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I suggest you look at my lesson on Major Tetrachords before you read. I will allude to it and expect you to have. Also note that I use fingering blueprints, read them from left to right, bottom to top, as if each space was a any fret you want! There are actually three types of minor scales: natural, harmonic, and melodic. A tetrachord is half a octave scale and therefore four notes(though there are only three spaces between the four) To play each you must start with a minor tetrachord. A minor tetrachord follows the pattern:
Whole step, Half step, Whole step This can be played in the forms (1234), (1342), and (3412). Each number standing for the finger you use 1 being your index finger and 4 being the pinky. They are shown below (this is a fingering blueprint, not tabs):
(1234)
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|-1-|---|-2-|-3-|---|-4-|
(1342)
|---|---|---|---|
|---|---|---|---|
|---|-2-|---|---|
|-1-|---|-3-|-4-|
(3412)
|---|---|---|---|---|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|-1-|---|-2-|---|---|
|---|---|-3-|---|-4-| Now comes the part that may make it hard. To make a minor scale you can any of the following tetrachords: Major, Gypsy, & Phrygian. We’ll start with the major, a review for those who read Major Tetrachords. Major tetra chords follow the pattern:
Whole step, Whole step, Half step There are three major tetrachord patterns: (1334), (2412), & (4134)
(2412)
|---|---|---|---|
|---|---|---|---|
|-1-|-2-|---|---|
|---|-2-|---|-4-|
(1334)
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|-1-|---|-3-|---|-3-|-4-|
(4134)
|---|---|---|---|
|---|---|---|---|
|-1-|---|-3-|-4-|
|---|---|---|-4-| Add this to the minor tetrachord to get a one-octave minor scale. Then there are the gypsy and Phrygian tetrachord. Don’t ask where the names come from, because I don’t know. The gypsy is weird but the Phrygian is easy:
Gypsy: Half step, Step and a Half, Half step
&
Phrygian: Haft step, Whole step, Whole step The Gypsy has one easy fingering pattern while the Phrygian has two fingering patterns:
Gypsy:
(3412)
|---|---|---|
|---|---|---|
|-1-|-2-|---|
|---|-3-|-4-|
Phrygian:
(2341)
|---|---|---|---|
|---|---|---|---|
|-1-|---|---|---|
|-2-|-3-|---|-4-|
and
(3413)
|---|---|---|---|
|---|---|---|---|
|-1-|---|-3-|---|
|---|---|-3-|-4-| Ok let’s put those together to get a minor scale! Play a minor tetrachord skip a whole step them play a major, gypsy, or Phrygian and whalah you have a melodic, harmonic, or natural minor scale! Note I will use (3413) for Phrygian, (2412) for major scales and (3412) for minor!
Melodic
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|---|---|---|-1-|-2-|---|---|---|
|-1-|---|-2-|---|-2-|---|-4-|---|
|---|---|-3-|---|-4-|---|---|---|
Harmonic
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|---|---|---|-1-|-3-|---|---|---|
|-1-|---|-2-|---|-3-|-4-|---|---|
|---|---|-3-|---|-4-|---|---|---|
Natural
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|---|---|-1-|---|-3-|---|---|---|
|-1-|---|-2-|---|-3-|-4-|---|---|
|---|---|-3-|---|-4-|---|---|---| Now I know that maybe confusing so I will put the G natural, melodic, and harmonic minor scales into tabs!
Melodic
G|-------------------------------|
D|-------------4-5---------------|
A|-----1-3-5-7-------------------|
E|-3-5---------------------------|
Harmonic
G|-------------------------------|
D|-------------4-5---------------|
A|-----1-3-5-6-------------------|
E|-3-5---------------------------|
Natural
G|-------------------------------|
D|-------------3-5---------------|
A|-----1-3-5-6-------------------|
E|-3-5---------------------------| As you can see in tabs there are only small differences between each type. They also all start and end on G. I hope those who read this will get something from it. It maybe confusing, but if you haven’t read Major Tetrachords, you should. It will make this easier to understand.
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8 comments posted, 1 removed | this article is 89% spam-free |
brush200400
: chords on bottom strings of bass? ouch. good lesson.POSTED: 05/20/2007 - 04:04 pm / quote |
mecca9v
: What makes a Melodic minor scale a melodic minor is the fact that when you're going down the scale, you play it as if its a natural minor. So you can leave the melodic as it is, but add the fact that when you're going down the scale, you have to play a natural descending minorPOSTED: 07/03/2007 - 12:25 pm / quote |
hxc_triple_og
: (1342)
|---|---|---|---|
|---|---|---|---|
|---|-2-|---|- --|
|-1-|---|-3-|-4-|
Yeah, I think you did this part wrong.
Thats a whole, half, whole and a half;
thats the only flaw I saw.
Other than that good lesson.
I went over it.POSTED: 07/11/2007 - 03:53 pm / quote |
jc_beta
: Nice lesson. Try this as Mecca9v says:
|-1-|---|-2-|-3-|
|---|-1-|---|-3-|
|---|-1-|---|-3 -|-4-|
Then at the final 3 (the root) whip it back down like:
|-1-|---|-3-|
|-1-|---|-3-|-4-|
|-1-|---|-3-|-4-|
That gives you the Melodic Minor Scale.
Cheers!
POSTED: 09/03/2007 - 06:22 pm / quote |
jc_beta
: Sorry, that top line should be:
|-1-|---|-3-|-4-|
Would be tough as a 2-3!
Peace.POSTED: 09/03/2007 - 06:24 pm / quote |
Gitter_Wizard
: Thats a nice observation, but there is definitely a better way of describing the types of minor scales. Intresting, however.POSTED: 12/19/2007 - 09:20 am / quote |
blink182182
: hey am making a website about bass i have only made 1 page but i wanna no what ppl think be4 i make more pages plz leave a message on my message board telling mw what u think
www.freewebs.com/howtoplaybassPOSTED: 04/25/2008 - 11:32 am / quote |
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