Everything we’re going to discuss in these guitar scale articles and videos will relate to the Major Scale Master Pattern.
This pattern show you the map of the territory.
The idea is that we are exploring different ways to organize all those red dots into something meaningful to make music on the guitar with. Kinda like putting a jigsaw puzzle together.
Examples of puzzle pieces:
- Five CAGED scale patterns – one for each of the CAGED chord shapes
- Five Pentatonic scale patterns
- Seven 3-note-per-string scale patterns
- Basic chords, power chords and bar chord shapes and patterns
- Arpeggios and triads and their inversions
These are the tools we use to make music on the guitar. So we’ll look at each in turn.
Just remember… it is IMPORTANT to relate ALL of these shapes and patterns to the Master Pattern. That’s because they all exist inside this Master pattern.
Scales and Chords are the same thing…
First we start with a scale. Then we make chords from the notes in that scale.
Each scale has 7 different notes. And each of those 7 notes have a chord. So each scale for each key (12 major and 12 minor keys) has its own ‘family’ of 7 chords.
Look at playing single notes from the scale as MELODY.
Look at playing 2 (or more) notes together as HARMONY.
Chords are really harmony. Although chords, strictly speaking (according to the theory demi-gods), have 3 notes minimum.
A two-note chord like a power chord, is not really called a chord. It’s a diad. But who are we to quibble about such intricacies? Let’s just call them chords.
We’ll look at chords in more detail under the Guitar Chords section. But this is just to give you a general understanding that chords and scales are inextricably tied together – essentially, they are the same thing… Just played and organized differently.
They are pieces of the same MASTER PATTERN puzzle.
How to learn the major and minor scales at the same time
If you’re unsure about something please leave your comment or question below…
I understand that, starting a pentatonic scale with the index finger results in minor pentatonic scale. While starting the same with the pinky on 6th string makes it a major pentatonic scale. I s this correct?
Does te same argument apply to the diatonic scale, is there an easy way to distinguish between a major scale and the minor scale?
There are 5 basic pentatonic scale patterns. Just saying starting with the index finger makes it a minor pentatonic is the wrong kind of thinking.
In fact, every minor pentatonic is also a major pentatonic. So if you start with your index finger it is a major AND a minor pentatonic. E.g. The C major pentatonic is also the A minor pentatonic. Every major pentatonic has a ‘relative’ minor pentatonic. They both use the same notes.
C Major pentatonic has the notes C D E G A
The Ami pentatonic has the notes A C D E G
Same notes in both scales.
Fingers don’t have anything to do with it. Fingers don’t determine whether a scale is minor or major. The order of the notes and the intervals determine that.
Your 2nd question isn’t correct either because there are 3 types of minor scales. So which minor scale are you referring to?
Go to the file download section and download Guitar Chord Secrets and read that. That will give you a better understanding of scales and intervals.
Better yet, read GCS and follow along with the upcoming theory and scale lessons I will be making… starting early next week here on Guitar Toolbox.