Category: From the major scale to (hopefully) understanding how things work.

Posted in From the major scale to (hopefully) understanding how things work.

From the major scale to the harmonized scale (Pt.1 triads)

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In this video I’ll show you how to build the harmonized scale, which is vital to find out what chord belong to a specific key. In the example I am building the Harmonized scale in the key of C major. In one of the successive videos of this series you’ll see that you can use these chords to build a very simple songs in a single key.
The process is fairy simple: I stack on top of every note of the scale two consecutive diatonic 3rds. Let’s say, for example if I start from C, the two notes will be E and G. If I start from D the notes will be F and A…is this easy enough?

In the example below every note of a major scale identifies a ‘grade’ of the scale. In the example I have used C major, but this is valid for every other major scale.

If I stack on every grade two more notes a third apart (basically every other one) I end up with different kinds of triads (triad=group of three notes). These triads are shown in the example below. If we analyze the intervals between notes:

On the guitar, like in the video:

You will have the same series of chords in all the other keys Eg: F major: F, Gm, Am, Bb, C, Dm, Em.

This again is valid for all the 12 keys. This concept is vital to understand how songs are built and how to pick the correct scale for a solo.

Posted in From the major scale to (hopefully) understanding how things work.

Intervals Explained

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Printable PDF: Intervals explained

An interval is the distance between two notes, and it is indicated by ordinal numbers (2nd, 5th , 7th) except when describing the unison (identity of pitch) and the octave (two notes 12 semitones apart).

Intervals of a 2nd ,3rd ,6th ,7th are called major.

Intervals of a 4th ,5th and octave are called perfect.

If a major interval is raised by a half step it is called augmented. If a major interval is lowered by a half step it is called minor. If lowered by two half steps, diminished.

If a perfect interval is raised by a half step it is called augmented. If a perfect interval is lowered by a half step it is called diminished (note the difference).

 

There are two basic ways to calculate an interval,  that will lead to the same result.

 

1. Calculating by the number of half steps between the two notes:

N.of halfsteps

1

2

3

4

5

6

6

also

7

8

8

also

9

10

10

also

11

12

Interval

m2

M2

m3

M3

P4

4aug

5dim

P5

5aug

m6

M6

6aug

m7

M7

P8

Example

C

Db

C D

C

Eb

C

E

C

F

C

F#

C

Gb

C

G

C

G#

C

Ab

C

A

C

A#

C

Bb

C

B

C2

C3

 

where m=minor, M=major, P=perfect, dim=diminished, aug=augmented.

 

2. Finding  the interval from the major scale. All the intervals from the tonic of a major scale to any other note of that scale are major or perfect (i.e. between C and D=major2nd,  C e E=major3rd, C e F=perfect4rth, and so on…). Of course you need to know your major scales!!

Posted in From the major scale to (hopefully) understanding how things work.

The Major Scale on guitar

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The major scale on guitar

In this lesson I will show you how to go from the basic major scale down a single string to finding all the notes from a major scale all over the guitar neck. The most popular way to organize all these notes is by grouping them in the famous ‘5 boxes’ so that all the notes are playable in a single ‘position’. A position, in very poor words, is nothing but a section of the fretboard, usually just 4/5 consecutive frets, that you can reach without moving your hand.

Printable PDF: Major scale 5 ‘box’ fingerings

Remember that this is so you understand the concept of finding the notes on guitar: ultimately you should be able to play a major scale starting from anywhere on the guitar.
So try and learn the major scale:

1. In every key
2. Up each single string
3. From the lowest note on the guitar to the highest note reachable
4. Learn them in ‘1 octave mini positions’ starting from every Root you can find like I show in the video.
5. Play them starting from each finger of your left hand.

This, of course, is something you will not achieve in one day, but trust me it worth the effort.

Good Luck!

Posted in From the major scale to (hopefully) understanding how things work.

From the chromatic scale to the major scale

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From the chromatic scale to the major scale

In this lesson I will take you from learning the chromatic scale on guitar to find how to play a simple major scale. Don’t be fooled by the fancy name: the chromatic scale is just the sum of all the 12 notes we have in our system to make music. These are the 7 natural notes (CDEFGAB) plus the other altered notes (with #=sharp and b=flat).

The famous formula for the major scale as I explain in the video is

W W H W W W H

the video is pretty much self explanatory, and if you want a more in-depth look at the theory behind this, just visit this other page https://giannichiarello.com/basic-music-theory-for-beginners/

or this other one that applies this theory to guitar: https://giannichiarello.com/basic-music-theory-for-beginners-pt-2on-guitar-practical-application/