Guitar Scales

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Now let's see what happens when we stack one more note on top of each triad. Once the C major scale is harmonized using four notes, we arrive at the following chords:

C major 7 (C, E, G, B) - D minor 7 (D, F, A, C) - E minor 7 (E, G, B, D) - F major 7 (F, A, C, E) - G dominant 7 (G, B, D, F) - A minor 7 (A, C, E, G) - B minor 7b5 (B, D, F, A) - C major 7 (C, E, G, B)

The above chords are diatonic to the key of C major. If any major scale is harmonized with four notes, these chord types will always result.

You now should know the following information about the chords witin any given key:

The I chord is major 7. The II chord is minor 7. The III chord is minor 7. The IV chord is major 7. The V chord is dominant 7. The VI chord is minor 7. The VII chord is minor7b5. The VIII chord is major 7.

Apply the principles of diatonic chord harmony to find the major 7, minor 7, and dominant 7 chords within any given key.

By the way, your not going to see too many of the above chord types in rock or metal. We already covered in the chord theory section that most rock and metal progressions (a progression is an organized sequence of chords) are loaded with power chords. I also covered that although the power chord is neither major or minor, it may function as a major or minor chord in a given chord prgression.

A chord progression consisting of F# minor, D major, E major, C# minor is in the key of A major. If that same progression contained power chords only, it would still be in the key of A major. The F# power chord functions as the F# minor chord, the D power chord functions as a D major chord, the E power chord functions as the E major chord, and the C# power chord will function as the C# minor chord. It doesn't matter whether the progression consists of "seventh" chords , triads , or power chords, it is so important to which key the the progression is associated with in order for you to know which scales to use when it comes time to jam them out.

Now i know i said that you won't see these type of chords in too many rock and metal songs, but i think it's a good idea to make up a few progressions using major 7, minor 7, and dominant 7 chord types. Once you know the proper scales to use over them, they will give an interesting, jazzy, change of pace when it's time to improvise.

Before we get to the scales, I would like to cover one more thing about music theory. Every major scale has what is called it's "relative minor" scale. The relative minor scale contains the same notes as it's major scale, except with the relative minor scale you start and end on the major scale's sixth degree.

Let's look back at the C major scale again. The sixth degree of the C major scale is A. If we take the exact notes of the C major scale, and arranged them starting and ending on the scale's sixth degree, this would be the result:

A B C D E F G A

The above scale is called A relative minor (also known as pure minor, natural minor, and the aeolian mode). The A relative minor scale contains the same notes as the C major scale. A minor is said to be relative to C major.

Now let's look back at the E major scale. The sixth degree of the E major scale is C#. If all notes within the E major scale are arranged starting and ending on the scale's sixth degree, this would be the result:

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

The above scale is called C# relative minor. It contains the same notes as the E major scale. C# minor is relative to E major.

The chords within the relative minor key are the same as the chords within it's major key. The only difference is that the relative minor key starts on the VI chord.

Chords in the key of C major:

C major, D minor, E minor, F major, G major, A minor, B diminished, C major.

Chords in thr key of A minor:

A minor, B diminished, C major, D minor, E minor, F major, G major, A minor.

Chords in the key of E major:

E major, F# minor, G# minor, A major, B major, C# minor, D# diminished, E major.

Chords in the key of C# minor:

C# minor, D# diminished, E major, F# minor, G# minor, A major, B major, C# minor.

Unless one is speaking of the exact order in which the notes or chords occur, a chord progression can be named by it's major or minor key. Because most rock and metal songs and progressions center around power chords that function as minor chords, they are usually named by the minor key.

Now were ready to explore the different scale types as they appear on the guitar fretboard. For each scale, at least five different fingering patterns will be shown. Becoming familiar with all the fingering patterns for any scale type will arm you with the ability to use that scale all over the entire fretboard.

All the scale patterns are moveable. This means that they can be moved from fret to fret, with each position giving the scale a new letter name. All circled notes will show the scale's root - the note that determines the letter name of the scale. The method is the same as with moveable chords. If pattern 1 for the minor pentatonic scale is played at the fifth fret, it is in the key of A, since the sixth string , fifth fret is an A note. (The root notes on the fourth and first strings are also A notes.) play the same pattern at the third fret and is is in the key of G, as the sixth string , third fret is a G note.

Once you really know the scale patterns and see how easy it is to change keys by moving them to different posistions on the neck, you probably won't feel tempted to create scales using the formulas. The scale patterns that you are about to learn are better served to the actual playing of the instrument. The method of constructing scales using formulas was demonstrated to show you the theory side of things. As each different scale type is shown, it's formula for construction will also be shown.