Many guitarists favor keys that allow for open strings; others make their choice based on singing voice or genre preference.
Keys serve as the starting point for creating chords, so understanding them is crucial!
Major Scale
The Major Scale is one of the key foundations of Western music for guitarists (and all other musicians who use Western instruments), providing a starting point from which other scales, known as modal scales, can develop.
The major scale is composed of seven notes that span an octave. Their intervals all follow a predictable pattern, giving rise to its name – also providing a basis for other chords found in Western music.
An understanding of the major scale can open up an array of licks and phrases for use in your solos, as well as making playing any key more straightforward. Unlike some other scales, the major scale contains all of the notes found in every chord in a song – these chord tones make or break solos! Engaging with these chord tones is what often separates great guitar solo improvisers from good ones.
There are various techniques for creating the major scale on a fretboard, most of which involve closed position fingering. To get comfortable quickly with one, start with the one you find easiest first and master it before moving on to others – this will also make string bending simpler which is essential in blues guitar playing!
One of the most prevalent major scale shapes is G, beginning on the 9th fret of G string and moving outwards through its fingerings and diagram of chord tones for that key. Knowing G shape scale is extremely valuable; it provides the basis of many modern songs as well as classic blues tunes.
This scale covers just over two full octaves, so it may take some practice to master. To help get acquainted with it, begin practicing just a few strings at a time until eventually playing all six at the same time.
Minor Scale
Minor scales differ from their major counterparts in that they include flat 3rds, and sometimes also flat 6ths or 7ths, to lower pitch of certain notes by half steps; that means one fret on your guitar or key on your piano will change in pitch by this amount; creating an entirely different sound quality as a result of these small adjustments.
As with the major scale, there are three forms of minor scales. They are Natural Minor, Harmonic Minor, and Melodic Minor – each having different tonal qualities but all containing identical notes; their arrangement merely differs from that of major scale.
As with major scales, minor scales begin with a tonic note; however, unlike with major scales it may begin anywhere along its key signature; for example, A minor starts on C; D minor begins with G; and E minor begins with F.
So if you know the tonic of a minor scale, all that remains is memorizing its notes to play in that minor key. That is the beauty of relative scales and why their study and practice should not be overlooked.
Minor and major scales differ greatly in that the former have different interval patterns; minor scales have a distinct minor third that falls one note lower than major third. All minor-sounding scales and chords contain this minor third that differentiates them from major ones.
Minor scales present an additional complication when playing over V chords, as their lower sixth note often clashes with major sixth notes in bass lines or melodies. Therefore it is essential to practice minor scales thoroughly and listen attentively when hearing music in minor keys in order to detect clashes and know how to resolve them.
Dominant Scale
The dominant scale is one of the most vital scales for improvisers to master, used across many genres from rock and metal, jazz and blues. While its benefits may go underappreciated, its application can add new dimensions to your guitar playing or help save you from getting stuck in musical no man’s land where chord changes exceed diatonic comfort zones.
One important thing to keep in mind when learning this scale is that melody and harmony do not go hand in hand. While understanding chord voicings and what alterations work well with them is helpful, playing melodic lines without using any modifications at all is even more essential – which is where Phrygian Dominant Scale comes into its own – though more complicated than its pentatonic cousins it provides an effective means of improvising over dominant chords.
It is essentially the Mixolydian Mode with its seventh note flattened. It makes for an interesting scale to use over dominant chords as it highlights the b9 and #9 notes in your jazz lines, or when adding more bluesy touches. Spend some time practicing these shapes in all keys until they become part of your routine.
Pairing the Phrygian Dominant scale with triad pairs is another effective and simple way of creating an expressive sound, and John provides an example in the video below that uses F minor and E diminished triads as examples.
Consider that when using the Phrygian Dominant scale for improvisation, it works particularly well when playing over chords that contain natural 13ths – something which many jazz improvisers like to incorporate into their melodic lines. This adds tension and drama to your guitar playing, but requires additional consideration when over these chords.
Mixing Scales
Scales are essential elements of music theory and understanding them can be tricky for beginners. This article will give a framework to help you better comprehend scales as they apply to chords, intervals and progressions.
Knowledge of scales can open a world of creativity on the guitar. Learning scales is much like memorizing times tables as a child – you must practice until the information has become part of you – this is how you will ultimately master jazz (and any other style of music).
Scales should be treated as tools rather than ends in themselves. You can use them to craft melodies and riffs that sound authentic and original; the most effective use of scales involves pairing them with chord progressions to develop new songs from scratch.
As we get started, we will explore some basic patterns to make working with major and minor scales easier. These scale patterns will assist with finding notes for improvisation while creating chords from any major or minor scale.
Once you are comfortable with these simple patterns, you can add in other minor scales and start exploring some of the more advanced musical modes. Modes are collections of scales that each have their own distinctive sound; built according to the same formula as major scales yet featuring various tones and semitones for a unique sound.
As an example, natural minor scale doesn’t contain all of the notes necessary to form a dominant seventh chord due to a raised leading tone that makes up harmonic minor scale; conversely melodic minor scale has an additional flat in sixth and seventh degrees that makes it distinct from harmonic minor scale.