Title: The Minor Scale
Level: Beginner
Style: Heavy Metal Rhythm
Instructor: Ky MacPherson
Hey kids, my name is Ky, and I am going to teach you the Minor scale!
If you are confused and/or discouraged by the discussion of the various
"modes" or "scales", then this lesson is for you! The minor scale is
very popular in heavy metal, as well as a lot of other types of music.
So even if you don't care for heavy metal, you might learn something!
To me the minor scale sounds sadder, more emotional than the major scale.
Check out some previous lessons for a discussion of the major scale.
I will go out on a limb and say that 95% of all heavy metal is in
either a MINOR key, or in the CHROMATIC key. You are already familiar
with the chromatic key (whether you know it or not!) ... it is simply
the collection of all the notes on the fretboard. The MINOR scale is a
subset of the CHROMATIC scale. Let me also point out that the
PENTATONIC MINOR scale is a subset of the MINOR scale.
Let me now define some important terms:
An INTERVAL is the distance between two notes. Two very important
intervals that you need to know are the HALF-STEP, which is two
consecutive notes in the CHROMATIC SCALE, i.e. two adjacent frets,
and the WHOLE-STEP, which equals two HALF-STEPS.
The ROOT of a scale is the first note of the scale, and the scale is
named after the ROOT note. For example, when you hear a reference to
the "key of B minor" - the B is the root note.
OK! Now we are ready to learn the minor scale.
whole half whole whole half whole whole
step step step step step step step
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 1 | | 2 | 3 | | 4 | | 5 | 6 | | 7 | | 1 |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
(Root) (Root)
Let's do a specific example. First I will write out all the notes
in the G chromatic scale:
G - Ab - A - Bb - B - C - Db - D - Eb - E - F - Gb - G
Remember that the flats ("b"s) correspond to the black keys on the piano.
But on your guitar, these are just 12 consecutive frets starting with a "G".
(Any G will do fine!)
Now lets select the notes which make up the G minor scale.
G - - A - Bb - - C - - D - Eb - - F - - G
There you have the G minor scale! Painless, wasn't it!
Let me end this lesson with some muscial examples.
Here we are ascending and descending in the G minor scale:
G A Bb C D Eb F G F Eb D C Bb A G
E|---------------------------------------------------|
B|---------------------------------------------------|
G|---------------------------------------------------|
D|---------------------------------------------------|
A|---------------------------------------------------|
E|---3--5--6--8--10-11-13-15-13-11-10-8--6--5--3-----|
Now here's an easier way to play it, using several strings:
G A Bb C D Eb F G F Eb D C Bb A G
E|---------------------------------------------------|
B|---------------------------------------------------|
G|---------------------------------------------------|
D|---------------------3--5--3-----------------------|
A|------------3--5--6-----------6--5--3--------------|
E|---3--5--6-----------------------------6--5--3-----|
Finally, here's a simple G minor lick:
G D G A Bb D Bb A G D G A Bb D Bb A
E|-----10-----------10---------|-----10-----------10---------|
B|---8-----8--10-11----11-10---|---8-----8--10-11----11-10---| etc ...
G|-----------------------------|-----------------------------|
D|-----------------------------|-----------------------------|
A|-----------------------------|-----------------------------|
E|-----------------------------|-----------------------------|
It is helpful to have some kind of map of the fretboard, so that you
can find notes easily. One of the previous lessons contains an ASCII
fretboard map. There is also a PostScript file that creates maps
for many different scales and modes, however, I can't tell you where to
get that! I couldn't find it at any ftp sites. If demand is high, maybe
I will include it in a future lesson.
In our next lesson we will look at power chords, the fundamental tool
of the heavy metal rhythm guitarist! See you then!
--
Ky MacPherson (KMACPHE1@UA1VM.UA.EDU)
"Yeah, but what are you gonna do" - Homer Simpson
(I am currently moving so don't expect a quick response!)
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FUTURE LESSONS
--------------
No Name Style Level Instructor
25 Polychords Theory A Kevin Morgan
26 Power Chords Heavy Metal Rhythm B Ky MacPherson
27 The Tonic Heavy Metal Rhythm B Ky MacPherson
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