For an in-depth lesson on the major scale, see Minor Scale Positions & Theory. This should be review, but a half step is the distance from one key to the very next. Constructing Major vs Minor Scales (Theory) Major Scale Formula. Notes of C Minor Scale This scale has neither seven or five notes – Instead, it has six. A Natural Minor Scale Patterns. The next step is to play the natural minor scale in the way that guitar players actually use them. The minor scale also contains 7 notes (heptatonic) but differs in the fact that the 3rd, 6th and 7th steps are flattened by one semitone or fret on the guitar. A whole step is the distance from one key to a key two half steps higher or lower. The formula for a minor chord is 1 b3 5. In classical music the Melodic minor scale is played going up and the natural minor scale is played going down. The last of our scales in today’s lesson, the minor blues scale is the rule-breaker of the bunch. This guitar scale reference contains the notes, formula, structure, positions, chords, and modes for the C Minor scale. The A Minor is relative to C Major. For example, a major triad is 1-3-5. So from D to D♯ is a half step. The ‘b’ in this formula is a modification to the basic Major chord. In order to understand this scale, we need to understand the structure of the minor scale a little bit better. The A Minor scale consists of seven notes. Play the notes in the number order shown below. Mode Formulas: How the “Church Modes” Are Made Major Scale Review. A natural minor scale is taken from the major scale of the same name, but with the third, sixth, and seventh degrees lowered one half step.. 2. E minor Guitar Scale Playing minor scales on the guitar is simply a matter of following the pattern shown below. This formula can be applied to any note and by using the W H W W H W W formula, you can create a natural minor scale. MINOR CHORDS. Guitar Scales Chart: The Minor Blues Scale. A major scale is 1-2-3-4-5-6-7. Super Locrian is often used in jazz over an Altered Dominant chord (b9, #9, b5, #5, #11, b13) Melodic Minor w h w, w w w h 1 w 2 h b3 w 4 w 5 w 6 These can be described as intervals, as semi-notes or steps on the guitar fingerboard, written as 2 - 1 - 2 - 2 - 1 - 2 - 2 from the first note to the next octave. Your first note is indicated by the 1 shown on the first E string. Like the major scale, the minor scale can be constructed from scratch by applying the following formula, WHWWHWW (W = Whole tone and H = Half/Semi-tone). In this lesson we will only focus on the natural minor scale first. The following charts compare the different scale formulas of the major scale modes that are used for keys and chord progressions. 1. Both scales include the same notes but their tonal center differ. So from D to E is a whole step because it skips D♯. By Desi Serna . I will cover both melodic and harmonic minor scales in later lessons once you have the proper foundation knowledge. For an example of a natural minor scale, let’s look at the E minor scale. There is a method that’s used for understanding the fretboard called the CAGED system. Understanding the minor scale will allow will help you build other minor scales including the harmonic minor scale. Once you feel comfortable understanding the formula for a Major Scale and the chord formula for a Major Chord, you can start looking at other types of chords such as minor chords. Starting on the 1st (or root) note of a scale, you’d use this formula to play the natural minor scale with the following intervals: • Whole step • Half step • Whole step • Whole step • Half step • Whole step • Whole step. 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