The hardest part about writing out lessons has been the lack of dialog in this medium. It is much easier for me to discuss musical concepts with another person than it is to write out an inclusive lesson that explains any potential questions. It is difficult to assume the aptitude of the reader on given the subject matter. My solution for the time being is to write lessons on basic concepts without dwelling too long on the details. If there is any confusion let me know. This is as basic as it gets.
Scale Formulas
The Major Scale and the Minor Scale are both made up of a series of whole steps (W) and half-steps (H). On the bass or guitar, a whole step can be played by moving from any fret up two frets. Obviously, a half-step is achieved by moving up only one fret. Since some of my beginning students get this confused, up is toward the body of the bass. We’re talking up in pitch, not up in physical space.
So by arranging these steps in a sequence we can create these scale formulas:
Major - W W H W W W H (1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1)
Minor - W H W W H W W (1 2 b3 4 5 b6 b7 1)
Applying the Formulas
We can also create a million other scales, but right now let’s just stick with just these two. If we pick a starting pitch, G, for instance, and move up a whole step to A, another whole step to B, a half step to C and so on. We would get the following results by applying both formulas to the starting pitch of G.
G Major Scale: G A B C D E F# G
G Minor Scale: G A Bb C D Eb F G
This is pretty straight-forward, but there are numerous ways to play these scales on your fretboard and I am doing you good by not writing out any tabulature patterns. You will discover reasons to play scales in many places on the fretboard, music does not occur in one position or on one string. Experiment.
Just remember that these scales begin and end on the same pitch so if you start on G and end up on G# then you messed up somewhere. Also, remember that, on the piano, there are no black keys between B and C or E and F, meaning that the notes in these pairs are a half-step apart.
Practice the scales all over the fretboard, and try to recite the names of the pitches as you play them. A lot of self-discovery can take place even at this rudimentary level. When you apply these formulas to different starting pitches you will see where the notes to all of the keys come from. Take a look for yourself. Not only will you improve your knowledge of the scales themselves but you will also find that your understanding of the fretboard will improve.
Triads
The next thing you can do with these scale is build triads from them. Triads are simply three note chords made from the first, third, and fifth degrees of a scale. From the G Major scale we will retrieve G B & D, which create, you guessed it, the G Major Triad. From G Minor we will find G Bb D. So a rule of thumb to any beginnger is this: you can make any major triad into a minor triad simply by lowering that 3rd by a half-step and vice versa.
G Major Triad - G B D (1 3 5)
G Minor Triad - G Bb D (1 b3 5)
At this point we have only built triads from the first note of each scale, but there is no reason why we couldn’t build them from every note in the scale. I will talk more about this, the details of the triads themselves, and the application of these triads in the next lesson.
