Learn Guitar Scales

Scales are an instrumental part of any musician's repertoire. They provide crucial building blocks for composition and improvisation in virtually every style and genre. Taking the time to master the most fundamental scales can make the difference between an average player and an excellent one. Luckily, when it comes to the guitar, learning scales is usually a matter of memorizing simple patterns through practice.

Steps

Basic Concepts and Terminology

Already have a little basic musical theory under your belt? Feel free to skip to the scales themselves by clicking here.

  1. Learn to read the fretboard of a guitar. On a guitar, the front of the long, skinny part where you put your fingers is called the fretboard. The raised metal bumps on the fretboard divide it into frets. Scales are formed by playing notes on different patterns of frets, so it's important to be able to identify them. See below:
    • The frets are numbered from the tip of the neck towards the body of the guitar. For example, the fret at the very end of the neck is the first fret (or "fret 1"), the next fret in is the second fret, and so on.
    • Holding down the string on a certain fret and strumming the string over the body of the guitar plays a note. The closer the frets get to the body, the higher the notes get.
    • The dots on the fret are just for reference — they make it easier to know where you're putting your fingers without having to count the frets up the neck constantly.
  2. Learn the names of the notes on the fretboard. Every single fret on the guitar plays a note that has a name. Luckily, there are only 12 notes — the names just repeat over and over. The notes you can play are below. Note that some notes have two different names:
    • A, A#/Bb, B, C, C#/Db, D, D#/Eb, E, F, F#/ Gb, G, G#/Ab. After this, the notes start at A again and repeat.
    • Learning the positions of the different notes is something that's not super hard, but it takes a little too long to cover in this article. If you need help, try our article on the subject.
  3. Learn the names of the strings. You can talk about the different strings with names like "thickest, second thickest," and so on, but it's a lot easier to discuss scales if you know the strings' proper names. This is also handy because the strings are named after the note that they play when you don't press any of the frets. On a normal six-string guitar in standard tuning, the strings are:[1]
    • E (thickest)
    • A
    • D
    • G
    • B
    • E (thinnest) — note that this has the same name as the thickest string, so some people will say "low" and "high" E to tell them apart. You'll also sometimes see a lowercase "e" used for the thinnest string.
  4. Learn the concept of whole and half steps in a scale. In simple terms, a scale is just a sequence of notes that sound nice when you play them in order. When we learn scales below, we'll see that all scales are built from patterns of "whole steps" and "half steps." This sounds complicated, but these are just ways to describe different distances on the fretboard:[2]
    • A half step is a distance of one fret up or down. For example, if you play a C (A string, third fret), moving one fret up will give you a C# (A string, fourth fret). We can say that C and C# are one half step apart.
    • A whole step is the same thing except that the distance is two frets. For example, if we start on C and move two frets up, we'll play a D (A string, fifth fret). Thus, C and D are a whole step apart.
  5. Degrees of a scale. We're almost ready to start learning scales. The final concept to understand is that, since scales are sequences of notes that are supposed to be played in order, scale notes get special numbered names called "degrees" to help you identify them. The degrees are listed below.[3] Learning the number name for each degree is most important — the other names are used less often.
    • The note you start on is called the root or first. It is also sometimes called the tonic.
    • The second note is called the second or supertonic.
    • The third note is called the third or mediant.
    • The fourth note is called the fourth or subdominant.
    • The fifth note is called the fifth or dominant.
    • The sixth note is called the sixth or submediant.
    • The seventh note is called the seventh — it has a couple of other names that change depending on the scale, so we'll ignore them in this article.
    • The eighth note is called the octave. It's also sometimes called the tonic because it's the same note as the first, only higher.
    • After the octave, you can either start over again from the second or keep going on from the ninth. For instance, the note after the octave can be called the "ninth" or the "second," but it's the same note either way.

Major Scales

  1. Pick a starting note (root) for your scale. The type of scale we'll learn in this section is the major scale. This is a good choice to learn first because many other scales are based off of the major. One nice thing about scales is that you can start them on any note at all. To begin, pick any note below the 12th fret on the low E or A string. Starting on one of the lower strings gives you plenty of room to move up and down the scale.
    • For example purposes, let's start on G (low E string, third fret). In this section, you'll learn how to play a G major scale — scales are named after their root note.
  2. Learn the pattern of steps for a major scale. All scales can be written as patterns of whole and half steps. The step pattern for a major scale is extra important to learn because many other scale patterns are derived from it. See below:
    • Start on the root, then follow these steps:
      Whole step, whole step, half step, whole step, whole step, whole step, half step.
    • For example, if we're starting on G, first we'd move up one whole step to A. Then, we'd move up another whole step to B. Then, we'd move up a half step to C. Following the pattern above, we would continue up the scale, playing D, E, F#, and ending on G.
  3. Learn the fingering pattern for a major scale. You can play a whole scale on one string, but this is very awkward — you won't usually see guitarists do it. Instead, it's much more common to move up and down through a few different strings as you play your scale. This minimizes the amount of motion that your hand has to make.
    • For the G major scale we just learned, we would start on the third fret of the low E string. We would play A and B on frets five and seven of the E string.
    • Then, we would hit C on the third fret of the A string. We would hit D and E on frets five and seven of the A string.
    • Then, we would hit F# on fret four of the D string. We would end by hitting G on the fifth fret of the D string. Notice that we didn't have to move our hand up and down the neck to do this — just change strings and stretch our fingers.
    • All together, it should look like this:
      Low E string: G (fret 3), A (fret 5), B (fret 7)
      A string: C (fret 3), D (fret 5), E (fret 7)
      D string: F# (fret 4), G (fret 5)
  4. Try sliding this pattern up and down the neck. As long as you're starting on the low E or A string, the major scale fingering pattern you just learned can be played anywhere on the neck. In other words, just shift all the notes up or down by the same number of frets/steps to play a different major scale.
    • For example, if we wanted to play a B major scale, we would just move up the neck to the seventh fret of the low E string. Then, we'd use the same fingering pattern as before to play the scale like this:
      Low E string: B (fret 7), C# (fret 9), D# (fret 11)
      A string: E (fret 7), F# (fret 9), G# (fret 11)
      D string: A# (fret 8), B (fret 9)
    • Notice that we're putting our fingers in the same pattern of frets as before. Just move this pattern up and down to play different major scales.
  5. Learn the scale going up and down. Usually, scales aren't just played in one direction. Once you master going up the major scale, try playing it back down again once you reach the octave. All you need to do is play the same notes in reverse order — no changes are necessary.
    • For example, if we want to play the B major scale up and down, we would play these notes:
      Going up: B, C#, D#, E, F#, G#, A#, B
      Going down: B, A#, G#, F#, E, D#, C#, B
    • If you want to get the scale to match up with a 4/4 beat, play each note as a quarter or eighth note. Hit the octave twice or go up to the ninth (just a whole step above the octave), then go back down. This will give you the right number of notes for the scale to "line up" with the measures.

Minor Scales

  1. Learn the difference between a minor and major scale. A minor scale has a lot in common with a major scale. Like a major scale, it's also named for its root note (e.g., E minor, A minor, etc.) Most of the notes are even the same. There are just a few changes you need to make:[4]
    • The minor scale has a flat third degree.
    • The minor scale has a flat sixth degree.
    • The minor scale has a flat seventh degree.
    • To make a note flat, just move it down one half step. This means that the third and seventh notes in the scale will be one fret lower than in a major scale.
  2. Learn the step pattern for a minor scale. Having a flat third, sixth, and seventh in a minor scale changes the step pattern from the major scale. Memorizing the new pattern can be handy as you get familiar with minors.
    • The step pattern for a minor scale, starting from the root, is:
      Whole step, half step, whole step, whole step, half step, whole step, whole step.
    • For example, if we wanted to make a G minor scale, we'd start with a G major scale and move the third, sixth, and seventh degrees down a half step each. A G major scale is:
      G, A, B, C, D, E, F#, G
    • ...so a G minor scale is:
      G, A, Bb, C, D, Eb, F G
  3. Learn the fingering pattern for minor scales. Just like with majors, the notes in minor scales are played with a certain pattern of frets you can slide up and down the neck to play different minors. As long as you're starting on the low E or A string, the minor pattern is the same.
    • For example, let's play an Eb minor scale. To do this, we'll just take an Eb minor scale and slide the third, sixth, and seventh degrees down one fret, like this:
      A string: Eb (fret 6), F (fret 8), F# (fret 9)
      D string: Ab (fret 6), Bb (fret 8), B (fret 9)
      G string: Db (fret 6), Eb (fret 8)
  4. Practice playing the scale up and down. Just like with major scales, it's most common for minors to be played going up, then going down again. Again, you're just playing the same sequence of notes in reverse order with no changes.
    • For example, if we wanted to play an Eb minor scale up and down, we would play this:
      Going up: Eb, F, F#, Ab, Bb, B, Db, Eb
      Going down: Eb, Db, B, Bb, Ab, F#, F, Eb
    • Like with major scales, you can add the ninth (the F above the octave in this case) or play the octave twice to get the beats to line up with a 4/4 beat.

Other Useful Scales

  1. Practice chromatic scales for form and speed. One type of scale that's useful from a practice perspective is the chromatic scale. In this scale, all the degrees are a half step apart. This means that a chromatic scale can be made simply by going up and down the frets in order.
    • Try this chromatic exercise: First, pick one of the guitar's strings (it doesn't matter which). Start counting a steady 4/4 beat. Play the sting open (no notes fretted) as a quarter note, then the first fret, then the second, then the third. Without stopping, play the first fret, then the second, third, and fourth. Keep the beat steady and play the second fret, then the third, fourth, and fifth. Continue this pattern until you reach the 12th fret, then go back down!
    • For example, if you're playing on the high E string, your chromatic exercise would look like this:
      Measure one: E (open), F (fret 1), F# (fret 2), G (fret 3)
      Measure two: F (fret 1), F# (fret 2), G (fret 3), G# (fret 4)
    • ...and so on up to the 12th fret (then back down).
  2. Learn the pentatonic scale. The pentatonic scale has only 5 notes and they all sound good when they're played together, so this scale is used often for soloing. Specifically, the minor pentatonic is especially popular in rock, jazz, and blues music. It's used so often that it's sometimes just called the "pentatonic" for short. This is the scale we'll learn below.
    • The minor pentatonic contains these degrees: Root, flat third, fourth, fifth, and flat seventh (plus the octave). It's basically a minor scale without the second or sixth.
    • For example, if we start on the low E string, the A minor pentatonic scale would be:
      Low E string: A (fret 5), C (fret 8)
      A string: D (fret 5), E (fret 7)
      D string: G (fret 5), A (fret 7)
    • From here, if we want, we can keep going, playing the same notes on higher strings:
      G string: C (fret 5), D (fret 7)
      B string: E (fret 5), G (fret 8)
      E string: A (fret 5), C (fret 8)
  3. Learn the blues scale. Once you know the minor pentatonic scale, it's very easy to play a related scale called the "blues scale." All you need to do is add the flat fifth scale degree to the minor pentatonic. This will give you a scale with six notes — everything else is the same.
    • For example, if we wanted to turn the A minor pentatonic scale into the A blues scale, we would play:
      Low E string: A (fret 5), C (fret 8)
      A string: D (fret 5), Eb (fret 6), E (fret 7)
      D string: G (fret 5), A (fret 7)
      G string: C (fret 5), D (fret 7), Eb (fret 8)
      B string: E (fret 5), G (fret 8)
      E string: A (fret 5), C (fret 8)
    • The flat fifth is known as the "blue note." Even though it's in the scale, it sounds a little weird and discordant by itself, so if you're soloing, try to use it as a leading tone — that is, play it "on the way" to another note. Don't hang on the blue note for too long!
  4. Learn two-octave versions of all the scales. Once you reach a scale's octave, you don't always have to go back down. Just treat the octave as the new root and use the same step pattern to play a second octave. We touched on this briefly with the minor pentatonic scale above, but this is something you can learn for virtually all scales. Starting on one of the bottom two strings generally makes it easier to fit two whole octaves in the same area of the neck. Note that the second octave usually has a different fingering pattern even though the steps are the same.
    • Let's learn a two-octave major scale — once you know this, it's easier to figure out two-octave versions of the minor scales. We'll try G major (the very first scale we learned at the top of the article). Right now, we know this:
      Low E string: G (fret 3), A (fret 5), B (fret 7)
      A string: C (fret 3), D (fret 5), E (fret 7)
      D string: F# (fret 4), G (fret 5)
    • Keep going, using the same step pattern: whole step, whole step, half step, and so on...
      D string: G (fret 5), A (fret 7)
      G string: B (fret 4), C (fret 5), D (fret 7)
      B string: E (fret 5), F# (fret 7), G (fret 8)
    • ...and then back down!

Tips

  • Looking for an easy way to learn fingering patterns for a huge variety of scales? Try this helpful site, which lets you quickly browse scales by root note and type.[5]
  • In the instructions above, we started our scales on the low E and A strings. In reality, you can also start them on the higher strings — this is especially useful for soloing. Try looking at the different variations for the scales on the site above to see how many ways the same sequence of notes can be rearranged around the neck!

Related Articles

Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ http://www.justinguitar.com/en/BC-133-OpenStringNotes.php
  2. ↑ http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/understanding-half-steps-and-whole-steps.html
  3. ↑ http://www.musictheory.net/lessons/23
  4. ↑ http://www.musictheory.net/lessons/22
  5. ↑ http://chordbook.com/guitar-scales/
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