In music, a scale is a set of musical notes that provides material for part or all of a musical work. Scales are typically ordered in pitch, with their ordering providing a measure of musical distance. Scales differ from modes in that scales do not have a primary or “tonic” pitch. Thus a single scale can have many different modes, depending on which of its notes is chosen as primary.
You can find examples of several useful guitar scales on this scales chart.
The Major Scale
The major scale consists of eight notes. The first three notes are whole steps, followed by a half step, then three more whole steps and then a final half step (remember that each fret on the guitar is a half step).
Using the key of C the scale is as follows:
| I | II | III | IV | V | VI | VII | VII |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| do | re | mi | fa | sol | la | te | do |
| C | D | E | F | G | A | B | C |
If the Major scale is comprised of 8 notes where is the 8th note?
When you see the major scale written as “1W, 1W, 1H, 1W, 1W, 1W, 1H” you have to realize that you're NOT counting your starting note! Whoever came up with this system takes it for granted that you're going to know your root note and then continue from there. It's not where is the 8th note, but rather where is the first note. Technically, this should be written as “Root, 1W, 1W, 1H, 1W, 1W, 1W, 1H” That gives you the root on both ends and all should be well with the world.
So in the case of the D major scale, it would be:
(root) D then one whole step(1W)to E then another whole step(1W)to F# - and not F as you have it then your half step(1H)to G then three whole steps to A, B and C# (not C) and then the final half step (1H)to D
What is the difference between C Ionian and D Dorian?
If C Ionian is C D E F G A B C and D Dorian is D E F G A B C D, then what is the difference between the two?
The difference is not so obvious. To fully appreciate the difference, you need to play a chord that has a C in it over the C Ionian, and play a chord that has D in it over D Dorian. This will light up the mode. You can't really hear the difference by just playing the scale by itself.
By the way, you don't have to play them in order, or diatonically. But you really need to emphasize the mode you want by ending on that note. So for Dorian, you really want to end that melodic phrase with a D note.
Minor Scales
We know that for every major key, there is also a corresponding minor key. We also know (if we remember our discussion on relative minors in Happy New Ear) that, since C is the VI in the key of Eb major, C minor is the relative minor of Eb major. What you may not know is that there are three traditional minor scales for any given minor scale.
The natural minor scale is simply the C major scale written in the key of Eb major. It incorporates all the flats one finds in that key (Bb, Eb and Ab). If you can figure out what major key your relative minor belongs to, then you should be able to write out the natural minor scale without a problem.
And harmonic minor scales as well. The only difference between the harmonic minor scale and the natural minor scale is the VII note. The striking thing about this scale is the interval between the VI and the VII, now a step and a half. This gives the scale an eastern feel to it.
Melodic minor scales muddle things even further by having the gall to be totally different depending on which way you are going. The ascending scale is just the C major scale with a minor third instead of the regular third (Eb instead of E). The descending melodic minor scale is the same as the natural minor. This may sound silly, but I’ve always been fascinated by the fact that the step by step (or half step in some cases) intervals in a descending natural or melodic minor scale are the same as the intervals in the ascending major.