-|---|-3-|-4-|
|-6-|---|-7-|-R-|---|
|-3-|-4-|---|-5-|---|
|-7-|-R-|---|-2-|---|
|---|-5-|---|-6-|---|

 
5th position 
|---|-6-|---|-7-|-R-|
|---|-3-|-4-|---|-5-|
|-7-|-R-|---|-2-|---|
|---|-5-|---|-6-|---|
|---|-2-|---|-3-|-4-|
|---|-6-|---|-7-|-R-|

And these are the Minor Scale shapes:

Code:
1st Position
|---|-1-|---|-2-|-3-|
|---|-5-|-6-|---|-7-|
|-2-|-3-|---|-4-|---|
|---|-7-|---|-R-|---|
|---|-4-|---|-5-|-6-|
|---|-R-|---|-2-|-3-|


2nd Position
|---|-3-|---|-4-|
|---|-7-|---|-R-|
|-4-|---|-5-|-6-|
|-R-|---|-2-|-3-|
|-5-|-6-|---|-7-|
|-2-|-3-|---|-4-|


3rd Position
|---|-4-|---|-5-|-6-|
|---|-R-|---|-2-|-3-|
|-5-|-6-|---|-7-|---|
|-2-|-3-|---|-4-|---|
|---|-7-|---|-R-|---|
|---|-4-|---|-5-|-6-|


4th Position
|-5-|-6-|---|-7-|
|-2-|-3-|---|-4-|
|-7-|---|-R-|---|
|-4-|---|-5-|-6-|
|-R-|---|-2-|-3-|
|-5-|-6-|---|-7-|


5th Position
|---|-7-|---|-R-|---|
|---|-4-|---|-5-|-6-|
|-R-|---|-2-|-3-|---|
|-5-|-6-|---|-7-|---|
|-2-|-3-|---|-4-|---|
|---|-7-|---|-R-|---|
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Old 08-13-2008, 05:09 AM
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Location: Louisiana
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Default Re: Major And Minor Scales Explained
Now, a lot of beginning guitarists will just learn the shapes, and get fairly good at playing in one shape at a time, but they have trouble fluidly going from one shape to the next. They'll have a hard time being able to play rapidly all over the neck or jump from high up on the neck around the 17th fret down to like the 5th fret.

The way to really understand the fretboard is the see how the shapes connect together. I think it is very important to see how all these boxes connect together, what notes they share in common and the patterns everything follows.

I'll start with the first two boxes of the Major scale to demonstrate.

Code:
 _______________
/  1st Position \
|-7-|-R-|---|-2-|---|-3-|-4-|
|---|-5-|---|-6-|---|-7-|-R-|
|-2-|---|-3-|-4-|---|-5-|---|
|-6-|---|-7-|-R-|-3-|-4-|---|
|-3-|-4-|---|-5-|---|-6-|---|
|-7-|-R-|---|-2-|---|-3-|-4-|
        \___________________/
             2nd Position
As you can see, the the two positions fit together perfectly. You just have to look at what all notes they share in common and remember how they fit together. The 1st box pattern matches up with the 2nd. The 2nd fits into the third, etc. until the the 5th box fits into the 1st.

I've made a chart for both the Major and Minor scales to show how all the patterns fit together.


Here's the Major boxes
Code:
/ 1st Position \     / 3rd Position\ /   5th Position  \
|-7-|-R-|---|-2-|---|-3-|-4-|---|-5-|---|-6-|---|-7-|-R-|---|-2-|
|---|-5-|---|-6-|---|-7-|-R-|---|-2-|---|-3-|-4-|---|-5-|---|-6-|
|-2-|---|-3-|-4-|---|-5-|---|-6-|---|-7-|-R-|---|-2-|---|-3-|-4-|
|-6-|---|-7-|-R-|---|-2-|---|-3-|-4-|---|-5-|---|-6-|---|-7-|-R-|
|-3-|-4-|---|-5-|---|-6-|---|-7-|-R-|---|-2-|---|-3-|-4-|---|-5-|
|-7-|-R-|---|-2-|---|-3-|-4-|---|-5-|---|-6-|---|-7-|-R-|---|-2-|
        \__________________/ \_________________/ \_____________/
            2nd Position        4th Position      1st Position
And the Minor:
Code:
  _________________   _________________   _________________
 /  1st Position   \ /  3rd Position   \ /  5th Position   \
|---|-1-|---|-2-|-3-|---|-4-|---|-5-|-6-|---|-7-|---|-R-|---|-2-|-3-|
|---|-5-|-6-|---|-7-|---|-R-|---|-2-|-3-|---|-4-|---|-5-|-6-|---|-7-|
|-2-|-3-|---|-4-|---|-5-|-6-|---|-7-|---|-R-|---|-2-|-3-|---|-4-|---|
|---|-7-|---|-R-|---|-2-|-3-|---|-4-|---|-5-|-6-|---|-7-|---|-R-|---|
|---|-4-|---|-5-|-6-|---|-7-|---|-R-|---|-2-|-3-|---|-4-|---|-5-|-6-|
|---|-R-|---|-2-|-3-|---|-4-|---|-5-|-6-|---|-7-|---|-R-|---|-2-|-3-|
             \_____________/     \_____________/ \_________________/
               2nd Position        4th Position     1st Position
It really takes a lot of finding ways for you to remember for yourself, so find as many patterns as you can to help you remember how it all fits.
__________________
Knowledge Is Power!
Power Corrupts.
Study Hard. Be Evil.
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