Major scale on the fretboard. Guitar scales

Gamma based La Minor a lot of songs were built. On the one hand, she is the mother of the A minor pentatonic scale, which is very often used, on the other, A minor is a tonality parallel to C major, which is the home of every musician.

Sounds included in the A minor scale

Guitar Neck Diagram

Names of notes included in the A minor scale

The sequence of sounds of the A minor scale is as follows: A (A) – Si (H) – Do (C) – Re (D) – Mi (E) – Fa (F) – Sol (G)

Practical instructions for quickly memorizing and subdividing scales!

The A minor scale, in my opinion, is very good to learn in short pieces, in which there are 3 notes on each string. This is how I learned it and this is how my students learn the scale. You can learn the presented positions one by one, week after week, until you can play the A minor scale all over the fretboard.

A minor scale, divided into positions. In each of these positions three notes are played on each string

Position No. 1

Position No. 2

Position No. 3

Position No. 4

Position No. 5

Position No. 6

Position No. 7

Major key parallel to A minor

A minor is a key parallel to C major. This means that you can use sounds from the A minor scale for songs written in the key of C major.

This article is about how to play harmonic minor on the guitar. And it mostly consists of practical exercises. However, before we start playing the scale, let's understand its structure.

Formula

So, the harmonic minor is a type of minor scale. Its formula is as follows:

1 2 b3 4 5 b6 7

That is, its difference from the natural minor scale lies only in the seventh (seventh degree). For example:

Natural minor from the sound A (A):

A (la) - B (si) - C (do) - D (re) - E (mi) - F (fa) - G (sol)

Harmonic minor from the sound A (A):

A (la) - B (si) - C (do) - D (re) - E (mi) - F (fa) - G# (g sharp)

Using this pattern, you can “transform” a natural minor scale, built from any sound, into a harmonic minor. In relation to A minor, this is replacing G with G#.

The harmonic minor scale is used to play with minor, major, half-diminished chords, and dominant seventh chords.

We will consider the option of playing with the dominant using this mode in the key of A minor.

That is, let's play an A minor harmonic scale on the guitar on the chord E (E major).

For an example of using this approach and fret boxes, which we will discuss later in the article, see this video:

Another notable feature of the harmonic minor scale is that if it is built from the tonic of the dominant (in this case E), it takes on the “shape” of the Phrygian major mode, or Spanish major:

1 b2 3 4 5 b6 b7

Phrygian major from E:

E (mi) - F (fa) - G# (g sharp) - A (la) - B (si) - C (do) - D (re)

This version of playing the dominant is used in their solos by guitarists playing in various musical styles: Yngwie Malmsteen, George Bellas, John Mclaughlin, Al Di Meola and many others.

The mode is easily identified by ear due to its colorful oriental sound.

Boxes

The box fingering is based on the “three notes on a string” principle. In the video, the scale is played with variable strokes, but you can use any other method of sound production. For example, sweep (formula down-up-down + down-up-down, etc.) or hammer/pul (legato).

Please note that the boxes use extended fingering, so you need to “warm up” your fingers first.

The scale can be played with a metronome or with a backing track over an E chord, as shown in the video.

It is worth noting that playing with a harmonic lining is much more useful in terms of ear development and improvisational skills.

Each box ends with a sustained chord sound(in this case E major). That is, in some positions, at the end of the downward movement, a repeated “return” to the tonic (E), third (G#) or fifth (B) of E major is performed. Accordingly, the degrees of the mode are considered in relation to the dominant.

A backing track for playing a harmonic minor on a guitar and a minus track for improvising on the E chord (which was heard in the video), tabs can be

(from b2 - second lower stage E)

Check out the location of fret sounds on the fretboard:

Now disassemble the “finger”. Next to each note there is a finger of the left hand with which you need to press it.

As mentioned above, playback ends not with the first (lowest) note of the F box, but with G# - the reference tone (third of E major).

(from stage 4 E)

We finish playing the scale on note B (5th degree of the E chord)

(from 5th degree - fifths E)

(from level 6)

In the last measure we return to the tonic E.

(from the 7th degree - sevenths)

(from stage 1 - tonics)

If you have a hard time mastering tablature or you prefer to master fingering visually, watch the second part of the video posted at the beginning of the article. But set your Youtube player to play in slow motion. Learn more about how this setup is performed.
The scale can be played on any minus and other chords for which it is suitable (for example, the A minor harmonic can be played on Fmaj7). It all depends on the specific tasks.
Study the boxes sequentially. Don't rush to cover all the material in one or two lessons.
When all the boxes are already well enough studied, they can be played one by one, gradually moving along the fingerboard as shown in the training video.
The scale is played in eighth notes (two notes per beat). In the future, you can play it in sixteenth notes or triplets.
Play the given boxes in other keys. For example, transpose the studied material into the key of D minor and try to play its dominant - the A7 chord.
In your guitar improvisations, combine the harmonic minor with other scales (pentatonic, blues scale, natural minor) and arpeggios, focusing on the harmonic sequence (chords of a song, instrumental composition).

All! The first part of the lesson has come to an end. Successful and fruitful guitar lessons to you! In the second part we will look at the diagonal fingerings of the harmonic minor -.

TAGS

Playing scales not only helps improve your hearing, playing technique, fingerboard orientation, and finger stretching, but also allows you to acquire phrasing skills, which are very useful when playing and composing solo parts. The peculiarity of the structure of the guitar scale allows you to perform the same scale from a given note according to different schemes. For example, an octave major scale can be played using four patterns, each with its own advantages.

The basis of any scale is the mode - one of the most important concepts in the musical system. A mode is a series of sounds located relative to each other at certain intervals. The most common seven-step scales are major and minor.

When using a piano, the major scale is obtained when playing on the white keys from the note C (C), and the minor scale is obtained when playing on the white keys from the note A (A). Having looked at the intervals between adjacent keys, it is easy to remember the intervallic composition of the natural major scale:

b.2+b.2+m.2+b.2 +b.2+b.2+m.2 or more simply bbmbbbm

and natural minor scale:

b.2+m.2+b.2+b.2 +m.2+b.2+b.2 or simpler bmbbbmbb

There are no landmarks on the fretboard like the white and black keys, but there is a second string that is great as a basis for recalling intervals, chords, and scales. First, you need to visually mark it, and then mentally remember this marking (Fig. 1).

Rice. 1. Visual marking of notes on the second string.

The result is a visual system reminiscent of the system of black and white piano keys, but unlike the latter, groups of steps with the same intervallic structure from the notes C and G (highlighted by a dotted frame) are clearly visible on the fingerboard. This will allow you to change positions for playing scales not only from the first degrees of the scale, but also from the fifth.

As you remember, the tones included in triads are functional tones that have their own names. The sounds of modes (and, accordingly, scales) also have functionality and have their own names. Often guitarists think of scales as a sequence of sounds that must be memorized and then played accurately and as quickly as possible. If you want to understand what constructions in music are based on, how to build harmonic turns and squares, why this chord is played after one chord and not that one, and much more, then from the very beginning perceive scales as functional system sounds.

The root note of a chord is prima, and fret (scales) - tonic. The tonic is not just the first sound of the scale, it is first fret step and fret support, relative to which everything else is built. Here we can give an analogy with the solar system: the tonic is the sun around which the planets of the solar system revolve - the remaining sounds of the scale. Mode theory is not covered in this lesson, but you can get acquainted with it in our theory course.

So we can play the major scale from the note before on the second string in white tones, and A minor - in white tones from la(playing above the 12th fret on an electric guitar is not particularly difficult). At this moment we need to stop and comprehend it: knowing the visual pattern of the arrangement of tones of the major scale, we can play the minor scale parallel to it (located a minor third below) using the same template, adding two sounds from below, as shown in Fig. 1. This is precisely what the playing of scales in boxes is based on, when you remember not some specific construction of a scale in a specific position (as you have to do when playing the piano), but in a box - a template diagram for playing scales within 5- 7 frets.

Most often, scales are played on several strings:

without changing position:
- within one position (four adjacent tones)
- within one extended position (five adjacent tones)
with change of position:
- slight position shift within the box

outside boxing

Let's look at the positions for playing the natural major scale (Fig. 2). They are given taking into account the possibility of playing in one position.

Rice. 2. Schemes and fingerings for playing the major scale within an octave.

Comparing these schemes allows you to find a lot of interesting things.

Option 1:

Playing in one position
The location of sounds relative to the first one is more on the right
Uses three strings

Option 2a:

The game occurs with a correction of position when playing sounds 7 and 8. We can say that here there is a transition from a position to an extended position when playing sounds 7 and 8.
The location of the sounds relative to the first is on the left
Uses four strings
Each string has a different combination of adjacent tones.
The upper octave sound is difficult to determine

Option 2b is an improved version of the previous option.

Option 3:

Playing in one extended position
The location of sounds relative to the first one is on the right
Uses three strings
The two strings have the same combination of adjacent tones.
The upper octave sound is easy to identify

Option 1 is convenient when playing bass guitar. In an extended position it will be very difficult (or impossible) to play scales on wide frets. Variation 3 requires good finger stretch to play, but it is the easiest of all to remember. Option 2a is the most difficult of all: 4 strings are used, different options for the arrangement of tones on the strings, changing positions to play sounds 7 and 8. When using options 2a and 2b, the scale using all the strings in the box will be shorter compared to options 1 and 3.

The major scale can be played left and right. Right-handed variations have an advantage when playing scales of several octaves.

When playing scales, it is extremely important to use the correct fingering from the very beginning. If the stretch of the fingers is weak, then you constantly want to pinch the string with a more comfortable finger and replace it with the one indicated on the fingering. It is difficult to play in a position that is unaccustomed to, and the left hand tries to rearrange the position of the fingers so that it is comfortable. This leads to errors and stutters in the game. Ineffective fingering and unwillingness to work on playing in position are a powerful inhibitor when playing the guitar. Often a guitarist cannot play a phrase or riff quickly and accurately, not because his fingers are not moving, but because he is playing with the wrong fingers or has not mastered playing in position. As a result, months and years pass without any qualitative improvement. Playing the guitar all your life is wonderful, but not being able to play anything on it all your life is too uninteresting and boring!

From Fig. 2 it can be seen that when playing on one string, the sounds are arranged in three main positional combinations:

two sounds next to the left
two sounds next to each other on the right
sounds through fret

Sounds across the scale - major second (b.2), sounds nearby - minor second (m.2)

Memorizing these positional combinations helps you quickly navigate the game and make it easier to remember the game. When memorizing a part at the level of individual sounds, an excessive thought process occurs. You need to understand how the sounds are located relative to each other and give the command to your fingers to first play this sound, then another, etc. When working at the level of positional combinations, this process is optimized. Sometimes you can observe the following picture: a guitarist is shown playing a scale for an octave, but he cannot remember it and play it accurately. This happens not only because he did not play it, but also because he saw the scale on the fretboard as an incomprehensible sequence of sounds, and not positional combinations.

When using positional combinations, the scheme for playing a major scale can be formulated as follows:

we play in a position across the fret, two on the left, two on the right

For greater clarity, the algorithm can be formulated as follows:

first, we pinch the second sound on the tonic string across the fret from it, then we move to the previous string and play two sounds in a position next to each other, and the third across the fret, then we move to the previous string and play two sounds across the fret, and the third next to the second sound

Awareness of the second formulation will be an order of magnitude slower than the first. The improvisation will end until you understand what needs to be done. The shorter the formulation of the algorithm, the faster it can be put into action. Hence the structure of natural major bbbbbbm, but not b.2+b.2+m.2 etc. or even longer - major second plus major second plus minor second etc. It is logical to assume that, all other things being equal, optimizer programmers have an easier time playing the guitar than users. Not always, because often optimization occurs in the wrong direction and instead of simple and understandable, it turns out to be complex and clumsy.

Remember, in Fig. 1, areas with the same interval structure were highlighted by a frame? They are also clearly visible when playing scales in position (Fig. 3).

Rice. 3. Areas with the same interval structure.

It is easy to see that there are several patterns of intervallic fragments consisting of four sounds. An octave scale consists of two such fragments.

Option 3 is interesting because it allows you to clearly see the difference in the intervallic structure of the beginning of the major and minor scales:

bb mbbbm - major
bm bbmbb - minor

If we play the intervals b.2+b.2 from the tonic, then we automatically go into major, if we play the intervals b.2+m.2, then we go into minor. In practice, the game often takes place in parallel keys - natural major and harmonic minor (the seventh degree is raised by a semitone). In this case, the scales will differ only in the structure of one block (Fig. 4).

Rice. 4. The difference between natural major and harmonic minor.

If we compare the construction of these scales according to the schemes of options 1 and 2, then we will not see such clarity. Visualization is an advantage of the Option 3 scheme.

Option 2a (Fig. 3) looks like the most losing of all. Can I refuse it? There's no need to rush. It is useful to play in all variations.

Option 1: Basic playing in a position that is suitable for honing bass riffs.

Option 2. Work on the ligaments with the little finger.

Options 2b. Working on the ligaments with the little finger and stretching the fingers.

Options 3. Stretching the fingers, moving from major to minor and vice versa.

Options 2a and 2b, unlike 1 and 3, allow you to work on playing different triads and seventh chords, and options 1, 2b and 3 on playing scales in the full barre position, which will also be useful in the future.

Let's see what happens when playing a scale of two octaves (Fig. 5).

Rice. 5. Positions for playing a major scale for two octaves.

Variants of octave schemes are combined. You can change the pattern from tonic (Fig. 6) or from fifth (Fig. 7).

Rice. 6. Change of position on the tonic.

Rice. 7. Change of position on the fifth.

To get a complete chord template from which to derive the rest, we chose a chord that builds on all strings. To determine the complete scheme for playing a scale, it is not enough to build it from the sixth string. You need to “scroll” it vertically to see the situation when the tonic is positioned on different strings. This technique helps, in particular, to easily build all positions of the pentatonic scale, if some of them have been forgotten visually or at the level of the fingers, and selecting it by ear causes difficulties.

It is logical to choose the most understandable option 3.

Rice. 8. Boxes for the natural major scale.

And why do we need this color music? These are boxes. Boxing can mean different schemes, and it is advisable to clarify what is meant when talking about them. In this case, a box means the following: imagine that a box is a box 6 frets wide, which contains all the possible tones of the scale, comfortable to play. That is, the box shows not a scale starting from the tonic and ending with an octave repetition of the tonic, but Lots of easy-to-play sounds scales, among which, naturally, there is a tonic. Depending on which string the tonic is on, one or another version of boxing is played.

Tonic is highlighted in red. Identical intervallic combinations on the same string are also highlighted in color:

blue - adjacent tones across the fret
pink - adjacent tones on the left
gray - adjacent tones on the right

Briefly speaking, across the fret, left and right. These combinations, as can be seen from the figure, form blocks. Now you can play the scale from the tonic “on the fly”, remembering the pattern of alternating blocks:

Gamma up - 2 through fret, 2 left, 1 on right, 1 through fret.

Gamma down - 2 through fret, 2 on right, 2 left

Why complicate things so much? Four schemes for playing the major scale, some boxes, blocks, positions? I learned the scale in one position, and that’s enough!

All this is given not to complicate things, but as an example of how guidelines are created when playing the guitar. Each guitarist himself develops guidelines and schemes that help him when playing. You can focus on the position of the tonic, look at intervals, use positions and boxes, look at patterns in constructions, etc. Some will prefer to simply memorize the five positions of the minor pentatonic scale, while others will want to understand how they are obtained in order to build them on the fly. Many guitarists don't use sheet music, but they produce specific parts instead of just moving up and down the pentatonic scale. But in order to play such games, you need to develop a base on the basis of which these games and your own playing style will be built. Without reference points, playing the guitar is like finding your way home, looking only at your feet. It is more practical and much more interesting to raise your head and see, rather than rub your fingers on the strings, pretending to try to remember something that you did not even try to learn.

The boxes shown in Fig. 8 seems too difficult to play due to the extended position, which requires good finger stretch to play. Let's take option 1 and see if we can get easier-to-play boxes from it.

Rice. 9. Boxes based on the scheme of option 1.

From the fifth and fourth strings you have to play in an extended position, and in terms of clarity and simplicity of the block sequence algorithm, these boxes are noticeably inferior to those shown in Fig. 8.

Let's try to change the second and third boxes in Fig. 8 and see the result.

Rice. 10. Optimization of boxes.

Box No. 2 in this picture is significantly different from Box No. 1. If we continue it, we will get boxes like in Fig. 7, except for the position of the tonic. In Fig. 9 it is located on the left in the position one after the other, and in this figure. in the center of a position from neighbors to the left.

Box 3b looks promising, but the fifth string produces something extremely complex.

Conclusion. Convenient and understandable boxes for playing scales cannot be obtained from all possible schemes for playing the same scale.

To better understand the boxes, consider the minor pentatonic scale (Fig. 10).

Rice. 11. Minor pentatonic scale.

Tonic is marked in red. The minor pentatonic scale can be played left and right from one fret. In the figure they are conventionally designated as left-handed and right-handed.

Sometimes the question arises, how to remember all the positions of the pentatonic scale on the fretboard? This is easy to do if you know its structure. To do this, let’s “scroll” the pentatonic scale vertically and see what happens.

Rice. 12. Pentatonic positions.

In total there were 10 different positions (the position from the first string coincides with the sixth and is not taken into account). After comparison, we see that the left-hand and right-hand positions are in octave dependence, and in total there are 5 different positions of the minor pentatonic scale. You can also distinguish the relative location of the pentatonic sounds on the string - across a fret or across two frets. They form blocks that can be used to easily memorize positions: when playing right-handed boxes up, after the tonic string, play 3 through the fret, and down - 3 through the fret after one through two frets.

As an additional guide, you can visually hold the octave diagonals (Fig. 13).

In practice, everything is somewhat more complicated and phrases based on scales are not necessarily played from the tonic and end on it. If the solo part is based on playing chords, then additional guidelines are chord sounds- sounds that are included in the chord sounding at a given moment in time. Which chord to play first and which ones after? We will learn about this in the next lesson, where we will look at harmonic turns - related chord sequences. Good luck!

Before you understand the keys on the guitar, you should understand: what is a key in general? Music literacy courses and solfeggio lessons taught in special institutions help to study this issue more deeply. However, certain knowledge can also be obtained through home schooling.

The general definition states that tonality is a special position of a mode (most often major or minor), fixed at certain heights.

Key

The center of tonality is the tonic - the basis of the scale and the first degree of the mode. When it comes to tonal designation, it acts as its main representative (for example, if the first degree is “C”, this will mean the tonality of C major or C minor).

Tones can be divided into 3 separate groups:

2 simple keys that can be easily demonstrated on a piano keyboard. They are found exclusively on the white keys.
14 sharp keys, divided into two poles - major (7) and minor (7).
14 flat keys, also divided into 2 groups - major (7) and minor (7).

Circle of fifths

The circle of fifths is the main assistant in determining the signs of all keys. It is worth noting that the tonalities on a guitar are no different from any others on other instruments. The structure and sound are similar, only the sound production technique is different and the timbre inherent in the instrument is characteristic only for it.

Understanding the need (sharps and flats) is the most important point that can greatly simplify the task of learning tonalities on the guitar and chords in songs.

So, below is the circle of fifths of all keys in music.

As you can see, with each subsequent step one sign is added. And this is not without reason. The appearance of these signs is associated with the clear construction of a major or minor scale:

For major: tone - tone - semitone - tone - tone - semitone.
For - semitone - tone - tone - semitone - tone - tone.

Following these patterns, the signs either increase the levels or decrease them. This information is covered in particular detail in the “scales” section of the solfeggio course.

Key and chords on guitar

After a complete theoretical familiarization with scales using the piano keyboard, you are allowed to switch to the desired instrument. Here, most often, the first chord sounded on the guitar sets the tone of the piece.

Please note that a chord is the simultaneous sound of 3 or more sounds.

If you look at it from the side of harmony, it will be a tonic triad. A tonic triad is 3 stable degrees of tonality, played simultaneously (in C major these are the notes “do-mi-sol”).

The chord indicated in the tablature by the inscription Am is the most popular among chords in instrumentalist circles:

a - “la”;
m - “minor”.

The sound of this chord at the very beginning means that we have the key of A minor on the guitar.

Studying scales should begin with simple keys - the a-minor described above or its parallel - c-dur (C major). By freely navigating through them, the student will be able to easily find sharps and flats that are part of the structure of other keys.

An interesting and useful fact: the scales included in the major scales have a parallel in the minor with similar accidental signs, therefore you need to memorize not 24 keys, but half as many - 12.

Before you play

You can play a scale of a certain key on a guitar either on one string or on different ones.

Before you take up the instrument, you need to thoroughly study its neck. The frets are numbered from the head of the guitar. The dots on the side make it easier to navigate the system.

For guidance in all sounds, you need to know the notes on the open strings from which everything comes: E (the thinnest string), B, G, D, A, E (the thickest string).

For both the first and second methods, it is necessary, first of all, to learn all the notes on the guitar neck. It is worth remembering a simple rule: the distance between two adjacent frets is equal to a semitone.

You need to have a fluent understanding of the notes of the scale. They consist of VII steps, and the eighth, forming an octave, repeats the first.

It is very important to understand the difference between a tone and a semitone and their clear sequence in the scale. Remember that the top is the tones and the bottom is the half tones.

Let's start playing

First you need to decide - what scale to play? After the final choice, you need to find the note from which the process will begin. If the choice fell on the C major scale, this means that on the fingerboard your fingers will pinch the string on the note C. This can be done on any fret that attracts you.

Remember the scheme of the major scale (tone - tone - semitone - tone - tone - semitone). Based on this structure, begin your movement. Remember the principle by which tones and halftones are arranged. Tone - 1 fret + 1 fret, semitone - 1 fret (next from the current pressed fret). If the note C is pressed, then the D will not be on the next fret, but after one, since the distance between these two steps is equal to a whole tone.

Learn and memorize fingering - the pattern of finger movement. After mastering the scale on one string, you can move on to a more complex option - guitar boxes.

Scales should be learned in both ascending and descending movements.

Bottom line

Once you have a complete and fluent understanding of the keys on the guitar, moving on to chords will be a fairly easy process for you. It will be enough to determine the three main stable steps of the scale you need and press them simultaneously.

Of course, there are many chord diagrams for beginners and amateurs who do not dive deeply into music theory. But if you want to master the instrument at a more professional level, the tips described above will help you with this.

Scale E minor– one of the most popular scales on the guitar. Songs written based on this scale give off a homely warmth and evoke a feeling of comfort and coziness. This is what the E minor scale looks like on the fretboard:

Sounds included in the E minor scale

Guitar Neck Diagram

Names of notes included in the E minor scale

The sounds included in the E minor scale obey the following sequence: Mi(E) – Fa#(F#) – Sol(G) – A(A) – Si(H) – Do(C) – Re(D)

Practical instructions for quickly memorizing and subdividing scales!

To play E minor scale throughout the entire neck of the guitar, it is recommended to divide the scale into separate pieces. Each of these pieces must include three notes, and these notes must be on the same string. This is the shortest way to memorize scales. Three-note fingering is ideal for developing your playing speed and practicing your technique.

Just below you will find E minor scale for guitar, presented in the form of seven small bar diagrams. Each of these diagrams shows you the fingering patterns for each of the three-note positions.

E minor scale, divided into positions. In each of these positions three notes are played on each string