I know the basic scale in all keys... pentatonic, is it called?

But anyways how many other types are there that i get to start learning?

There is a ridiculous amount of scales.

Major(ionian), minor(aoelian)

plus the other modes(dorian, phrygian, lydian, mixolydian,locrian)

plus the two minor modes, harmonic and melodic

then there are pentatonic scales.

then there are unknown amounts of strange scales from all over the world, that may or may not include the 12 notes that we know.

And of course every one of these scales can be applied to every key.

And I'm sure i'm missing a few important ones :p

Oh lordy... pentatonic is "the basic scale" now is it? :D

Ok, well, here are some basic ones:

Major (t-t-s-t-t-t-s)
Harmonic Minor (t-s-t-t-s-aug2-s)
Melodic Minor (t-s-t-t-t-t-s)
Natural Minor (t-s-t-t-s-t-t)

Where t = tone (whole step), s = semitone (half step), and aug2 = augmented 2nd (which is 3 semitones).

In addition to that, there are the modes of the major scale:

Ionian (t-t-s-t-t-t-s)
Dorian (t-s-t-t-t-s-t)
Phrygian (s-t-t-t-s-t-t)
Lydian (t-t-t-s-t-t-s)
Mixolydian (t-t-s-t-t-s-t)
Aeolian (t-s-t-t-s-t-t)
Locrian (s-t-t-s-t-t-t)

These are formed from different degrees of the major scale. Ionian is the same as the major scale, Dorian is formed from the major scale starting on the 2nd degree, Phrygian is formed from the major scale starting on the 3rd degree, etc.

It's important to think of these as scales in their own right, rather than as forms of the major scale.

You will notice that natural minor is the same as Aeolian.

The Pentatonic scale is a 5 note scale, formed from the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th and 6th degrees of the Major scale.

Minor Pentatonic is a 5 note scale, formed from the 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 7th degrees of the Natural Minor scale.

The Blues Scale is a 6 note scale, which is the same as minor pentatonic, but with the addition of the flattened 5th.

There is also the chromatic scale, of course, which is just every note. Then there's the whole tone scale, which is just t-t-t-t-t... each note a whole tone above the last.


There are more scales, such as the diminished scale, and the modes of the melodic minor, but methinks you don't want to be getting into those yet.

Too many, I don't even think Jaco could memorize all of them...
Major(ionian), minor(aoelian), modes(dorian, phrygian, lydian, mixolydian,locrian)
2 minor modes, harmonic and melodic, and the pentatonic scales.
In &$&&$*^sane man...
||_-soto-_||

Here's one of many places to see some scales for bass...

http://www.angelfire.com/id/bass/

:bawl:

And the whole note scale...can't forget that one. :p

Originally posted by Wrong Robot
And the whole note scale...can't forget that one. :p

I didn't. See my post :D

d'oh...how did I miss that :p


Is there also an Augmented scale?

Originally posted by Wrong Robot
d'oh...how did I miss that :p


Is there also an Augmented scale?

Not that I'm aware of. According to Levine, the scale associated with the augmented chord would be the whole tone scale.

that's what I was thinking too.

I knew about the diminished scale, and then my thought process went...well if there is diminished there must be augmented, but then again, an augmented scale is likely to just be the whole tone scale, or a scale very very similar to it.
:p

at anyrate, I'm sure jaco knew ALL these scales. at least in his prime.

my personal favorite is the mongolian scale, 1, b2, 3, 4, 5, b6, 7, 1. think thats right

Originally posted by paintandsk8
my personal favorite is the mongolian scale, 1, b2, 3, 4, 5, b6, 7, 1. think thats right

that's neat...I almost mistook it for phrygian...then I realized the natural 3rd. :D

Is that a major 7th or a minor 7th? If minor, then that is also the 5th mode of the harmonic minor. Which is like Phrygian, but with a major 3rd.

Scales schmales..

All you need to know probably 99% of the time is Ionian, Dorian, Mixolydian, Aeolian and Major and Minor Pentatonic.

This should get you happily through the vast majority of rock, 12 bar blues, reggae, ska, funk, pop, metal... and everyone will think you're right on the money :)

No but seriously tho, those I mentioned I think are the easiest to use and probably the most applicable to every day music, jams, songs, gigs etc. One you have those down, i.e. so you can use them and recognise where and when to use them, you can move on.


That said, Melodic Minor has some awesome modes, and the chords derived from it are nice n' tasty!

Last time I posted I was moaning about never getting to use flat 5ths in my basslines. Then I had rehearsal that night and my band have come up with a chorus with the progression GMaj > Gdim > DMaj > Ddim - yeeehaaa! Flats 5ths are the way forward baby, I'm gonna hit 'em with the weirdest jazz lines I can muster :D

it's a major 7th in the mongolian