Hey Friend,
Ooo, I got the new Sweetwater catalog in the mail yesterday!
I love going through and looking at all the toys I’d love to buy.
It’s like back in the day when the Sears catalog used to come out before Christmas with the expanded toy section. We’d fight over who was going to go through it first to circle all the things we wanted Santa to bring us.
Except now, I don’t have to share the catalog with anyone! Nobody in my house is battling me to check out music gear...
Okay, nostalgia aside, how’d you do with the major scales for G, B, E and F? Didn’t know it was a quiz, did you?
Key of G major:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 (8)
G A B C D E F# (G) | | | | | | |
W W H W W W H
Key of B major:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 (8)
B C# D# E F# G# A# (B)
| | | | | | | W W H W W W H
Key of E major:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 (8)
E F# G# A B C# D# (E)
| | | | | | | W W H W W W H
The last natural note major key is F major.
F major is a little different than the other keys because it’s the first time with the natural root note scales (the first note in the scale) that one of the subsequent scale notes comes back as a flat.
This is again because we must follow the pattern to get the correct intervals for a major scale.
Here’s the key of F major:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 (8)
F G A Bb C D E (F)
| | | | | | | W W H W W W H
The B note is flatted. Which means the note is one fret lower than a B note on the guitar.
That brings up another rule when you’re studying melody and scales:
You can only use a note within a scale one time.
What I mean is, you can’t have a note be both a natural AND an accidental. For example, if the key of F major looked like this:
F G A A# C D E F
| | | | | | | W W H W W W H
Right off the bat you should see a problem. There’s no B note, and A is in there twice. Technically, the pattern is there, but that would get very confusing in the sheet music of a song!
It's really easy to see in this example, but if you get into obscure keys someday (like Db or Gb), it can get crazy confusing!
Here’s the good news.
For most of us Rockers, we’re only going to need to be familiar with a handful of keys for guitar. Most likely C, D, E, G and A will be the main ones.
Okay, that’s a lot to digest, and frankly, probably more than you need to know. But you know me, I like to give until it hurts… ;-)
The point of all this is to prove to you that the pattern works - always. Regardless of which scale you play, it’s going to sound like a major scale.
As we roll into the weekend, I’ll give you the scales played out so you can hear them.
Alright, gotta roll. Boss a got me workin’...
Peace~
Dave
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