Major and Minor Scales

Now what the scale is?

Scale is a collection of notes. There are many types of scales,we read further
But for now we have to concentrate on major scale.

#-# sign means sharp
b-b sign means flat

• There are seven notes A B C D E F G
• The note slightly higher than the A is A#
• A# and Bb are both the same.
• The note slightly lower than B is Bb.
• so in over all there are 12 notes.

A A# B C C# D D# E F F# G G# A
or
A Bb B C Db D Eb E F Gb G Ab A

• Note B and E has no sharp(#)
• And note C and F has no flat(b)

The ‘C’ major scale

Major scale sounds indian music.like sa re ga ma .In ‘C’ major scale the notes we play are:
C D E F G A B C

• In ‘C’ major scale there is no sharp and no flat.
• To do this exercise you must know the notes on the fretboard of guitar.
• So your first exercise is to remember the notes on the fretboard.
• You know the open string notes, but again I repeat E A D G B E.
• So if you play ‘A’ string on first fret what it will sound.Guess!
• It’s A# .O.K.And same patter will follow for all the strings.

• But remember if you play ‘B’ string first fret.What note it will sound.
• It’s ‘C’ not ‘B#’ because ‘B’ has no sharp.Same as for ‘E’ strings.

So in this way try to recognize the notes on the fretboard.
How to find the major scale notes?

Now I will tell you that how can you find major scale notes.

• There is a formula for it.
• W-means whole step and h-means half step.
• Whole step covers two frets.If you play note ‘C’ the whole step for ‘C’ is ‘D’.
• Half step for ‘C’ is ‘C#’.
• Remember whole step covers two frets and half step covers one fret.
• So the formula is, W W h W W W h
• compare it with ‘C’ major scale.‘C’-W-’D'-W-’E'-h-’F'-W-’G'-W-’A'-W-’B'-h-’C’

Practicing scale improves your finger movements.And with the help of scales you can play any song you want.Because all songs are on scales.

The ‘G’ major scale

G A B C D E F# G
In ‘G’ major scale there is one sharp.
Now compare it too with the formula given above.
‘G’-W-’A'-W-’B'-h-’C'-W-’D'-W-’E'-W-’F#’-h-’G’

The ‘D’ major scale

D E F# G A B C# D
In ‘D’ major scale there are two sharps.Including the sharp of 'G' major scale. i.e F#.
Now compare it too with the formula given above.
‘D’-W-’E'-W-’F#’-h-’G'-W-’A'-W-’B'-W-’C#’-h-’D’

The ‘A’ major scale

A B C# D E F# G# A
In ‘A’ major scale there are three sharps.Including the sharp of 'D' major scale. i.e F#,C#.
Now compare it too with the formula given above.
‘A’-W-’B'-W-’C#’-h-’D'-W-’E'-W-’F#’-W-’G#’-h-’A’

The ‘E’ major scale

E F# G# A B C# D# E
In ‘E’ major scale there are four sharps.Including the sharp of 'A' major scale. i.e F#,C#,G#.
Now compare it too with the formula given above.
‘E’-W-’F#’-W-’G#’-h-’A'-W-’B'-W-’C#’-W-’D#’-h-’E’

The ‘B’ major scale

B C# D# E F# G# A# B
In 'B' major scale there are five sharps.Including the sharp of 'E' major scale. i.e F#,C#,G#,D#.
Now compare it too with the formula given above.
‘B’-W-’C#’-W-’D#’-h-’E'-W-’F#'-W-’G#’-W-’A#’-h-’B’

The 'F#' major scale

F# G# A# B C# D# F F#
In 'F#' major scale there are five sharps.Including the sharp of 'B' major scale. i.e F#,C#,G#,D#,A#.
Now compare it too with the formula given above.
‘F#’-W-’G#’-W-’A#’-h-’B'-W-’C#'-W-’D#’-W-’F’-h-’F#’

The 'C#' major scale

C# D# F F# G# A# C C#
In 'C#' major scale there are five sharps.Including the sharp of 'B' major scale. i.e F#,C#,G#,D#,A#.
Now compare it too with the formula given above.
‘C#’-W-’D#’-W-’F’-h-’F#'-W-’G#'-W-’A#’-W-’C’-h-’C#’

The 'G#' major scale

G# A# C C# D# F G G#
In 'G#' major scale there are five sharps.Including the sharp of 'B' major scale. i.e F#,C#,G#,D#,A#.
Now compare it too with the formula given above.
‘G#’-W-’A#’-W-’C’-h-’C#'-W-’D#'-W-’F’-W-’G’-h-’G#’




In the way I explain you the different major scales is known as cycle of 5th.
Because from the 5th note of the every scale I made different scales.
After 'C' major scale I explain you 'G' major scale.Because 'G' is the 5th note of 'C' major scale.
C D E F "G" A B C

And you noticed that the sharps increased by one in every scale.
When the scale reached 5 sharps it stops there only .

Minor Scales

We read about major scales above and trick to find out major scale notes.

In major scale we have formula W W h W W W h

In minor scales we too have a formula for it.

W h W W h W W- This formula is for finding minor scales.
When you play minor scales you'll notice that it sounds sad.

I will explain you one minor scale the rest you can find yourself.
This is not at all difficult,you can do it.

The 'A' minor scale

A B C D E F G A

Now you can notice here that the notes in the 'A' minor scale are the same as in  the 'C' major scale.
This is known as relationship between major and minor scale.
In the 'C' major scale the 6th note is 'A'.

In every major scale ,the 6th note has a relation to that minor scale.

The 'E' minor scale

E F# G A B C D E

Here you will notice that the notes in the 'E' minor scale has the same note as in the 'G' major scale.
Go to 'G' major scale and you'll find the 6th note of  'G' major scale is 'E'.

So this is a relationship of 6th.