Minor scale formula pdf

A scale degree is designated by an arabic numeral with a cap which indicate the position of the note within the scale. In this lesson, im going to use the three basic kinds of minor scales. The minor scale is created with a formula, just like the major scale. The harmonic minor scale guitar diagrams and theory. Minor scales cheat sheet harmonic minor raise the 7 th scale degree melodic minor raise the 6 th and 7 th scale degree ascending, revert to. The notes of the c melodic minor scale ascending are. G major e minor pentatonic scale guitar scales the pentatonic scale is a favorite of many guitarists and its easy to see why. As before with the major scales, you can figure out any natural minor scale or any scale for that matter by knowing its interval formula. Relative minor, natural, melodic, harmonic scale tutorial. Once you are familiar with the major triads, you are ready for minor.

Playing the easiest natural minor scale on the keyboard is good. But beyond that, theres need to learn how to transpose the natural minor scale from one note to another on the keyboard. The first minor scale that will we discuss is natural minor. An ascending melodic minor is called a jazz minor scale. You can get more diagrams in the tuning of your choice by using my interactive web app here.

The three types of minor scales and how to form them. A list of guitar scales including their formulas, interval patterns, an example in tab, and a table showing each scale in every key for easy reference. A visual guide for formula pattern scales piano pantry. Heres a chart containing the 7 modes of the c major scale. This pdf method for guitar contains 40 ii v i jazz guitar lines with tab. The key difference between major and minor scaes is that notes on a major scale sound bright and cheerful, while notes on a minor scale sound solemn and sad. If you want to play a c minor chord, start with the. This formula is the same sequence as the major scale formula, but it begins on a different note. It also a great tool for learning and understanding chord construction and soloing. Minor scales natural, harmonic and melodic minor scales. Major and minor pentatonic scales avoid significant harmonic dissonance by adverting this tritone. The lesson could not be displayed because javascript is disabled.

Scale degree formulas 1 2 2 3 3 4 5 5 6 6 7 7 oct 1. The first time i tried to teach a student the formula pattern was a struggle. The b in this formula is a modification to the basic major chord. The scale in all keys can be downloaded as a pdffile. The good ol wikipedia has lots of the technical information well presented on the pentatonic scale. Understanding minor scales in this brief tutorial we are going to try to demystify minor scales. In a minor scale, the only difference to a corresponding major scale is a flat third. If we wanted to play a natural minor scale starting on the note a using this order of tones and semitones it would work out.

There are a number of ways you can determine the notes in any minor scale. The scale formula for the minor pentatonic can be a useful thing to know if you want to work out the notes in any given minor pentatonic scale. Cs relative minor pentatonic scale, a minor pentatonic, begins on the 6 th scale degree of the major pentatonic scale shown above. If you want to play a c minor chord, start with the major triad c e g and move the e down to eb.

This formula has to do with the distance intervals between the notes. Oct 27, 2016 in this lesson, im going to use the three basic kinds of minor scales. How to harmonize minor scales with 7th chords learn jazz. In other words, you move the middle note of the major triad down 12 step. Natural minor scale a scale that contains halfsteps between 23 and 56 scale degrees the natural form. For instance, the a natural minor scale can be built by starting on the 6th degree of the c major scale. There are other parent scales as well, such as the harmonic minor scale and the melodic minor scale.

What is a scale formula and how to use it for guitar. A wholestep on the guitar is a distance of two frets. Looking above, we see that the scale formula for the natural minor scale is. Even better, the minor pentatonic works well over both major and minor chord progressions. In simple terms, a minor scale is a series of notes with a sad. There are two types of scales, which are called the major scale and the minor scale. Finding natural minor scales on a guitar is a question of following this pattern on your guitar. The sixth is up a fifth 3 times and down an octave once. Whwwwwh the descending formula is the natural minor scale formula backwards. Intro to the harmonic minor scale community guitar. This scale has emerged as the most popular scale in music, and we dont really need to talk about why. The eb flat major scale starts and ends with the note eb. Although various hemitonic pentatonic scales might be called minor, the term is most commonly applied to the relative minor pentatonic scale, derived as a mode of the major pentatonic scale, using scale tones 1, 3, 4, 5, and 7 of the natural minor scale. Minor scales sound different from major scales because they are based on a different pattern of intervals.

The next free handout that you can download is a very useful graphic illustration of the four most common types of scale major, minor, minor pentatonic and blues scale you can distribute the sheet to your students andor pin it up on your music classroom wall. Building piano scales major, minor, etc in all keys. The reason probably being the harmonic minor is such a strong sound, that using it for extended periods of. Chord structure consists of notes and intervals which can vary from 2note chords and their respective intervals right up to 7note chords and everything in between. In music theory, a scale is a series of pitches notes, displayed in an ascending or descending sequence. It gives you a clear overview of how scales relate to each other and reveals the easiness of building any scale in seconds. A scale is a stepwise arrangement of notespitches contained within an octave. There are certain things your mom probably taught you not to do. Next notice how each mode has one or two notes that makes it unique from the major or natural minor scale. The natural minor scale is often referred to simply as the minor scale. Below is a chart showing all harmonic minor scales on the circle of 5ths. Its such a boring name for such a fun scale pattern.

It also helps to think of modes as major 3 or minor b3, which depends on the third. Because these notes are absent from the minor pentatonic scale formula, it makes it easier to use this scale for soloing. We will concentrate on the structure of 3note chords for this session followed by a comprehensive chart detailing a variety of popular chords by name, type, symbol and formula. A natural minor scale or aeolian mode is a diatonic scale that is built by starting on the sixth degree of its relative major scale. In this article, well go over how the major scale is made, a few shapes that you can use to play it on the guitar, and how it. Sep 15, 2018 in the minor scale, the 2nd and 6th intervals are dissonant tones that need resolution. Applying that scale formula to the notes of the c major scale yields. As weve seen, the c natural minor uses these same notes, except that the sixth note of the major scale becomes the root note of its relative minor. Hopefully you are beginning to see the formula is always the same. So the formula for the major scale is big step, big, small, big, big, big, small. Learn the note names all harmonic minor scales in table form, in all 12 circle of 5ths keys, including single and double accidental theoretical keys home mobile view scale. It is sometimes called the hungarian minor or hungarian.

The minor third is down a fifth three times and up and octave twice. Its important to note that the harmonic and melodic minor are variations of the natural minor scale, and so understanding how to harmonize the natural minor scale with 7th chords is the place to start. Understanding minor scales pdf tutorial guitarlessons365. Natural minor scale relationship to relative major. Constructing this type of scale is rather simple if we employ a simple formula. For the melodic minor scale, you raise the sixth and seventh notes of a scale by a half step as you go up the scale and then return to the natural minor as you go down the scale. May 29, 2015 the scale formula gives you insight in the notes you play.

Pentatonic and blues scale notes in black, added natural majorminor scale notes in grey licensed under a creative commons by, nc, nd license. The d major scale, for instance, starts with the note d. If we were to label one scale as the most important in music, it would be the major scale. Translating to sharp, when the note needs to be raised by one semitone. Melodies in minor keys often use this particular pattern of accidentals, so instrumentalists find it useful to practice melodic minor scales. I love wikipedia, i just learnt some new stuff about it myself. This includes many scales and modes such as dorian mode and the phrygian mode. A minor pentatonic contains scale degrees 1, b3, 4, 5, and b7. This pdf contains the diagrams for all the major and minor pentatonic scales in all keys for guitar in standard tuning. In this lesson, well concentrate on the modes of the major scale the major scale being the parent scale in this case.

The formula for a natural minor scale is 1 2 b3 4 5 b6 b7. Comparing a c major and c minor scale is a great way to see what is the same, and what is different between the 2 scales. This lesson will delve a bit deeper into how these intervals are formed. The minor scale in its most basic form is called the classical minor, the natural minor, or the aeolian mode they are all the same.

The scale that is created by playing all the notes in a minor key signature is a natural minor scale. This is the order of wholesteps and halfsteps that make up the major scale. When we are dealing strictly with major scales we really only have one scale to draw our notes and melodies from. The scale formula gives you insight in the notes you play. In finnish music theory tradition, the oriental minor is included in minor scales.

Sep 29, 2018 the key difference between major and minor scaes is that notes on a major scale sound bright and cheerful, while notes on a minor scale sound solemn and sad. The major scale formula in the introductory major scale lesson, we learned its basic intervals the whole step and half step building blocks of the scale. To construct or perform this type of scale, you need to remember that it has an ascending version along with a descending version. The melodic minor scale differs from the natural minor scale by the sixth and seventh notes, which are raised a semistep. The harmonic minor scale is an efficient choice when you want to. Finding the natural minor scales on a guitar dummies. The major scale is the foundation of almost all western music. In the example below, study the prepared example beginning on the note c.

The scale formula for the minor pentatonic can be a useful thing to know if you want to work out the notes in. A natural minor scale uses this formula of tones and semitones whole steps and half steps. Jun 20, 2015 1 write down the notes for a c major scale using the whole half step formula. The quality of the scale major is determined by the notes in it and their relationship to the tonic a word describing the tonal center of a piece of music, with other tones resolving to this note. This new scale is the c natural minor scale, which is usually just referred to as the c minor scale. Includes the major scale, minor scale, blues scale, modes, and the minor pentatonic scale. Lets learn major and minor piano music scales in all keys. Apr 26, 2016 looking above, we see that the scale formula for the natural minor scale is.

In this lesson, you will learn how to construct a major scale using the major scale formula. All minor scales illustrated with pictures including notes and fingerings. The first scale degree first note of the scale is designated by the symbol 1 and is. In this brief tutorial we are going to try to demystify minor scales. Just as it did in major scales, starting the minor scale pattern on a different note will give you a different key signature, a different set of sharps or flats. Previously, we learned about the musical alphabet and the major scale. This scale is also some kind of peculiar since it is sometimes played differently ascending and descending. Lets learn how to form a major scale on piano using a simple formula. The formula for a melodic minor scale is whole step half step whole step whole step whole step whole step half step. Below is the formula we use to construct these scales using whole steps w.

I try to avoid using formal scale books for students to have to read every note and fingering, so i needed to find an easy way to explain the pattern. Beginning and intermediate musicians need to learn scales to perfect their. Minor scales cheat sheet harmonic minor raise the 7th scale degree melodic minor raise the 6th and 7th scale degree ascending, revert to natural minor descending. A melodic minor scale occurs when you raise the sixth and seventh notes of a scale by a half step, as you go up the scale, and then return to the natural minor, as you go down the scale. This printable guitar method in pdf format contains 40 easy minor jazz. Contrary to the major scale, there are not one but three minor scales, which all will be presented here. Major and minor scales contain seven notes or scale degrees. 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. And heres what the c natural minor scale looks like. Intro to the harmonic minor scale one way to think of the harmonic minor scale is as a natural minor scale with a raised 7th degree. This was the first type of minor scale that was commonly used. In the diagrams to the right you see one octave of an a natural minor scale contrasted with the harmonic minor.

We can use this method in the form of whole and half steps or in the form of semitones. Once you know the logic behind a scale and how to use the formula, a lot of. A minor scale in music theory is any scale that has at least three scale degrees. The major scale is made up of a series of wholesteps w and halfsteps h. The most common group of notes is called the major scale, and it follows this pattern. This lesson provides charts with formulas about the main scales and. In the melodic minor scale, the sixth and seventh notes of the scale are each raised by one half step when going up the scale, but return to the natural minor when going down the scale. List of the music scales charts with formulas jazz guitar licks. The formula for the minor scale is whole, half, whole, whole, half, whole, whole. So to start with, if you play a c major scale but start and end on the note a, you will hear the a pure. Although the harmonic minor scale over a single minor chord is a sound you hear occasionally in pop and rock music, truthfully, its not too common. Like the step method for determining the notes in a major scale, we can use the same principle in determining notes in the various minor scales. Natural minor scales follow the interval pattern whole step, half step, whole step, whole step, half step, whole step, whole step whwwhww, with the first note and last in the scale determining the scale name.