Major scales for classical guitar pdf beginner to intermediate. Since there are only two possible whole tone scale positions that is, the whole tone scale can be transposed only once, it is either c2 0 or c2 1. C to d, d to e, and then a scale from the third space c to the c with two ledger lines an octave above the third space c. Whole step half step whole step whole step half step whole step and a 12 step half step. The key is the same c major just using different positions. Learn the c major scale note positions, intervals and scale degrees on the piano, treble clef and. This is really advantageous, because it opens a whole range of possibilities. Music intervals major minor perfect augmented diminished. Common chord progressions in the key of c major are as follows. This document was created with prince, a great way of getting web content onto paper. The composer olivier messiaen called the whole tone scale his first mode of limited transposition. Major scales are built on a specific pattern of halfstep and whole step intervals.
The red dots indicates the major tonic note in this case c the. In the simple, open c chord to the left, the notes, from 5th string to 1st, are c, e, g, c and e. C major scale positions on the fretboard online guitar books. The formula for a melodic minor scale is whole step half step whole step whole step whole step whole step half step. A stave is a set of five horizontal lines, where each line and each space in between represents a different note letter. The scale in all keys can be downloaded as a pdffile. For the purpose of the series of lessons on guitar modes, we are going to treat c ionian and c major as an identical scale. To understand the way we name the intervals we must first look at a major scale. Understanding basic music theory open textbooks for hong. Wwhwwwh this means whole, whole, half, whole, whole, whole, half for more about this, click here. Each of these numbers represents a scale degree, and their pattern of whole steps and half steps determine the key of. The lesson could not be displayed because javascript is disabled.
The first c major scale guitar pattern were going to look at is ideal for beginners this is the. These seven notes can be written a number of ways, such as intervals. Pentatonic scale in a minor c major spanning across the entire fretboard. There are two tetrachords in the major scale, each with the same order half and whole steps wwh. The result of this alteration is a lowered third, sixth, and seventh scale degree in comparison to the major scale. Now, heres an example of the c scale that shows where the whole steps and half. The c major pentatonic scale does not feature halfstep intervals, but its notes are contained within the diatonic c major scale. The natural minor scale contains the same number of whole steps and half steps as the major scale but alters the order to produce the following sequence. C, as long as it follows the correct pattern of whole steps and half steps. The scale originated in nicolas slonimsky s book thesaurus of scales and melodic patterns through the. Full diatonic scale in a minor c major spanning across the entire fretboard. For example, play a c major chord then play a c major scale.
How to play the major scale on guitar complete guide. If the above sequence of intervals is applied to a root note of c, youll end up with the notes in the c major scale. All major scales are made of the following set of whole steps and half steps. The major scale in 7 positions terence wright guitar. There is a system of names which further defines each interval. Meter, scales, and key signatures because the white keys running from c to the next c an octave higher form a sequence of notes that have minor 2nds only between ef the 3rd and 4th notes and b c the 7th and 8th notes, musicians call that series of notes a c major scale.
The major scale uses the wwhwwwh note counting rule to identify the scale note positions to count up a whole tone, count up by two physical piano keys, either white or black to count up a halftone semitone, count up from the last note up by one physical piano key, either white or black the tonic note shown as is the starting point and is always the 1st note in the major scale. Theres more than one way to play the c major scale on a guitar. Still using the c major scale, these notes would be d, f, and a. Basic c major excerise for tenor saxophone whole notes in c major scale for lower and upper octave, going up and down. For a complete presentation, click the icon to open the pdf file in a new. The pattern for a major scale is whole step, whole step, halfstep, whole step, whole step, whole step, halfstep. Write as semibreves whole notes the scales named below. Also includes the five closed major scale patterns over the entire fretboard. Symmetrical augmented scale consists of six notes, and therefore belongs to the category of hexatonic scales. This is the same for most of the open chords we all learn when we start to play the guitar.
We know from the chart above that the notes of a c major triad are c, e and g. The scale in all keys can be downloaded as a pdf file. The guitar major scale is happy upbeat and useful in a variety of styles of music. C, d, e, f, g, a, b, c the tonic in the c major scale is c. The major scale contains seven notes and has no sharps or flats when played in the key of c. I iv v c f g i vi iv v c am f g ii v i dm7 g7 cmaj7 the following are diagrams of the c major key signature and the notes of the c major scale on the treble and bass clefs. If you are interested in learning about modes and guitar scales, it should be pointed out that the c major scale is effectively the same scale as the c ionian scale. In this lesson youll examine and play through the 7 forms of the major scale on. We can start on any note well use c and skip around to make a major scale.
The formula for forming a harmonic minor scale is whwwhw 12h. Altered scales are often used over altered dominant seventh chords e. Start with quarter notes at a moderate tempo and play the scales ascending and descending. The name is based on the fact that the scale is built upon two augmented chords. My coloring system is still the same as it was for the lessons on the full diatonic scale. Just remember that in music the term diatonic refers to the parent scale of a key, and parent scales are the kind that feature the two diatonic steps, half and whole. The major scale sounds more melodic apposed to the pentatonic major scale.
The notes of the c melodic minor scale ascending are. The major scale can also start on notes other than. Since we havent learned key signatures yet, well relate them to the key of c major, which has no sharps or flats. This is a socalled symmetrical scale, meaning that the interval is the same throughout the scale. The ionian mode is the first mode of the major scale. Say the note names out loud so you actually absorb the key signature and notes. We just double the c and e at the octave to give the chord more fullness. For every key, play the major scale on each individual string. Major and minor scales contain seven notes or scale degrees. The sequence of intervals between the notes of a major scale is. The 14 most common and usable guitar scales printable and ready to use 1.
While you may be familiar with boxed and three notes per string scale patterns, you soon feel the urge to break out of these narrow limitations and span more of the neck. What scales to play over a song in a major key guitarhabits. The fundamental interval in western music is the half tone or semitone, e. If youve spent any time learning guitar scales, youll know the importance of memorizing patterns the roadmap for playing scales across the fretboard. In music theory, a major scale also known as ionian scale is made up of seven distinct notes, plus an eighth which duplicates the first one an octave higher.
The major blues scale is built on the biii the blues scale the minor blues scale. The 1st and 8th notes, the tonics, determine the name of the scale. You can check yourself or cheat with my list of major scale notes. To form the major scale for a caged position, we take the position with just the root notes then add the other notes of the major scale to that position.
Since it contains a flatted third and a natural fifth, the minor blues scale is, by definition a minor scale. The notes of the c melodic minor scale descending are. T he next step is to learn the major scale in all 5 caged positions. How to use scales whole tone whole tone semitone wholetone wholetone. Therefore, a tetrachord consisting of wwh can be the top tetrachord or the bottom tetrachord of a major scale. Tone semitone tone semitone tone semitone tone in the same way that we studied in the diminished chord, diminished scale repeats itself each one and a half tone.
These are perfect, major, minor, augmented and diminished intervals the term perfect applies to the unison 1st, the 4th, the 5th and the octave 8th the 2nd, 3rd, 6th and 7th intervals may be either major or minor the interval between the 4th and 5th in a diatonic scale is called the tritone. Starting on any note, if you follow this pattern you will build a major scale in the notes key. The difference between diatonic and pentatonic scales. All major scales illustrated with pictures including notes and fingerings. Note that all the adjacent white keys of the c major scale are a whole step apart except for e to f. If you want to base a chord on the second degree of a scale, use the second, fourth, and sixth notes of the scale. R234567 or you can think of them as specific intervals like this. Using the c major scale, these notes would be c, e, and g. Any note that connects to the previous note without skipping a letter in the naming of the note. Guitar scales printable charts of the most commonly used. Then try playing two eighth notes per note of the scale using alternate picking downup, then triplets and so on.
For centuries, the notes in pieces of music have been described by writing them on staff lines staff notation is based on staves. A whole tone is the same as two steps on the keyboard a half tone is consequently one step. Below weve re moved the sharps and flats and were left with the notes of a c. For the whole steps, we jump over the note to the right. For example, gab c can be the bottom tetrachord of the g major scale or the top.
Clicking here and on the image below will open a pdf file of the guitar major scale chart that prints nicely. If you exam intervals of the major and minor scale. The 2nd note is d, 3rd note is e, 4th note is f, 5th note is g, 6th note is a, 7th note is b, and 8th note is c. C major e2 position is a c major scale or key with a root note c on the e string starting on the 2nd finger. It is because the whole tonehalftone note interval positions are selected to fall on white keys. The composer and music theorist george perle calls the whole tone scale interval cycle 2, or c2. Diminished scale is a symmetric scale created by the sequence. Do not use a key signature, but remember to add any necessary sharp or flat signs. In this lesson, we will only learn about the half and whole step intervals. If we establish a new tonic on one of the notes other than c, for. The solution below shows the c major scale notes, intervals and scale degrees on the piano, treble clef and bass clef the lesson steps then explain how to identify the c major scale note interval positions, choose the note names and scale degree names for a quick summary of this topic, have a look at major scale. As can be seen above, the first note of the c major scale is c. C g guitar scales as you learn these scales wed like to suggest playing along with a drum machine or metronome to help keep you in time.
Each of the other patterns correlates with a scale step in the key of c major, so the pattern that begins with the open low e string is actually pattern three, because it begins on e, the third step in the c major scale. The major scale is one of the diatonic scales, meaning that it is made up of five whole. While you may be familiar with boxed and three notes per string scale patterns, you soon feel the urge to break out. C major scale we can form a major scale using a simple formula.
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