Scale !!!

[Darkzenhar]

Hey,

I wanted to ask whats behind me memorizing the major scale on two octaves while saying the notes and the sound of the notes...

I'm asking cause i want to know later on how can i test that am becoming good at it...

also how just memorizing that scale going to be actually used...

FYI ... my english is not that good thats why its kinda difficult for me to ask about whats really on my mind but what i just asked is kinda close enough.

Thanks

 

[Fergie Fulton]

Many things but understanding the relationship between the notes and the instrument is the main one. In real terms you will not always have the time to think about the names of the noes you play but you will understand where the are and how they fit within the music you play.....and the music you have still to learn.

 

[MalcolmAmos]

Hey,

I wanted to ask whats behind me memorizing the major scale on two octaves while saying the notes and the sound of the notes...

I know of no instrument that does not ask us to run our scales right at first. Why? We have to get used to our instrument and running our scales is a good way of doing that. Let's our fingers learn where the notes are and our ear starts recognizing the sound of the good notes from the bad notes.

I'm asking cause i want to know later on how can i test that am becoming good at it...

Your ear will be the judge of that. My instructor told me that if I hit a bad note that was not a big deal -- IF I corrected it. If I had not corrected it he would have been worried that I did not understand; 1) the makeup of the scale and 2) what that scale sounds like.

also how just memorizing that scale going to be actually used...

Wow, good question. If every scale would have the same 7 notes this would not be a large problem, however, scales do not all have the same 7 notes. One thing you probably will run up on right at first is the sheet music tells us the song is in the key of A. The key of A will have 3 sharp notes, the sheet music may or may not show those notes as being sharped and leaves this important bit of information up to us to furnish. Or you are in a jamming circle and a song is called out to be in the key of A. Again what notes are in the key of A is left up to you. BTW the notes in A scale are; A, B, C#, D, E, F#, G# and the chords for the key of A are; A, Bm, C#m, D, E, F#m, G#dim. This will come in handy; http://www.guitar-chords.org.uk/chords-key-c.html Bookmark this site, lot of good information awaits you.

The notes of the scale are used in the melody of a song. The notes of that scale make up the notes in the chords for that scale. The chords are used to provide harmony. When we have the melody line and the chord line (chord progression) sharing like notes both of those lines will harmonize and the song will sound good. So when you start writing your own bass lines you need to know what notes are being used in the melody - what is the scale being used, so you can have some of those like notes in your bass line.

If the notes in the melody and the notes in the chord that is active with the melody share some like notes we get harmony. If the melody moves on to notes not found in the chord being used (the old chord) we fall out of harmony and it is now time to either insert a harmonizing note into the old chord, as an extension -- or -- bring in a new chord that has some of the new melody notes. That's kinda important and is the basic principle of how music thinks. This may help;

We need to know the notes of each scale and what notes are used in the chords that will harmonize that scale. That site I gave you will have all this information. Make yourself a chart, cheat sheet, reference material, what ever you want to call it. My chart still hangs on the wall right over where I practice.

So most of what we do is play the notes of the chord for our bass line. We, right at first provide harmony. How many of the chords notes must we play? One per barre is enough to get harmony. So roots just by themselves will get us harmony. Two like notes will sound better and three or four like notes are probably not necessary, however, we normally have four beats (4/4 time) to cover so four somethings - notes or rests fit nicely in our bass lines.

For more on bass lines ask Google to bring up some of Ed Friedland's books.

Good luck.

 

[MalcolmAmos]

Here, I'll save you a couple of months. Print the following off and put it with your other reference material. Spend about thirty minutes a day, beyond your normal practice time, reading the information on both of these posts. IMO theory is best studied from an easy chair with your instrument within reach.

Major Scale Chart
C D E F G A B...............Notice the C scale has no Sharps
G A B C D E F#.............and the G scale has one, the F#
D E F# G A B C#...........and the D scale keeps the F# and
A B C# D E F# G#.........adds the C#. Then the A scale keeps
E F# G# A B C# D#.......everything and adds the G#. See how
B C# D# E F# G# A#.....it builds on it's self.
F# G# A# B C# D# E#
C# D# E# F# G# A# B#
F G A Bb C D E.............Look what happens with the flat scales
Bb C D Eb F G A...........F has one the Bb, then the Bb scale keeps
Eb F G Ab Bb C D.........it's self and adds the the Eb. Same thing
Ab Bb C Db Eb F G.......the sharp scales did...
Db Eb F Gb Ab Bb C
Gb Ab Bb Cb Db Eb F
Cb Db Eb Fb Gb Ab Bb

Memory pegs:
See God Destroy All Earth By F#irey C#haos. Order of the scales with sharps.
Fat cats go down alleys eating birds. Order of the sharps.
Farmer brown eats apple dumplings greasily cooked. Order of the scales with flats.
The key signature is showing three sharps. What scale has three sharps? C has none, G has one, D has two, A has three. Which sharps? Fat = F#, Cat = C# and Go = G# so the A major scale has three sharps, F#, C# and G#.

Natural Minor Scale Chart
A B C D E F G ................Notice how the 6th column of the
E F# G A B C D................Major scale becomes the 1st column
B C# D E F# G A..............in the minor scale and how the 7th
F# G# A B C# D E............column of the Major scale is now the
C# D# E F# G# A B..........2nd column in the minor scale. And
G# A# B C# D# E F#........yep, the 1st column in the Major scale
D# E# F# G# A# B C#......is now the 3rd column, etc. etc.
A# B# C# D# E# F# G#....Ask your self why? Hint, think relative minor.
D E F G A Bb C
G A Bb C D Eb F
C D Eb F G Ab Bb
F G Ab Bb C Db Eb
Bb C Db Eb F Gb Ab
Eb F Gb Ab Bb Cb Db
Ab Bb Cb Db Eb Fb Gb

Now take those scales and stack 3rds and you get the chords for each scale.
C Major Scale stack in 3rds (every other note) = the notes and chords made from the C major scale:

Notes	   Degree	Spelling		  Chord name      Function
C		R	CEGB       R-3-5-7 	     Cmaj7	     I  (tonic)
D		2	DFAC 	 R-b3-5-b7	     Dm7	     ii
E		3	EGBD 	 R-b3-5-b7	     Em7	    iii
F		4	FACE       R-3-5-7	     Fmaj7	     IV (subdominant)
G		5	GBDF 	 R-3-5-b7	     G7	             V  (dominant)
A		6	ACEG 	 R-b3-5-b7	     Am7	     vi	
B		7	BDFA 	 R-b3-b5-b7          Bm7b5	     vii (diminished)

Why is the D chord minor? If you compare the DFAC to the notes in the D major scale the D major scale will have an F# and a C#. Your DFAC has the 3 and 7 flatted for a spelling of R-b3-5-b7 and that spelling makes a Dm7 chord. All minor chords will have a b3. All major chords will have a natural 3. Stacking the scale in 3rds automatically build the correct major, minor and diminished chords for that scale.

OK that is just the first easy part. Here is your fretboard. Take the charts to your fretboard.

I use this box pattern to get the notes to the fretboard.
Major Scale Box.

G|---2---|-------|---3---|---4---| 1st string
D|---6---|-------|---7---|---8---|
A|---3---|---4---|-------|---5---|
E|-------|---R---|-------|---2---|4th string

Want to run the C major scale? Find a C note on the fretboard, how about 4th string 8th fret. Place the R of the box over the C note on your fretboard and then play the R, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 notes that are in the box. Those are the C major scale notes. Want the A major scale? Find an A note, how about 4th string 5th fret, place the R over that A note and play the spelling for a major scale - R, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. Notice it gave you three sharp notes. Yes that is the pattern spelling for any major scale.

Spelling for a minor scale pattern will be R-2-b3-4-5-b6-b7-8.
The b3, b6 & b7 are flat notes found one fret back toward the nut. I catch my b3 right after the 2, the b6 will be up a string right over the b3 and right after the 5. The b7 is right over the 4.

That should keep you busy for the rest of this year. Take it one bite at a time, enough to satisfy your hunger, but, not so much at one time that it makes you sick.

First things first. Play the C major scale in three places up the neck. You know about the C at the 4th string 8th fret. How about 3rd string 3rd fret? Yes the box will fit. There is another one on the 4th string after the 12th fret, find it. Do the G major scale same way. 4th string 3rd fret ---- you find the other two. That fish thing.

The chord spelling (R-3-5-b7) found in the chart on how to build a chord, that R-3-5-b7 and the major scale box pattern makes a pretty good bass line for a dominant seven chord, i.e. G7, D7, A7, E7, just move the root note and the rest of the spelling is in the same spots.

Get in the shed.

 

[Darkzenhar]

Thank you so much MalcolmAmos and Fergie Fulton !!

 

[White Beard]

...while saying the notes and the sound of the notes...

Listen to Paul Chambers' solos on any live recordings, Miles Live At Newport comes to mind. He sang all of his as he composed them in his head while he played them. Expecting mere mortals like us to be able to do this is ridiculous, but that is the starting step to being able to do so.