Hey Friend,
I showed you the Chromatic scale yesterday, which lays out all the possible notes within an octave. I had you play the C chromatic scale starting on the C note at the second string, first fret.
Simple, right?
Today, let's get a little more musical.
The major scale is the next logical step. Of the twelve notes in the chromatic scale, we're only going to use seven in the major scale. The seven notes we can use are determined by the "key signature."
Key signature is a fancy term for the notation in sheet music that tells you which key the song is written in. Maybe you've seen sheet music before that has the sharp (#) or flat(b) symbol at the very beginning of the music. That is the key signature.
That tells you what key the song is in. If you don't see anything, it's the key of C major. If you see three sharps, that's the key of A major.
Okay, so what - what does it matter which key we're in?
Well the key signature tells you exactly which notes in that key are sharp notes. It also works the same for flat notes. Take a look at the exercise files. The PDF shows each of the major key signatures and the corresponding number of sharps (or flats).
Now notice I only showed you the major key signatures for the "natural" notes - C, D, E, F, G, A, B. There are quite a few more major key signatures, and then a whole host of minor key signatures to play with.
But let's not concern ourselves with those - I know at this point you're probably pulling your hair out!
Frankly, for Rock guitar players, you don't really need to know many of these keys. For the most part you'll be playing (and writing) songs in C, A, D and E. We can leave the rest of the keys to the Classical and Jazz musicians.
THE PATTERN
So let's get to the major scale pattern. First, a few definitions. - Interval - an interval is simply the space between two notes.
- Whole step (Tone) - When we learn a scale, each note has an interval of either a half step or a whole step. On guitar, a whole step is a difference of two frets. For example, if you play a C note and then a D note, you have moved your finger up two frets from the third fret on the fifth string (A) to the fifth fret on the fifth string (or the open fourth string [D]).
- Half step (Semitone) - this is one fret in movement. Like playing the open B string then the C note at the first fret.
When we play a major scale, we have a specific pattern of whole steps and half steps.
It doesn't matter which key you're playing in - the pattern stays the same.
Whether you play a C major scale (with no sharp or flat notes) or a B major scale (with 5 sharps), you'll use the exact same pattern. Here's the pattern:
Whole Whole Half Whole Whole Whole Half (or Tone Tone Semitone Tone Tone Tone Semitone)
Easier to just write W W H W W W H (T T S T T T S)...
These will be the spaces between each note we play. To make it a little easier to see, I'll use asterisks (*) to indicate notes:
* W * W * H * W * W * W * H *
From a guitarist's perspective, each W is a 2 fret change, while each H is a 1 fret change.
* 2 * 2 * 1 * 2 * 2 * 2 * 1 *
Using the key of C major, here's how it looks:
C 2 D 2 E 1 F 2 G 2 A 2 B 1 C
Play the C note. Then up 2 frets to the D note. Up 2 frets to the E note. Now up 1 fret to the F note. And so on...
The same pattern works identically for the key of D major. We'll have some different notes, but the pattern works:
D E F# G A B C# D
Can you remember "Whole Whole Half Whole Whole Whole Half?"
Yes you can. You can now play a major scale in any key you want. Just apply the pattern and move your fingers accordingly.
Those seven notes will also represent the basic harmonic pattern of chords that can be used within the key. From those chords we can create all the chord progressions that make up the songs we love.
More on that tomorrow...
Peace~
Dave
P.S. - Again, using this pattern will allow you to write out a scale so you can know the notes that make a chord. A major chord has the first, third and fifth notes from the scale it is named after.
Want to know the notes of a D major chord? Write out the D major scale (see above) and then just count - one - three - five. D is the one note, F# is the three note and A is the five note.
But you can make chords even simpler. How?
Play power chords. With Easy Power Chords, you only need the one and five notes. In the example I just talked about, you use the D and A notes. Boom, there's your power chord!
Want a C5 power chord? Just use the C and G notes together.
If you want to play songs TODAY, you can use power chords to substitute for any chord you're having trouble with (can you say F or B major?). I show you how in Easy Power Chords. You'll be able to play these chords (and many, many more) using simple chord patterns.
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