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A few things before we get started:
In my mind, there is a large difference between learning to read music/ music theory (which most
guitar players really don’t like the thought of) and learning GUITAR THEORY. You can learn all the
guitar theory you need, and approach it like any other person using theory, without learning to read
music. I am going to show you how to master guitar scales and modes WITHOUT learning to read
music. You still have to understand music terminologies so there will be a theory element to the
discussion but all will be explained in the lessons as if the reader has no experience reading music.
The only style of music that requires extensive music reading is classical music. I studied classical
guitar for a few years up to grade 8 level and could not have done it if I did not know how to read.
All other styles of music can be played to an expert level with just the theory knowledge of the
particular instrument, never needing to ‘read’ a piece of music. Now I am not saying you don’t ever
have to learn to read music, if you want to by all means do, it will help your playing, writing and
music appreciation but for the most part, in rock and metal only a limited amount of theory is really
used and needed so it seems like a waste of time learning something you are unlikely to use.
If you know what style you want to play, research the musicians you admire and see what
scales/modes they use most often. These are the ones you want to focus on and understand. There
is no real point in learning something in case you might need it one day. This is wasted time and
energy.
I intend this to be like a series of mini lessons that will be added on a weekly/fortnightly basis like
what I would present to my students at their weekly lesson. Because of this the quantity of the
lesson may seem small sometimes but it is because it is a small piece of a much larger puzzle yet to
be completed but by the time I have covered all I want to cover the reader should then be able to
look at the fretboard and just know where all scale/mode options are in any key within a few brief
moments.
Also, please feel free to ask questions relating to the current and/or past lessons, and to make
suggestions for upcoming lessons on subjects you would like me to talk about.
IMPORTANT:
These lessons are designed to be used by someone that can already play guitar. It is not a ‘how to
play guitar’ lesson but rather how to better understand what the guitar can do for you. I hope this
makes sense without seeming rude in any way.
Lesson one:
Knowing your fretboard.
To me this is lesson one. You HAVE to learn this inside out if you expect to be able to navigate your
way round your guitar at lightning speeds or to be able to create more interesting colours in your
songs/solos.
In popular/western music, we use a sequence of notes to create a piece of music. Each note has a
name that is taken from a letter in the English alphabet. There are 12 differently named notes in all.
We will be talking about 7 of those 12 notes to start with. These notes take their names from the
first 7 letters of the alphabet:
A B C D E F G
In order to demonstrate this I like to use a piano keyboard as I find it is easier to locate different
notes as the keys have different colours, the guitar has all the same notes on the fretboard but they
are all one colour so therefore are harder to locate quickly.
Below is a picture of the keys from a piano showing where these notes are.
A B C D E F G A B C D E F G A
As you can see, all of the notes line up with a white coloured key. You will also notice that
once you reach the letter G you do not continue up the alphabet. Instead, while continuing
to play up the piano you start the letter names again e.g. A B C D E F G A B C D E F G A B C D
E F G...
So, if you were to go to a piano/keyboard and play the white keys starting from the key
labelled C in the above picture (3rd key from the left) and count/play up 8 keys you will play
the following:
C D E F G A B C
This is the C Major scale. If you were to continue up another 8 keys it would still be C D E F G
A B C, but the notes will sound higher than before. Each time you go up to a key that has the
same letter name as the last key you played, but sounds higher, means you have gone up
one Octave. (Oct = 8 i.e. going up 8 notes)
The black keys on a piano represent what is known as the flats (b) and sharps (#) in music.
A flat or sharp (as its name tends to suggest) will make a note lower (b) or higher (#) in
‘pitch’ or sound.
Black keys on the piano have two different names depending on whether or not the black
note you move to is lower or higher than the last note you played.
Find the first C on the picture. (3rd key from the left)
Now, go to the very next key after that one, it should be a black key as it separates the two
C,D white keys. This note will sound higher than the note C so therefore it is a sharp (#), a C#
to be exact.
You may also notice that some white keys do not have a black key between them. This
means that it has no # or b associated with that note.
Now, if we were to play every single key (including the black keys) starting from A, it would
be like this:
A, A#, B, C, C#, D, D#, E, F, F#, G, G# then back to A. (this is called the chromatic scale)
Here we have our 12 notes. All notes with a # will line up with a black key.
A B C D E F G A B C D E F G A (white keys)
A# C# D# F# G# A# C# D# F# G# (black keys)
Please remember this order of sharps is when you are playing from left to right (ascending) on a
piano or say on a guitar when you play one fret after another so the sound is getting higher.
E.G.
On the A string of your guitar if you play from the open string then the 1st fret, 2nd fret, 3rd fret, 4th
fret, 5th fret etc all the way up to the 12th fret it will be the same thing as above on the piano but only
the first octave.
If you start from the far right (highest) A and play each key on the way back down (descending) the
black keys will have their names changed to a flat. You will also notice the letter names (alphabet)
are being said backwards.
A B C D E F G A B C D E F G A (white keys)
Bb Db Eb Gb Ab Bb Db Eb Gb Ab (black keys)
Play the 12th fret of the A String on your guitar. This is A. Now play backwards i.e., 12, 11 10, 9, 8 etc.
If you do this all the way to the open string it will be the same as the above pattern but only to the
first octave.
A B C D E F G A B C D E F G A (white keys)
A#/Bb C#/Db D#/Eb F# /Gb G#/Ab A#/Bb C#/Db D#/Eb F#/Gb G#/Ab (black keys)
So here we have all the keys named with the correct names. You will see the black keys have 2
names both # and b. If you play from left to right (getting higher in pitch/sound) use the # name. If
you play from right to left (getting lower in pitch/sound) use the b name.
A A# B C C# D D# E F F# G G# A (ascending)
A Ab G Gb F E Eb D Db C B Bb A (descending)
If at this point this does not make sense to you then please go back and read from the beginning.
Don’t be worried if it seems impossible to get, it will make sense. I can’t stress enough how
important this is to the rest of my lesson plan so please take the time to make sure it sinks in.
Names of the guitar strings.
Each one of the six strings on the guitar has a name taken from the ‘musical alphabet’.
This is, of course, assuming a six string guitar in standard tuning.
The strings are called the following starting with the ‘top’ or ‘thickest’ string and working
down to the ‘bottom’ or ‘thinnest’ string.
These notes are produced when each string is struck or played ‘open’ or without a finger
pressed or touching that string on the fretboard.
E A D G B E
Now comes the important part, putting all that information on the guitar.
Every piece of theory you learn should be immediately transferred onto the guitar as that is the
point of learning it. Let’s take that chromatic pattern starting on A.
A A#/Bb B C C#/Db D D#/Eb E F F#/Gb G G#/Ab A
Below is a graph to represent the guitar fretboard up to the 12th fret. The 6 strings are going from
left to right across the graph and the 12 frets going down the graph.
Using the A string I will show how this pattern translates to the guitar.
E A D G B E
A#/Bb
B
C
C#/Db
D
D#/Eb
E
F
F#/Gb
G
G#/Ab
A
Start with the open A string. Then play up one fret at a time. Fret 1, 2, 3 etc all the way up to the 12th
fret. When you do this you are ascending as the notes are getting higher in pitch therefore you need
to use the names with sharps. If you start at the 12th fret and play backwards, 12, 11, 10, 9 etc you
are descending because the notes are getting lower in pitch and therefore you need to use the
names with flats.
Pick up your guitar and actually do this. Play each note one at a time and say its name to yourself.
Play the open A and say ‘A’, play the 1st fret and say ‘A#’, play the 2nd fret and say ‘B’, play the 3rd fret
and say ‘C’ etc all the way up to the 12th fret. Do this until you can do it forwards with #’s and
backwards with b’s without looking at the chart.
See how the pattern is the same as on the piano?
The last thing left to do in this lesson is to fill in the rest of the strings on the graph. This is done in
the same way but you start the pattern of notes beginning with the open strings name and carry on
from there. For example the first string is called E.
If I start the chromatic pattern from the note E and go up 12 notes I get this:
E F F#/Gb G G#/Ab A A#/Bb B C C#/Db D D#/Eb E
This is what will fill in the graph on both the Low and High E strings.
D String.
D D#/Eb E F F#/Gb G G#/Ab A A#/Bb B C C#/Db D
G String.
G G#/Ab A A#/Bb B C C#/Db D D#/Eb E F F#/Gb G
B String.
B C C#/Db D D#/Eb E F F#/Gb G G#/Ab A A#/Bb B
And now here is the graph with all six strings filled in using the information above.
E A D G B E
F
A#/Bb
D#/Eb
G#/Ab
C
F
F#/Gb
B
E
A
C#/Db
F#/Gb
G
C
F
A#/Bb
D
G
G#/Ab
C#/Db
F#/Gb
B
D#/Eb
G#/Ab
A
D
G
C
E
A
A#/Bb
D#/Eb
G#/Ab
C#/Dd
F
A#/Bb
B
E
A
D
F#/Gb
B
C
F
A#/Bb
D#/Eb
G
C
C#/Db
F#/Gb
B
E
G#/Ab
C#/Db
D
G
C
F
A
D
D#/Eb
G#/Ab
C#/Db
F#/Gb
A#/Bb
D#/Eb
E
A
D
G
B
E
If you have done it correctly then the notes of the 12th fret should be the same as the open strings
you started with, E A D G B E.
I give students blank copies of this graph and get them to fill it out at first with the graph in front of
them to copy from, and then after a few attempts, by memory. I will include an empty graph as the
last page for you to print out and practise on. I recommend you fill out one of these a day for 2
weeks and by then it will be installed into your memory.
Most important of all: DO IT ON THE GUITAR.
Start with the low E string. Play it ‘open’ and say ‘E’. Continue to play up the frets saying each ones
name remembering to say the sharp names as the notes are ascending. Do this till you reach the 12th
fret and say ‘E’ again.
Go to the A string and repeat.
Continue on with all other strings.
Once you memorize the pattern of notes you will be able to do this in a matter of minutes so it is not
very time consuming.
So ends the first lesson. This turned out to be rather long but it really is the basis of everything else I
want to talk about so it deserves the right amount of attention at this point.
E A D G B E
I hope by now you have spent time going over lesson one.
Before we move on to lesson two here is a simple test to see how well you know your fret board.
1) Pick a note at random from one of the 12 musical notes and say it in your mind. Now, pick a string
on the guitar and as quick as you can find your note and play it. Now check on the fret board chart to
see if you landed on the correct fret.
Do this six times, one for each string.
2) Play a note on your guitar completely at random on any string, even with your eyes closed if you
want. Keeping your finger on the fret, have a look and try to name that note. Now check on the fret
board chart to see if you named the fret correctly. Do these as many times as you can.
If you have to think for more than a few seconds to answer either of the two tests above I
recommend you keep working on lesson one for a while longer before moving on to lesson two .
If this seems easy then you should move on to the next lesson below.
Lesson 2:
The Major Scale.
To me the Major scale is the most important scale for all rock/metal guitar players to learn.
In fact I will go as far to say that in my opinion you only really need to learn this and one other scale,
the pentatonic minor scale. With the exception of unique colours that may want to be added from
time to time with exotic scales, these two scales will give all of the information needed to play in any
key, major OR minor, and use any mode at the drop of a hat. You can even learn to play in a
different key to the rest of the band and still sound ‘in tune’ but the colour added to the sound is at
the heart of what modes are all about to me.
Learn these scales well and the fret board will be yours.
Most people have heard of the term ‘scale’ used in a musical context. Music is made up from scales
as its very foundations. The term refers to how musical notes are arranged into usable sequences.
So, a scale is a sequence of individual notes, 8 notes in total that typically start and finish on notes
that have the same name.
On a piano, if I were to play from a C and play up all the white keys, one key at a time until I reach
another key called C I would have played 8 notes making up the C major scale C D E F G A B C.
On a guitar it would be like this:
C D E F G A B C
It is called a C Major scale for two reasons, because it starts and finishes on a C, and because the
order of notes creates a certain type of sound. Please read on...
Pick up your guitar and play an A major chord. Let it ring out and listen to the sound. Now play an A
minor chord and see if you can spot the difference. Some people say that Majors sound more ‘high’
and minors ‘low’. Others use the term most widely used, Major has a ‘happy’ sound and minor a
‘sad’ sound. When you play the C Major scale above it creates a happy, pleasing sound so therefore
it is referred to as a major scale. Coupled with the fact that it starts on a C it is called C Major.
This scale is a one octave scale as it consists of 8 notes, from a C to the very next C.
If you were to start on the first note of the TAB above, 3rd fret A string (C) and move up 2 frets to the
5th fret, in music it is said you have moved up a ‘tone’. Moving up one fret at a time is called a ‘semi
tone e.g. moving from the 3rd fret to the 4th fret is moving a Semi-Tone. A major scale has a set
pattern of tones and semi tones between each 8 notes to help create the Major sound.
Memorise this well:
TONE – TONE – Semi-Tone – TONE – TONE – TONE – Semi-Tone
Start by playing the 3rd fret A string. (C)
Move up a TONE to the 5th fret and play. (D)
Now move another TONE to the 7th fret and play. (E)
Now a Semi Tone to the 8th fret. (F)
Now a TONE to the 10th fret. (G)
Now move up a TONE to the 12th fret. (A)
Now move up a TONE to the 14th fret. (B)
Now move up a Semi Tone to the 15th fret. (C)
This is also a C Major scale; it is just all along one string.
C D E F G A B C
Play the two scales in the TAB’s one after each other. They sound the same.
With this pattern of tones and semi-tones you could start on any note on the fret board and play
your way up on the same string based on the order of tones and semi tones above and by doing so
you are guaranteed to have played a major scale. We will come back to one string scales soon so
take some time to make sense of this part.
Looking back to lesson one, there are 12 notes in western music so it is not surprising that there are
12 major scales. Scales that start on a fret that have 2 names can also have either of the two names,
# or b.
A Major
A#/Bb Major
B Major
C Major
C#/Db Major
D Major
D#/Eb Major
E Major
F Major
F#/Gb Major
G Major
G#/Ab Major
For ease of use in the following exercise I will refer to all the frets with two names as a flat (b).
Here are all the 12 Major scales in TAB in a one octave pattern.
C F Bb
|-----------------||-----------------||-----------------|
|-----------------||-----------------||-----------------|
|-----------2-4-5-||-----------------||-----------------|
|-----2-3-5-------||-----------0-2-3-||-----------5-7-8-|
|-3-5-------------||-----0-1-3-------||-----5-6-8-------|
|-----------------||-1-3-------------||-6-8-------------|
Eb Ab Db
|-----------------||-----------------||-----------------|
|-----------------||-----------------||-----------------|
|-----------5-7-8-||-----------------||-----------3-5-6-|
|-----5-6-8-------||-----------3-5-6-||-----3-4-6-------|
|-6-8-------------||-----3-4-6-------||-4-6-------------|
|-----------------||-4-6-------------||-----------------|
Gb B E
|------------------||-----------------||------------------|
|------------------||-----------------||------------------|
|------------------||-----------------||-----------6-8-9--|
|-----------1-3-4--||-----------6-8-9-||-----6-7-9--------|
|-----1-2-4--------||-----6-7-9-------||-7-9--------------|
|-2-4--------------||-7-9-------------||------------------|
A D G
|-----------------||-----------------||-----------------|
|-----------------||-----------------||-----------------|
|-----------------||-----------4-6-7-||-----------------|
|-----------4-6-7-||-----4-5-7-------||-----------2-4-5-|
|-----4-5-7-------||-5-7-------------||-----2-3-5-------|
|-5-7-------------||-----------------||-3-5-------------|
And here are the same 12 scales in two octaves. This means continuing past
C and playing until you reach yet another C. You would play 16 notes in
all. (8 x 2)
C F
|-------------------------5-7-8-||---------------------------0-1--|
|-------------------5-6-8-------||-----------------------1-3------|
|-----------2-4-5-7-------------||-----------------0-2-3----------|
|-----2-3-5---------------------||-----------0-2-3----------------|
|-3-5---------------------------||-----0-1-3----------------------|
|-------------------------------||-1-3----------------------------|
Bb Eb
|---------------------------5-6-||---------------------------8-10-11----|
|-----------------------6-8-----||--------------------8-9-11------------|
|-----------------5-7-8---------||-----------5-7-8-10-------------------|
|-----------5-7-8---------------||-----5-6-8----------------------------|
|-----5-6-8---------------------||-6-8----------------------------------|
|-6-8---------------------------||--------------------------------------|
Ab Db
|---------------------------3-4-||-------------------------6-8-9--|
|-----------------------4-6-----||-------------------6-7-9--------|
|-----------------3-5-6---------||-----------3-5-6-8--------------|
|-----------3-5-6---------------||-----3-4-6----------------------|
|-----3-4-6---------------------||-4-6----------------------------|
|-4-6---------------------------||--------------------------------|
Gb B
|---------------------------1-2-||---------------------------6-7--|
|-----------------------2-4-----||-----------------------7-9------|
|-----------------1-3-4---------||-----------------6-8-9----------|
|-----------1-3-4---------------||-----------6-8-9----------------|
|-----1-2-4---------------------||-----6-7-9----------------------|
|-2-4---------------------------||-7-9----------------------------|
E A
|----------------------------9-11-12-||---------------------------4-5--|
|--------------------9-10-12---------||-----------------------5-7------|
|-----------6-8-9-11-----------------||-----------------4-6-7----------|
|-----6-7-9--------------------------||-----------4-6-7----------------|
|-7-9--------------------------------||-----4-5-7----------------------|
|------------------------------------||-5-7----------------------------|
D G
|--------------------------7-9-10-||---------------------------2-3--|
|-------------------7-8-10--------||-----------------------3-5------|
|-----------4-6-7-9---------------||-----------------2-4-5----------|
|-----4-5-7-----------------------||-----------2-4-5----------------|
|-5-7-----------------------------||-----2-3-5----------------------|
|---------------------------------||-3-5----------------------------|
Normally at this point I would also be talking to my students about other techniques like correct
fingering etc, but as this is not about technique and just for this forum I will skip past this and carry
on with the fret board explanation.
So at this point we are nearly at the end of lesson two. The last thing left to do is to start putting
these on the guitar.
1) Play all of the one octave patterns IN THE ORDER ABOVE from start to finish saying the name
of each scale to yourself before you begin playing it.
Once you make it through with no mistakes move on to playing the 2 octave patterns from
start to finish saying each scales name before playing it.
This should become part of your everyday practise regimen.
2) Pick one of the 12 notes at random, for this exercise I will pick G.
Go to the low E string and play the one octave major scale starting from each fret called G
that is on that string.
For example there is a G on the 3rd fret, so play your one octave scale starting from there.
There is also a G on the 15th fret so play your one octave major scale starting on the 15th fret.
It will sound an octave higher.
Go to the A string and find the next G. It is on the 10th fret. Play your one octave major scale
from there. There is also a G on the 22nd fret but it is a little hard to play the pattern from
there but it’s worth noting there is a G there...
Continue to do this down all of the strings. Find every G you can and see if you can find the
major scale pattern around it.
When starting from the D string you will have to adjust your pattern for the shift in tuning
from the B string. Shift everything on that string up 1 fret.
Once you think you have found all the G’s there are and played all the G major scales you
can, pick a new note and start again.
3) Don’t forget one string patterns. Every time you find a note you have 2 options, the one or
two octave patterns above, or following the one string up using the TONE, Semi-Tone
pattern and playing a one string major scale. Make sure you do this from all the notes you
find as well.
Basically the idea is to be able to pick any note, find it on any string and know where you can go
from there in any direction at a moment’s notice. Once you can do this you are well on your way to
mastering your fret board.
That brings us to the end of lesson 2. Don’t underestimate how important this is even though it
sounds like a simple thing and don’t allow yourself to get caught up memorizing or favouring one key
more than another. If you practise in the order given it will allow each scale to get an equal amount
of practice. Don’t rush and if you can practice to a metronome and if you don’t have one, get one.
Over the last 2 lessons we have talked about the names of the musical notes, where they are on the
fret board, what a major scale is and where to play 12 different major scales! Not bad for 2 lessons.
This lesson will take a break from a lot of music theory talk and will focus more on moving the scales
you have learnt so far round the fret board more and more. The practice examples at the end of
both lesson 1 and 2 (and every lesson from now on) should be practised every day, even when it
becomes easy as it is also a great way to practise other techniques like speed picking or hammer on
or pull off techniques.
This lesson will be talking about playing by patterns. I wanted to talk about using notes first as this is
the best way to learn so that you are able to talk to other musicians in their own language but
patterns can help to span your theory knowledge quickly without having to ‘re learn’ information
you already have stored in your mind. So let’s move on to lesson 3...
Lesson 3:
We are going to be playing the same major scales you learned in the previous lesson so don’t think
this is all new information, it is just a different way of moving the same thing round the fret board.
When presented with a fret board scale pattern it will show you a picture of a fret board laying flat
across the page, low E string at the bottom high E string at the top, with dots on specific strings/frets
showing you all of the frets used with that scale at once. The pattern we are using first is for a Major
scale. When attempting to play these patterns start from the lowest note and play one note at a
time from left to right moving up each string until the highest note is reached. The numbers below
the pattern tell you what fret to play on.
This is a C major scale because the pattern (position of the dots) follows the TONE – TONE – SEMI
TONE – TONE – TONE – TONE – SEMI TONE pattern and it also starts and finishes on a C. When
played it should be exactly the same as the C major scale from lesson 2.
2nd fret 3rd fret 4th fret 5th fret
The red notes show you the first and last notes of the scale. The 3rd fret on the A string (first red dot
above) is C. The 5th fret on the G string (the last red dot above) is also C. There are 8 dots in total
creating a major scale. I hope you can see how this is played and sounds the same as the C major
scale in TAB from lesson 2. It is just another way to look at things. What this does not do, however, is
lock you into a specific places on the fret board. Allow me to explain...
This is what is known as a movable pattern which means you can move the above major scale
‘pattern’ to any other fret starting on either the A string or the E string (diagram to follow) and as
long you keep the fingering pattern the same you will be playing a new major scale.
Here is the A major scale on the E string:
4TH fret 5th fret 6th fret 7th fret
If you play this you will play the A major scale. Make sure you pay attention to the fret numbers
underneath the pattern to make sure you start at the right place. This is called an A major scale
because the fingering pattern creates a ‘happy’ major sound and you are starting from a fret called
A. If you play the one octave A major scale pattern from lesson 2 it will be exactly the same.
If you move this same pattern down to start on the 3rd fret of the E string (G) and follow the fingering
pattern you will be playing the G major scale.
2nd fret 3rd fret 4th fret 5th fret
This is G major.
Notice how all of the above patterns look the same except for the string it starts on and the fret
numbers below.
So what good is all this? Well if you memorize this pattern and learn the names of your frets you will
be able to move your major scales round without feeling like you have to learn each and every scale
as a separate pattern. By learning what they have in common you cut down the amount of useless
information you need to retain.
Example:
If I said play me a C major scale starting on the A string you should first of all find where C is on the
A string. It is on the 3rd fret. Now starting from the 3rd fret A string play the above fingering pattern.
Once again you just played C major in one octave.
If I said play me F major on the low E string you would find F (1st fret E string) and play the fingering
pattern from there. It will be the same as the one octave major scale from lesson 2.
If you go back to the order of scales in the second lesson and play through from start to finish pay
close attention to your fingering. They should all look the same as the above patterns just starting
from different frets each time.
It is important to note this should not change the way you play the scales from the last lesson, it is
just a different way of doing the exact same thing.
So far the pattern you have gives you a one octave scale from either the E or A strings. If you want to
play in 2 octaves like in lesson 2 the diagrams will look different as there will be more notes.
Since the two octave patterns covers all 6 strings including the B string which is tuned a semi tone,
or one fret lower than the rest, a different pattern for both the E and A string major pattern is
needed.
Here is the 2 octave major pattern for the E string. Notice that the first 8 notes are the same as the
one octave pattern, the rest of the 8 notes are the 2nd octave. Pick a fret to start this pattern on:
Again this is the same as playing the 2 octave pattern presented in TAB in lesson 2 based off scales
starting on the E string. The Red dots show where the root notes are. There are now three red dots
because we have extended through to another octave.
Here is the 2 octave pattern starting on the A string. Again, notice how the first 8 notes are the same
as the one octave pattern.
And, this is the same as the 2 octave pattern starting on the A string as in lesson 2.
So after nearly 4 pages of information the only thing new to remember is that your fingers are
repeating a pattern when you are playing any one of the scales from lesson 2. This will make it easier
to play scales all over the fret board at random. It is important to realise how much of this you
already know.
Test your new knowledge:
Repeat this test several times picking a different note each time using both b’s and #’s as well.
Pick a note, let’s say F.
Go to the low E string and find F. (1st fret)
Play the one octave pattern up and down.
Play the two octave pattern up and down.
Find the next F on the same string. (13th fret)
Play the one octave pattern up and down.
Play the two octave pattern up and down.
Go to the A string and find F. (8th fret)
Play the one octave pattern up and down.
Play the two octave pattern up and down.
Find the next F on the same string. (20th fret)
Play the one octave pattern up and down.
Play the two octave pattern up and down. (You may run out of room with some scales)
already you would have covered most of your fret board just doing the above. You should carry on
to other strings, find all the other F’s and start doing one string patterns or using the one octave
pattern from above. You may need to adjust the B string up one fret to allow for the tuning
difference if you start a one octave pattern on the D string or higher. Once you have done this the
entire fret board is unlocked in your chosen key. Repeat until all keys have been covered.
Once you do this for some time all of the different patterns will start to ‘join together’ and you will
see the fret board as one big pattern. This is good.
The last thing I will touch on in this lesson is the pattern that is also created by the first and last note
of a scale. Both notes share the same name and are 8 notes apart so they are called octaves. The
two notes can be played one at a time or simultaneously depending on the sound you want to
create.
C F Bb Eb Ab Db Gb B E A D G
There is also a pattern here, just like the scales. If you want to play an octave from either the low E
or the A string, play this pattern starting from the letter name you choose. Both patterns below are
the same, but start on a different string that is all.
E String Pattern
A String Pattern
If you want to move the octave pattern down further to the D and G string a different pattern is
required because of the B string tuning difference.
Here is the pattern for these two strings:
D String Pattern
G String Pattern
Knowing these patterns is a very quick way to find another place to start your one or two octave
patterns or even the single string patterns. Playing these octaves can also be a great way to enhance
a solo...
I will also include the pattern for the one string scale as it is a great way of linking different parts of
the fret board together. For example you could be soling using the G major 2 octave pattern down
on the 3rd fret low E string. You decide you want to play higher on up the neck but you do not want
to jump all the way up to the 15th fret, well play the one string scale on the G string until you reach
the pattern you want to move to. This way you do not have to stop playing to be able to move from
one pattern to another, essentially linking the patterns together.
This pattern can be used on all 6 strings. The first red dot can be played from any fret or it can be the
open string...
Well I think that is enough for lesson 3. Lesson 4 will be about understanding key signatures and how
to make the most of what information they provide.
There are enough exercises included in this lesson so I will not add more at this time. Continue to go
over each and every exercise that is included with the 3 lessons so far
I hope by now you feel you have an increased knowledge of both your fret board and scales.
If you have been practising the examples from the last 3 lessons you should now be able to pick any
of the 12 musical notes, find it in every position on the fret board and be able to play some form of a
major scale from that point. If you can do that then you have almost unlocked your fret board and
you now need to know what to do with all this new information as it will not make sense until you
start applying it in your playing. If you are not quite there yet do not worry you will get it. It is a hard
subject and with some more practise it will come to you. If you can’t pick up your guitar and find any
scale you can think of within a few seconds go back and continue working on lessons 1, 2 and 3 for a
while longer.
Lesson 4 is going to deal with the subject of key signatures, what the hell are they and why do we
need to know what they are telling us? With a basic understanding of key signatures the knowledge
you already have will be taken to new heights. It is important once again for me to point out that
almost all of which I am about to discuss you already know from previous lessons. All we are doing
now is looking at why. Don’t think you have to learn more and more and more. Once you can put
your major scale patterns anywhere the hardest part is already over the rest is just the icing.
Lesson 4
So far you have learned to play 12 different Major scales. Each one of those scales has a different
key signature so therefore there are 12 key signatures to learn. Remember you already know how to
play them; you are just going to learn what it is you are playing that is all. As you know a scale is
made up of 8 different notes and it is the names of those 8 notes that give you your key signature.
So what does a key signature do? A key signature tells us, of the 8 notes we know that make up a
scale, which notes are natural, sharp or flat.
A key signature is always placed at the beginning of each new stave of music. It looks like this:
The key signature is the group of 4 sharps. This is telling us that this key has 4 sharps in it. The lines
or spaces on the musical stave the #’s intercept tell us the names of the notes that use a sharp. We
will not be worrying about that part of the theory at this point but it is worth knowing that much for
the moment. You will not need to know where to draw them, but you will need to memorize how
many #’s or b’s there are in each of the 12 keys. The key signature above is for E Major as it has 4
sharps in it.
Below is a list of the 12 scales we have learnt and the names of the 8 notes they contain.
When you play a scale from lesson 2, the notes you play will be the exact notes listed below from
the scale with the same name. Pick a scale and play it, look at the list below and compare it with the
fret board diagram and see how each of the frets you play matches the notes in the sequences
below.
On the left we have all the keys that contain flats, on the right are the scales containing sharps.
You may have noticed C is listed in both columns and yet it contains no sharps or flats. Remember
you have already learned all of the following scales in previous lessons.
C D E F G A B C (0 b’s) C D E F G A B C (0 #’s)
F G A Bb C D E F (1 b) G A B C D E F# G (1 #)
Bb C D Eb F G A Bb (2 b’s) D E F# G A B C# D (2 #’s)
Eb F G Ab Bb C D Eb (3 b’s) A B C# D E F# G# A (3 #’s)
Ab Bb C Db Eb F G Ab (4 b’s) E F# G# A B C# D# E (4 #’s)
Db Eb F Gb Ab Bb C Db (5 b’s) B C# D# E F# G# A# B (5 #’s)
Gb Ab Bb Cb Db Eb F Gb (6 b’s)
Below is a chart of all of the major key signatures showing how many sharps and/or flats they
contain.
If you follow it round clockwise into the sharp keys (to the right) it is called the cycle of 5ths.If you
follow it round anti-clockwise into the flat keys (to the left) it is called the cycle of 4ths. This diagram
is very helpful and is well worth memorizing as it gives you the order in which the sharps and/or flats
appear.
If you compare this list from the previous page with the diagram above you will see they contain
similar information. The list says the key signature C major has no sharps or flats, the diagram above
shows a picture of a music staff with no sharps or flats above the C, meaning no sharps or flats.
The list says E major has 4 sharps, F#, C#, G#, D#. The diagram shows a picture with 4 sharps on it
above the letter E. Really what you have is two different ways of displaying the same information.
Pick the one that works the best for you.
(You may notice in all my lessons so far I have referred to the 2nd fret on the low E string as Gb. The
above chart I pulled of the net refers to the same note as F#. These both refer to the same fret so
therefore the scale will still sound the same. It is not a mistake on my part. I hope you see how they
are the same, however.)
The first thing you want to do is memorize how many sharps and/or flats each key has and what they
are. Both the list and diagram show you a list of scales in order of how many sharps and flats each
scale contains, from 0 up to 6.
C major has 0, for example.
F major has one flat; Bb.
Bb has 2 flats Bb, Eb and so on.
G major has 1sharp, F#.
D major has 2 sharps, F#, and C # and so on.
The good news is each new scale contains the same sharps/flats as the last scale in the list, + 1 extra.
So the list of added sharps looks like this for each scale.
C major
G major F#
D major F# C#
A major F# C# G#
E major F# C# G# D#
B major F# C# G# D# A#
F# major F# C# G# D# A# E#
And the flat keys:
C major
F major Bb
Bb major Bb Eb
Eb major Bb Eb Ab
Ab major Bb Eb Ab Db
Db major Bb Eb Ab Db Gb
See the pattern? If you learn the order of scales and the order the sharps and flats appear in, you
should be able to figure out a new key signature with only a little thought, and with some practise,
at the drop of a hat. These sorts of patterns make it much easier to learn things like this so be sure to
look out for these. Look for patterns yourself that I have not mentioned, it all helps and it will help
you to find a way that suits your learning style. Remember these are just ways I have come up with
that work for me but they may not suit everyone so please find a way that suits you best if this does
not work for you.
Now, as for putting this onto the guitar...
If you have spent a fair amount of time on lesson one you should now have a good grasp on the
notes on your fingerboard. If you do, this will be easy. If you don’t this will help you to learn so it is a
win – win situation really.
Play all the scales from lesson 2.
As you do so try to name each fret as you play it.
Note: be mindful of the key signature. Take another look at the key signatures above. Notice that a
key signature will only ever contain sharps or flats, never both. So as you play up a scale and name
notes make sure you use the right name for the frets that have 2 different names. If you play a Db
major scale make sure you say flat for all those notes. If you play E major, say sharp etc.
The last thing I want to point out in this lesson is how this also relates back to something I talked
about in lesson 2.
TONE – TONE – Semi-Tone – TONE – TONE – TONE – Semi-Tone
This is the formula for constructing a major scale, remember?
Now how does this relate?
If you take any one of those 12 scales above and look at the intervals or spaces between the notes,
you will find it matches this pattern:
TONE – TONE – Semi-Tone – TONE – TONE – TONE – Semi-Tone
Every time.
Example:
G Major
G A B C D E F# G
TONE from G to A
TONE from A to B
SEMITONE from B to C
TONE from C to D
TONE from D to E
TONE from E to F#
SEMITONE from F# to G
You could replace the letters with any other scales’ letters and the pattern will work every time.
Again, these are the sorts of patterns you need to find and memorize. It will cut down on the huge
amounts of unnecessary crap you would have to learn otherwise.
Ok, so that is about enough for lesson 4. I would like to point out that I am almost at the end of this
tutorial about scales and modes. I have one more point I want to cover in lesson 5 in relation to
scales and that is the topic of the relative minor scale. Once this is covered and understood you will
have truly unlocked your fret board and you will be able to find and play any scale, Major or minor at
a moment’s notice. Lesson 6 will be the explanation of what modes are and how they can be used
for different sonic effects. You will not have to learn another scale pattern other than the ones you
already know to do either of these 2 things.
This lesson is going to be all about the natural minor scale. You will learn about why it is also called
the relative minor scale (or sometimes just minor scale although this is too vague as there is more
than one kind of minor scale. We will discuss that in a future lesson). Each minor scale is in some
way connected to a major scale through theory and with a few simple steps learning the similarities
will help to unlock the minor scale all over the fret board like we already have done with the major
scales. Parts of this may seem hard at first if you don’t have any musical theory knowledge other
than what we have spoken about in these lessons but don’t give up you will master it in time.
Practise, practise, practise.
Lesson 5:
In lesson two I spoke of the difference between a Major and a minor chord or scale. A major chord
or scale will produce a ‘happy’ sound, whereas the minor chord or scale will produce a ‘sad’ sound.
Because of this it is important to match the sound of the scale you choose with the sound of the
chord progression itself. If your rhythm guitarist says the song is in D major then you would most
likely play a D major scale over top for any solo ideas. If he said it was in Bb major then you play a Bb
major scale over top etc. It is the matching of the major chord and scale together that is important
here.
But what if he said it was in E minor? You can’t play an E major scale over the top because then you
will be mixing happy with sad and therefore it will clash and just sound bad. The correct thing to do
is to play a different scale, the natural minor scale, in this case the E natural minor scale. This will
work perfectly with the rhythm guitar playing an E minor chord progression. We are matching the
sad sounding chord with the sad sounding scale.
Like the major scale covered in the first 3 lessons there are patterns to learn for the natural minor
scale and likewise there is also some short cuts for making this easier to learn so do not fear...
Like the major scale there are also 12 different natural minor scales each with their own key
signature.
Here is the TAB for the 12 different natural minor scales in one octave.
C natural minor F natural minor Bb natural minor Eb natural minor
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|------------------|
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|------------------|
|-------------3-5-|-----------------|-----------------|-------------6-8--|
|-------3-5-6-----|-------------1-3-|-------------6-8-|-------6-8-9------|
|-3-5-6-----------|-------1-3-4-----|-------6-8-9-----|-6-8-9------------|
|-----------------|-1-3-4-----------|-6-8-9-----------|------------------|
Ab natural minor Db natural minor Gb natural minor B natural minor
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-------------------|
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-------------------|
|-----------------|-------------4-6-|-----------------|-------------------|
|-------------4-6-|-------4-6-7-----|-------------2-4-|---------------7-9-|
|-------4-6-7-----|-4-6-7-----------|-------2-4-5-----|--------7-9-10-----|
|-4-6-7-----------|-----------------|-2-4-5-----------|-7-9-10------------|
E natural minor A natural minor D natural minor G natural minor
|-------------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
|-------------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
|---------------7-9-|-----------------|-------------5-7-|-----------------|
|--------7-9-10-----|-------------5-7-|-------5-7-8-----|-------------3-5-|
|-7-9-10------------|-------5-7-8-----|-5-7-8-----------|-------3-5-6-----|
|-------------------|-5-7-8-----------|-----------------|-3-5-6-----------|
And here is the TAB for the 2 octave natural minor scales.
C natural minor F natural minor
|---------------------------6-8-|-----------------------------1----|
|---------------------6-8-9-----|-----------------------1-2-4------|
|-------------3-5-7-8-----------|-----------------0-1-3------------|
|-------3-5-6-------------------|-------------1-3------------------|
|-3-5-6-------------------------|-------1-3-4----------------------|
|-------------------------------|-1-3-4----------------------------|
Bb natural minor Eb natural minor
|-----------------------------6-|-------------------------------9-11----|
|-----------------------6-7-9---|-----------------------9-11-12---------|
|-----------------5-6-8---------|-------------6-8-10-11-----------------|
|-------------6-8---------------|-------6-8-9---------------------------|
|-------6-8-9-------------------|-6-8-9---------------------------------|
|-6-8-9-------------------------|---------------------------------------|
Ab natural minor Db natural minor
|-----------------------------4-|----------------------------7-9--|
|-----------------------4-5-7---|---------------------7-9-10------|
|-----------------3-4-6---------|-------------4-6-8-9-------------|
|-------------4-6---------------|-------4-6-7---------------------|
|-------4-6-7-------------------|-4-6-7---------------------------|
|-4-6-7-------------------------|---------------------------------|
Gb natural minor B natural minor
|-----------------------------2-|--------------------------------7----|
|-----------------------2-3-5---|-------------------------7-8-10------|
|-----------------1-2-4---------|-------------------6-7-9-------------|
|-------------2-4---------------|---------------7-9-------------------|
|-------2-4-5-------------------|--------7-9-10-----------------------|
|-2-4-5-------------------------|-7-9-10------------------------------|
E natural minor A natural minor
|----------------------------------10-12-|-----------------------------5---
|-------------------------10-12-13-------|-----------------------5-6-8-----
|---------------7-9-11-12----------------|-----------------4-5-7-----------
|--------7-9-10--------------------------|-------------5-7-----------------
|-7-9-10---------------------------------|-------5-7-8---------------------
|----------------------------------------|-5-7-8---------------------------
D natural minor G natural minor
|------------------------------8-10-|-----------------------------3----|
|----------------------8-10-11------|-----------------------3-4-6------|
|-------------5-7-9-10--------------|-----------------2-3-5------------|
|-------5-7-8-----------------------|-------------3-5------------------|
|-5-7-8-----------------------------|-------3-5-6----------------------|
|-----------------------------------|-3-5-6----------------------------|
Practise this in the same way you did the major scales in the first three lessons. The pattern is the
same just replacing major with minor. I have not included the extra patterns I did for the major
scales because if you have practised the other lessons enough you will know how to build your own
patterns from the TAB I have provided.
In the end these major and minor scale shapes will serve a good purpose when it comes to practise
and technique building but when it comes to improvising it is better to ‘think bigger’ than these
small boxes/patterns. Once you have learnt them all as described in these lessons you will be able
to see the fret board as one big picture which gives you more freedom in your playing.
Here’s a tip: When doing a string bend, picture the one string scale pattern in front of your playing
position. This will show you if your next note choice in your key is one semitone (1 fret) or a full tone
(2 frets) away. This way you will know if the bend needs to be a half or full bend to stay in tune with
the song.
What is a relative minor scale?
Here is a list of the 12 minor scales showing the sharps and/or flats for each scale.
A minor
E minor F#
B minor F# C#
F# minor F# C# G#
C# minor F# C# G# D#
G# minor F# C# G# D# A#
D# minor F# C# G# D# A# E#
And the flat keys:
A minor
D minor Bb
G minor Bb Eb
C minor Bb Eb Ab
F minor Bb Eb Ab Db
Bb minor Bb Eb Ab Db Gb
Do you recognize any of this? Look at the list of sharps and flats. They are EXACTLY the same as the
pattern for the major scales in lesson 4. It is now representing minor scales not major.
If you directly compare both lists you will get to see which major scales are related to which minor
scale. Because 2 scales share the same key signature, we say they are related.
Relative major/minor chart
C major/A minor -
G major/E minor F#
D major/B minor F# C#
A major/F# minor F# C# G#
E major/C# minor F# C# G# D#
B major/G# minor F# C# G# D# A#
F#/D# minor F# C# G# D# A# E#
And the flat keys:
C major/A minor -
F major/D minor Bb
Bb major/G minor Bb Eb
Eb major/C minor Bb Eb Ab
Ab major/F minor Bb Eb Ab Db
Db major/Bb minor Bb Eb Ab Db Gb
So, here you can see which scale is related to which. I think it kind of speaks for itself but here is an
example or 2.
C major: C D E F G A B C
A minor: A B C D E F G A
Both scales contain the same notes (no #’s or b’s) each one just starts and finishes on a different
note in the sequence.
G major: G A B C D E F# G
E minor: E F# G A B C D E
Again, the same notes (1 #) but in a different order.
See the pattern? Essentially they are the same scale; they just start and finish on a different note. It
is the sequence/ distance between each note that changes its characteristics and sound qualities.
Tone – Tone – semitone – Tone - Tone – Tone – semitone (major/happy)
Tone – semitone – Tone – Tone – semitone – Tone – Tone (minor/sad)
Relative majors/minors are used in song writing all the time. If a song starts in a minor key, it is quite
likely that it will change to its relative major in the chorus. (E minor in the verse, G major in the
chorus for example). Of course this can work the other way round too.
So now you know what a natural minor and relative major/minor is and how to find them on the fret
board.
What you need to do next is memorise what major and minor scales are related to each other.
C major and A minor, G major and E minor, E major and C# minor etc. If you learnt the key signatures
from the previous lesson you would have already learnt the key of its relative minor scale and
therefore you don’t have a need to learn additional information.
The last thing I will do is reiterate something I said earlier. Relative majors/minors are the same scale
but each one starts/finishes on a different note in the sequence of notes that they share. If you think
about this for a moment you may see another pattern... If they share a key signature and therefore
notes, then when you play a G major scale you are playing the same notes as if you were playing an
E minor scale. So, if you learnt all the major patterns all over the fret board and learn which minor
scale is related to each of those major scales, you have essentially learned all the natural minor
scales all over the entire fret board already.
Play a G major scale slowly saying the name of each note till you say E (relative minor) and stop.
G, A, B, C, D, E...
Now continue to pay the scale from that point (E) and you are playing E natural minor.
This is essentially a way to break the ‘don’t mix happy with sad’ thing I said earlier. Next time you are
playing over an E minor backing of some kind try and play round with your G major (relative to E
minor) scales and see what happens... (Replace this example with one in a different key often so you
don’t get stuck in one key)
A word of warning with this approach: It is not enough to simply play the G major scale over an E
minor chord and expect it to work. While nothing will sound ‘out’ nothing will really quite sound ‘in’
either. Instead, when playing the G major scale be aware of where the note that matches the name
of the relative minor scale (E) is and play round it as mentioned above. This is what gives the illusion
you are actually playing in E minor rather than G major for example but without having to re learn
lots of minor scales patterns.
I hope this last part makes sense; I always have a bit of trouble explaining it to my students.
As always if there are any questions about this or other lessons post a reply on the forum and I will
do my best to help you out. I think there will only need to be one more lesson in this series and that
will explain what a mode is, how it is different to using majors and minors and what they can be
used for. Till then, keep practising, heaps.
So this will be the last lesson in this series on scales and modes for the guitar. One thing I must stress
right now is that these lessons represent just ONE way of doing things and by no means the only way
or even the most ‘correct’ way, it’s just something I have formulated over the past few years that
made the most sense to me and the way I learn. I hope you feel like you have gained something
from these lessons but if things still seem unclear don’t worry you may just need to keep searching
for a tutor that explains things in a way you better understand. All musicians could benefit from
learning from more than one tutor.
Some of you may find that now you have learned what certain scales and modes are, you really had
no need to learn them in the first place as they are not really appropriate to what you are playing
while others will feel like a blanket has been lifted off the fret board for the first time. No matter
what the outcome is I am sure you will be glad you learnt a bit more about your instrument and the
fret board knowledge alone should improve basic techniques in your everyday playing.
As always continue to practise heaps and don’t rush, good things take time and time is all we have.
Lesson 6:
What the hell are modes and why do we need to learn them?
Modes are actually a fairly simple concept that breaks a scale, in our case, a major scale into multiple
usable parts that will better harmonise with specific/related chords in a diatonic chord progression,
or, to possibly offer a different scale choice than the standard major or minor to create different
harmonies than the usual western harmonies we are used to. There are actually several different
ways to use modes in a song writing context but since the point of these lessons was to show you
the appropriate scale choices for rock/metal I will only show you a couple of different ways that I
found to be the most useful every day. It takes a bit of explaining and theory knowledge for it to
completely make sense that is why I made the modes lesson come after the lessons on major and
minor scales, so I would have the chance to introduce some theory before tackling the modes
subject. This should hopefully make this next part a little easier to understand.
What I have already done throughout these lessons so far is teach you 2 of the 7 different modes,
where they are all over the fret board in every key, how they relate to each other and how to find
the other 5 modes without learning from scratch.
How did I do that?
The major and natural minor scales are 2 of the 7 modes we are going to learn about. That’s right.
The major scale is a mode. The natural minor scale is a mode too. So we only have 5 more to learn.
Sweet.
In a major scale there are 7 notes in total not including the repeat of the first note to create an
octave. In other words, repeating the same letter at the start and end of a scale.
C D E F G A B = C major
we know that A natural minor is related to C major because it has the same key signature.
A B C D E F G = A natural minor
But really all that has been done to create A natural minor is the order of the notes in C major have
been ‘re arranged’ to create a new scale. So can the notes be re arranged into any other order? Yes
they can. As there are 7 different notes in a major scale it gives us 7 different places we could start a
new scale that still share/use the same key signature.
C D E F G A B C (C major)
D E F G A B C D
E F G A B C D E
F G A B C D E F
G A B C D E F G
A B C D E F G A (A natural minor)
B C D E F G A B
This represents all 7 modes in C major. You will see the natural minor is the 6th mode.
This is where things start to get a little tricky...
In the world of modes we use different names other than major or minor. Instead we use Latin
terms.
The major scale becomes the Ionian mode and the natural minor scale becomes the Aeolian mode.
Here is a complete list of all 7 modes respectively.
Ionian (major)
Dorian
Phrygian
Lydian
Mixo-Lydian
Aeolian (natural minor)
Locrian
So in C major the list of modes are as follows:
C Ionian - C D E F G A B C (major)
D Dorian - D E F G A B C D
E Phrygian - E F G A B C D E
F Lydian - F G A B C D E F
G Mixo-Lydian - G A B C D E F G
A Aeolian - A B C D E F G A (natural minor)
B Locrian - B C D E F G A B
In G major the list of modes are as follows:
G Ionian - G A B C D E F# G (major)
A Dorian - A B C D E F# G A
B Phrygian - B C D E F# G A B
C Lydian - C D E F# G A B C
D Mixo-Lydian - D E F# G A B C D
E Aeolian - E F# G A B C D E (natural minor)
F# Locrian - F# G A B C D E F#
So does this mean you have more scale shapes to learn? Well, yes and no. Yes because I will TAB out
each mode in 2 octaves but that is all. If you want to know it in all the other positions including one
string patterns you should be able to, and will have to, work it out from the info above yourselves.
And the ‘no’ is because these shapes are really only going to be helpful to you to help you learn the
sound a particular mode has compared to a major or natural minor scale, which is really important
to do by the way. All of this theory and pattern work is here to help you understand the ‘why’ part of
modes only.
Here is the TAB for all 7 modes in one position, 2 octaves. Each one starts on G so you are able to
directly compare the difference in tonality between modes. These are all movable shapes so you can
learn the patterns and move the mode to the correct starting position based on the key you chose to
play or practise in. Be sure to listen out for the major (happy) and minor (sad) modes and any other
note differences you may hear.
G Ionian (major) G Dorian
|---------------------------2-3-|-----------------------------3----|
|-----------------------3-5-----|-----------------------3-5-6------|
|-----------------2-4-5---------|-----------------2-3-5------------|
|-----------2-4-5---------------|-----------2-3-5------------------|
|-----2-3-5---------------------|-------3-5------------------------|
|-3-5---------------------------|-3-5-6----------------------------|
G Phrygian G Lydian
|-----------------------------3-|---------------------------2-3----|
|-----------------------3-4-6---|---------------------2-3-5--------|
|-------------------3-5---------|-----------------2-4--------------|
|-------------3-5-6-------------|-----------2-4-5------------------|
|-------3-5-6-------------------|-----2-4-5------------------------|
|-3-4-6-------------------------|-3-5------------------------------|
G Mixo-Lydian G Aeolian (natural minor)
|-----------------------------3-|-----------------------------3----|
|-----------------------3-5-6---|-----------------------3-4-6------|
|-----------------2-4-5---------|-----------------2-3-5------------|
|-----------2-3-5---------------|-------------3-5------------------|
|-----2-3-5---------------------|-------3-5-6----------------------|
|-3-5---------------------------|-3-5-6----------------------------|
G Locrian
|-----------------------------3----|
|-------------------------4-6------|
|-------------------3-5-6----------|
|-------------3-5-6----------------|
|-------3-4-6----------------------|
|-3-4-6----------------------------|
I already mentioned this but I will say it again. All of these modes I Tabbed out start on G. This is not the same as playing all the modes in G. Normally each new mode will start on the next note that appears in the scale. This is just so you can compare the sound of each mode directly against each other. To put the modes into full context here is a picture I found on the net just now after a quick search. It shows the fret board with the frets marked to show all the notes in G major over most of the fret board. The exploded view used shows where the modes divide the scale up over the fret board. The top one expands the fret board out to show the patterns in full so there is a double up of frets from pattern to pattern. Make sure you look at the fret numbers above the diagrams for this one. The smaller bottom one is the better one to look at for a true view of a guitar neck but both should show you what I am trying to explain.
Here you can see all of G major mapped out over the fret board with divisions showing where each
part of the scale breaks off to become a mode. It is like a jigsaw puzzle for your guitar.
By now hopefully you can see that modes are really all about theory and are for players that really
want a true and intimate knowledge of what they are playing. When playing or writing with modes
you are more likely to stay in perfect harmony with the passing chords in a chord progression. Of
course this only works if you are playing over some kind of chord based backing or rhythm section
which, in metal is quite often NOT the case as metal is more often non diatonic in nature. In other
words a metal song is less likely to stick to a solid key signature for any length of time. In this
instance my technique I have devised for learning modes is really helpful. I will be coming to this
shortly.
In a more blues/rock type band where full chords are more likely to be used the more traditional
method for using modes will work well. Both techniques create quite different sounding results. I
will start by discussing the more traditional blues/jazz/rock approach which requires the most theory
knowledge. The biggest hurdle to truly mastering this method is that it also requires the musician to
have a reasonable knowledge of chords and how they are constructed. If you do not, give it a go
anyway. There are still plenty of useful ideas you will take away with you from this but if you learn
more about chords after this lesson and then re-read this lesson you will find more information you
missed the first time through. Because of this I will keep the chord talk to a minimum.
So far I have talked about different scales being related to each other. It turns out the natural minor
scale was related to the major scale because of the modes theory. It would then be fair to assume
that chords can be related to these modes somehow too.
Each mode will have a chord that is related to it.
Here is a list of the modes and the ‘type’ of scale it is.
Ionian- major
Dorian - minor
Phrygian - minor
Lydian - major
Mixo-Lydian major/dominant 7
Aeolian - minor
Locrian – half diminished
This also shows you the tonality of the different modes.
Ionian is a major mode and therefore can be related to a major chord.
Dorian is a minor mode so therefore can be related to a minor chord.
Phrygian is a minor mode so therefore can be related to a minor chord.
Lydian is a major mode so therefore can be related to a major chord.
Mixo-Lydian is a major mode but can be related to a major and/or dominant 7 chord.
Aeolian is a minor mode so therefore can be related to a minor chord.
Locrian is a half Diminished mode so therefore can be related to a half Diminished chord.
MODE RELATED CHORD
C Ionian - C D E F G A B C - C major chord
D Dorian - D E F G A B C D - D minor chord
E Phrygian - E F G A B C D E - E minor chord
F Lydian - F G A B C D E F - F major chord
G Mixo-Lydian - G A B C D E F G - G7 chord
A Aeolian - A B C D E F G A - A minor chord
B Locrian - B C D E F G A B - B half diminished chord
So a major scale is rearranged into 7 different scales called modes. Each mode will have
either a major, minor, Dom 7 or half dim quality to it and each mode has a related chord.
With me so far?
Another good way to learn the sound of each mode is to play the related chord before and after playing the mode. Play a G major chord – play the G Ionian mode – play a G major chord Play an A minor chord – play the A Dorian mode – play an A minor chord Play a B minor chord – play the B Phrygian mode – play a B minor Chord Play a C major chord – play the C Lydian mode – play a C major chord Play a D7 chord – play the D Mixo-Lydian mode – play the D7 chord Play an E minor chord – play the E Aeolian mode – play the E minor chord Play an F# half Dim chord – play F# Locrian mode – play F# half Dim chord
The good news is once again the pattern and order of these modes stays the same as you change to
different keys. So far I have shown it in C and G major. It is always Ionian, Dorian, Lydian etc no
matter what the key is. Likewise with tonality Ionian is always major, Dorian is always minor etc.
Here it is in E major:
MODE RELATED CHORD
E Ionian - E F# G# A B C# D# - E major chord
F# Dorian - F# G# A B C# D# E - F# minor chord
G# Phrygian - G# A B C# D# E F# - G# minor chord
A Lydian - A B C# D# E F# G# - A major chord
B Mixo-Lydian - B C# D# E F# G# A - B7 chord
C# Aeolian - C# D# E F# G# A B - C# minor chord
D# Locrian - D# E F# G# A B C# - D# half diminished chord
Remember this is still just one scale, E major, broken down into more usable bite size pieces.
The idea is that when you play to a backing in E major and any one of the above mentioned chords
are played in that progression then play the mode that is said to be related to the chord at that time.
If you had a chord progression that looked like this:
E major – C# minor – F# minor – B7 –
Then your mode/scale pattern will look like this:
E Ionian – C# Aeolian – F# Dorian – B Mixo-Lydian –
If you look at the above list you should see that E major is related to the E Ionian mode so that is the
best mode to play over this chord. C# minor is related to the C# Aeolian mode so that is the best
mode to play over that chord and so on...
By keeping things ‘related’ things sound more in tune and cohesive. Over all, though, you are still
just playing the notes from an E major scale and nothing more. You are just learning to be able to
play from any point from within it. I can’t stress this one point enough. If it did not make sense read
it again and again until it does.
This is all I will say about this mode method. I hope it gives you a basic understanding of the theory
and thoughts behind modes. Next I will talk about another method I use more in a heavy rock/metal
song where a solid key signature is not always obvious. This happens because of the use of power
chords. A power chord is neither a major or minor chord as it only consists of the root note and the
5th note of the scale. The 3rd note has to present to be able to tell if a chord is major or minor.
Because the chords themselves are not giving away the key, it becomes harder to tell what scale/s to
use. Having said this, most metal tracks have a very definite minor feel to them as the idea of a
major or ‘happy’ sounding metal track is normally not desirable.
The most commonly used scale in metal is actually the pentatonic minor scale, which is not one of
the scales I have talked about in these lessons so if you don’t know that scale, go learn it now! Do
the same things I showed you in these lessons; learn the patterns everywhere off every note and
string in every key.
So, you have a listen to your new track and you feel it is in a minor key. So then a minor scale/mode
is the way to go.
Try the pentatonic minor scale first and see what happens. If it sounds great and all the notes fit
then the chances of a slightly more unusual mode working is slim. This will be because, for the
pentatonic minor to work well, the backing needs to be relatively straight forward also. If your
backing is a little more ‘eastern’ sounding or just has a different ‘flavour’ to it then one of the modes
may well do the trick.
Look at the modes list again. You should see that there are 3 different minor modes.
Dorian
Phrygian
Aeolian
Now you have 3 different options other than the pentatonic minor scale to choose from. Learn the
patterns I gave you above and play each one starting on the root note of your song. If your song is in
E, start each mode from E. If it’s in C, start them on C etc.
Play each mode over you backing track and see which one ‘fits’ the best. One should work better
than the other or sometimes you may be left with a choice of 2. Moving between modes and the
pentatonic minor can work well too. As the Aeolian mode is also the natural minor scale it is also a
more ‘normal’ sounding minor scale choice and may not suit more out there ‘colourful’ backings.
I hope this is easy enough to follow, it is hard to explain.
The next bit is the tricky bit to wrap your head around so.... here we go.
Once you have done what I mentioned above and found what you think is the best mode/scale
choice for your backing then you need to make sure you know it all over the fret board, not just the
one position you tried it in for the test. So by now you may be thinking ‘so we do have lots more
scale patterns/positions to learn!’ well not really, no. Think about what we did when we discovered
that the major and minor scales where related. Well because we know that the major and minor
scales are related and that they are in fact both modes it is fair to assume that other modes can be
considered to be related to each other too. If you figure out all 7 modes in one key, all of those
modes are related to each other in the same way the major and minor scales are. If you can then
figure out what major scale (Ionian mode) it all relates back to then you will know the key signature
and since you have already learned all the major scales all over the fret board you have already
learned everything related all over the fret board.
Let say your backing is in C as you are using a drop C tuning and you find that the C Phrygian mode
sound the best when played over the backing but you don’t want to be stuck in that one position.
What do you do?
By following the order of modes:
Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixo-Lydian, Aeolian and Locrian you can see that the Phrygian
mode is the 3rd mode in the series.
So if we make it a C Phrygian what would that make the first Ionian mode?
What Key has a C Phrygian?
Ab major does.
MODE RELATED CHORD
Ab Ionian - Ab Bb C Db Eb F G - Ab major chord
Bb Dorian - Bb C Db Eb F G Ab - Bb minor chord
C Phrygian - C Db Eb F G Ab Bb - C minor chord
Db Lydian - Db Eb F G Ab Bb C - Db major chord
Eb Mixo-Lydian - Eb F G Ab Bb C Db - Eb dom 7chord
F Aeolian - F G Ab Bb C Db Eb - F minor chord
G Locrian - G Ab Bb C Db Eb f - G half diminished chord
So it would be fair to assume that since you want to play the C Phrygian mode and the mode shares
the same key signature as Ab major, if you were to play the Ab major scale (that you already know
right?) but plan to start and finish on the C within the scale, then you are in fact playing C Phrygian.
No need to learn a whole new pattern then.
This will work in any other key too so here is one more example.
Let’s say our song is D minor sounding and you decide that D Dorian suits the song the best.
What Key has D Dorian?
C major does.
MODE RELATED CHORD
C Ionian - C D E F G A B C - C major chord
D Dorian - D E F G A B C D - D minor chord
E Phrygian - E F G A B C D E - E minor chord
F Lydian - F G A B C D E F - F major chord
G Mixo-Lydian - G A B C D E F G - G7 chord
A Aeolian - A B C D E F G A - A minor chord
B Locrian - B C D E F G A B - B half diminished chord
So if you play your C major patterns but centre your playing round a D, then it will sound in tune and
you will be playing in D Dorian.
This is almost the complete opposite of the previous method. It will not be as ‘pure’ sounding but it
will help to add more ‘colour’ to your playing.
Of course you could do the same thing for a major scale too. According to our modes list there are 2
different major modes, Ionian and Lydian. So if you want to add a little flavour to your track and are
sick of playing the same old major scale try using the Lydian mode instead.
Let’s say your song is in G major. You want to play a G Lydian.
What key has a G Lydian?
D major does.
MODE RELATED CHORD
D Ionian - D E F# G A B C# - D major chord
E Dorian - E F# G A B C# D - E minor chord
F# Phrygian - F# G A B C# D E - F# minor chord
G Lydian - G A B C# D E F# - G major chord
A Mixo-Lydian - A B C# D E F# G - A7 chord
B Aeolian - B C# D E F# G A - B minor chord
C# Locrian - C# D E F# G A B - C# half diminished chord
So if you played the D major scale (centred round G) over the G major progression then you would
be playing the G Lydian scale and it will add a whole new dimension to your sound.
The best thing to do is try it. Record yourself playing a progression in G major:
G major – E minor – C major – D major
And then played a solo over it in D major you will notice it sounds different, but not wrong, just
different. This is a technique used widely by guitarists such as Steve Vai.
I think with that I have come to the end of talking about how I personally use scales and modes and
therefore, the end of these lessons. I hope I have managed to explain everything in an easy to
understand manor and that you feel like you have learned something. I am sorry some of this got
quite long winded but I feel it is important to have as in depth explanation as possible when it comes
to this sort of thing.
I will say one more time that this is only one way of doing the scale and modes thing and by no
means the only way. If you disagree with anything I have said that’s cool, everyone has their own
way of doing things.
I also must mention that these lessons only cover a small fraction of all the scales there are in the
world. The scales/modes I talked about only represent the ones I feel work best for me and the ones
I feel are most commonly used in rock/metal.
There are still other kinds of scales worth looking into such as the Harmonic minor, Melodic minor
and other altered scales but these will only be good every now and again for very specific tones or
flavours.
I wish you all the luck in the world with your guitar playing in the future and don’t hesitate to
contact me if you have any questions relating to these lessons.
Cheers and thanks for reading.
Nigel.
© Nigel Mauchline 2011-04-05 not to be published or distributed without written permission.
