This is a lesson for beginners. It talks about scales, how they are formed, and how to play them. Since this is a lesson for beginners, I will show you two basic scales I learned in the first two months of guitar lessons. These will be the Major Scale and Minor Pentatonic.
Scale
Before I begin with the lesson, I want to give a definition of a Scale. A scale is a group of notes collected in ascending (going up) and desending order (going down). Scales are formed from keys and are used in haromny, melody, and soloing.
Major Scale
The major scale, or ionian scale, is one of the most commonly used scales in music along with the pentatonic and blues scales. You can use it in rock, but it used alot in country music. The construction of a major scale, is the 1 2 3 4 5 6 and 7, of the key. This means, in the key of C, C D E F G A B, you take the 1 2 3 4 5 6 and 7 notes and put them on the fretboard and play. Most people just got really confused after that bit of theory, and are asking "how do you play this?". It is very simple. This is the tab for the major scale in the Key of C:
Ascending
E|--------------------------------7-8--|
B|---------------------------8-10------|
G|--------------------7-9-10-----------|
D|-------------7-9-10------------------|
A|------7-8-10-------------------------|
E|-8-10--------------------------------|
2 4 1 2 4 1 3 4 1 3 4 2 4 1 2 (These are the fingerings)
this is actually a two octave scale, which means after you finish the first octave, you go an octave higher. (We won't go into detail with that right now) The notes are, starting on the E strings 8th fret, are C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C. Now play the scale, as you can probably tell while playing, it has a happy sound. The major tone is a happy tone.
(Note-the ascending means going up, to play descending, go backwards. Some might find this diffcult at first, but it trains your fingers and builds speed)
Minor Pentatonic Scale
Some might be thinking, why teach us the major scale, and not the minor scale. I do this for a few reasons, 1-this is an easy scale to learn, and 2-it is the scale most used in all kinds of music. And if your like me and like rock and some blues, the pentatonic minor is the most common one used in that style of music. A Pentatonic scale, unlike most scales, have 5 notes in them. In a minor pentatonic, they are the 1-b3-4-5-b7 of the key. The b3 and b7, means the notes are flatted, which means they are lowered. Now we will be using the key of C again, to show the differences between the major scale and a minor pentatonic scale.
Key of C
C-D-E-F-G-A-B
1-2-3-4-5-6-7
to build the minor pentatonic, you take the 1-C, b3-Eb, 4-F, 5-G, b7-Bb. See, five notes, C-Eb-F-G-Bb. Now to play this, again in two octave form, you would play like this.
Ascending
E|--------------------------8-11-----|
B|---------------------8-11----------|
G|----------------8-10---------------|
D|-----------8-10--------------------|
A|------8-10-------------------------|
E|-8-11------------------------------|
1 4 1 3 1 3 1 3 1 4 1 4 (fingerings)
Once again this is a two octave scale, but I won't get into much detail with that. Just know that the notes are C-Eb-F-G-Bb, and start over again. And to play in descending you just go backwards, it will be hard, but it builds speed, strength, and trains your fingers. Okay there might me some unclear parts, if there are any problems, then send me a message. I'm metalcore16. Thanks, rate me.
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