Guitar Lessons Scales!

In this article we'll focus on one of the most important guitar lessons - scales and modes. Having knowledge of scales and modes in invaluable as a guitarist, as that knowledge will push you out of the box of only being able to play other people's music and give you the skills you need to write your own. Knowledge of scales and modes will also assist you in improvising, and will make it easier for you to figure out passages by ear.

Natural Major Scales:

The easiest way to understand major scales is to construct them. Major scales are constructed based on the following pattern: R-T-T-S-T-T-T-S where R means root note, T means tone (which is a whole step, or two frets distance on a fret board) and S means semi-tone (which is a half step, or one frets distance on a fret board). So when you are constructing and playing major scales, simply follow this pattern. For instance, the G Major scale would be:

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

R - T - T - S -T -T - T - S

The A Major scale would be:

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

Etc.

Natural Minor Scales:

Minor scales are constructed R - T - S - T - T - S - T - T, so the G Minor scale would be

G - A - A# - C - D - D# - F - G

R - T - S - T - T - S - T - T

The A Minor scale would be:

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

There are countless variations on scales (and modes), far too many to list in any one article. So it's recommended that you further research scales in order to further your abilities. The knowledge of major and minor scales however will be enough to get you well on your way to developing a more complete knowledge of music theory. More...