NATE SAVAGE

SCALES & LEAD GUITAR

http://www.leadguitarlessons.com/

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 Table Of Contents
The Major Scale ...............................................................................................................................5
The Major Scale Formula......................................................................................................5
The Notes Of The C Major Scale..........................................................................................5
The Degrees Of The C Major Scale ......................................................................................5
Relative Major & Minor Scales ............................................................................................6
C Major & A Minor Scales....................................................................................................6
Extended C Major Scale ........................................................................................................6
C Major & A Minor Extended Scales ..................................................................................7
Extended Scale Horizontal View...........................................................................................7
Using The Extended Major Scale Shape In Other Keys.....................................................7
The Minor Scale ...............................................................................................................................8
The Minor Scale Formula......................................................................................................8
The Notes Of The A Minor Scale..........................................................................................8
The Degrees Of The A Minor Scale......................................................................................8
Relative Major & Minor Scales ............................................................................................9
C Major & A Minor Scales....................................................................................................9
Extended A Minor Scale ........................................................................................................9
C Major & A Minor Extended Scales ..................................................................................9
Extended Scale Horizontal View.........................................................................................10
Using The Extended Minor Scale Shape In Other Keys...................................................10
The Major Pentatonic Scale ...........................................................................................................11
What Is A Pentatonic Scale? ...............................................................................................11
How The Major Pentatonic Scale Is Made ........................................................................11
Relative Major & Minor Pentatonic Scales .......................................................................11
C Major & A Minor Pentatonic Scales ..............................................................................11
Extended C Major Pentatonic Scale...................................................................................12
The C Major Scale & The C Major Pentatonic Scale.......................................................12
Extended Scale Horizontal View.........................................................................................12
Using The Extended Major Pentatonic Scale Shape In Other Keys ...............................12
The Minor Pentatonic Scale ...........................................................................................................13
How The Minor Pentatonic Scale Is Made ........................................................................13
Relative Major & Minor Pentatonic Scales .......................................................................13
C Major & A Minor Pentatonic Scales ..............................................................................13
Extended A Minor Pentatonic Scale...................................................................................14
The A Minor Scale & The A Minor Pentatonic Scale.......................................................14
Extended Scale Horizontal View.........................................................................................14
Using The Extended Minor Pentatonic Scale Shape In Other Keys ...............................14
The Blues Scale..............................................................................................................................15
The Blue Note (Flat 5th) ......................................................................................................15
How The Blues Scale Is Made .............................................................................................15
The A Minor Pentatonic & A Minor Blues Scales ............................................................16
A Minor Blues Scale Horizontal View................................................................................16
Using The Blues Scale Shape In Other Keys .....................................................................16
Combining And Applying The Essential Guitar Scales.................................................................17

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Recognizing The Notes.........................................................................................................17
Adding The Major/Minor Notes To The Pentatonic Scale...............................................18
Adding The Blues Notes To Major/Minor Scale ...............................................................18
C Major A Minor Combined Scales ...................................................................................19
C Major Combined Scale Horizontal View .......................................................................19
Playing This Scale Shape In Other Keys............................................................................20
Using Applying The Combined Scale .................................................................................20

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 The Major Scale
http://www.leadguitarlessons.com/guitar-lessons/scales/the-major-scale.htm

The major scale is the foundation of almost all western music. If we were to label one scale as
the most important in music, it would be the major scale.

In this article, we’ll go over how the major scale is made, a few shapes that you can use to play it
on the guitar, and how it relates to some of the other important guitar scales.

Before getting into learning these scales you’ll need to have the basic lead guitar techniques
down. Learn them in this article: Lead Guitar Techniques For Beginners

The Major Scale Formula

The major scale is made up of a series of whole-steps (W) and half-steps (H). A whole-step on
the guitar is a distance of two frets. A half-step is a distance of one fret. This is the order of
whole-steps and half-steps that make up the major scale.

The Notes Of The C Major Scale

To find the notes of the scale, we apply the major scale formula to the musical alphabet. If we
were making a G major scale, the note we’d start on would be G. If we were making a Bb major
scale, we would start on a Bb. In this case, we’re going to be making a C major scale. So the
first note will be a C. The rest of the notes are defined by applying the major scale formula.

The Degrees Of The C Major Scale

Now that we have the notes of our C major scale, it’s important to get into the habit of assigning
numbers to the scale. Knowing the scale degrees helps us find the relationship between the
major scale and other scales, and will be important for recognizing the relationship between
notes within the scale as well.

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Relative Major & Minor Scales
In music, every major scale has a relative minor scale. Inversely, every minor scale has a
relative major scale. To find the relative minor scale, you’ll need to understand root notes. The
root note of a scale or key is the 1st degree of the scale. In this case, the root note of a C major
scale is a C note.

There are two ways to find the relative minor scale. The first way is to find the note a step and a
half (3 semi-tones/frets) below our major root note. The note a step and a half below C is A. This
means that the relative minor scale of C major is A minor.

Another way to find the relative minor scale is by locating the 6th scale degree of the major
scale. The 6th scale degree of a C major scale is an A. Making A minor our relative minor scale.

Pro Tip: Every major and minor scale corresponds with a key of the same name. For example,
the C major scale comes from the key of C major and the A minor scale comes from the key of A
minor.

C Major & A Minor Scales

Here are the most commonly used shapes for the C major scale and the A minor scale. The
black dots mark the root notes (the C notes in the C major scale and the A notes in the A minor
scale) of each scale.

Extended C Major Scale

An important concept to grasp is that the major scale and the minor scale
contain the exact same notes. The only real differences are that
traditionally they are played in different positions on the fretboard and that
the 1st scale degree/root note changes between the two scales. The C
major scale contains the notes 1C 2D 3E 4F 5G 6A 7B, and the A minor
scale contains the notes 1A 2B 3C 4D 5E 6F 7G.

Because of this, we can combine the standard major scale shape and the
standard minor scale shape into one larger “extended” scale.

Note the black root note locations. These C notes can help you to
navigate and understand this extended scale shape.

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C Major & A Minor Extended Scales
You can see here that the combined versions of the C major and A minor scales are virtually
identical. The only difference is the root note locations. In the C major shape, the C notes are
our root notes. In the A minor shape, the A notes are our root notes.

This scale shape is incredibly important to have under your fingers. It allows you to cover a ton
of ground when you start learning your favourite guitar solos, writing your own solos, and when
you’re improvising. Think of this shape as your “Home Base” when you’re playing lead guitar.

Extended Scale Horizontal View

To help you get a grasp of this shape here’s another way to look at this extended C major scale
shape.

Using The Extended Major Scale Shape In Other Keys

If you want to use this scale shape in another key, the shapes themselves don’t change, they
just move up or down the frets. Because of this, it’s always important to know your root note
locations. To change keys, you just have to move the shape so that your root notes are the
same root notes of whatever key you want to be in. If you wanted to play in the key of D major,
you would move this shape so that your major scale root notes are D notes.

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 The Minor Scale

http://www.leadguitarlessons.com/guitar-lessons/scales/the-minor-scale.htm

The minor scale is the second important scale for learning how to play lead guitar. Just like the
major scale, it’s a seven note scale.

Before getting started with the minor scale, you’ll want to make sure you have a really good
understanding of the major scale. If you haven’t already, go through the previous article on The
Major Scale.

The Minor Scale Formula

Like the major scale, the minor scale is made up of a series of whole-steps (W) and half-steps
(H). This is the order of whole-steps and half-steps that make up the minor scale.

The Notes Of The A Minor Scale

To find the notes of the minor scale, we apply the minor scale formula to the musical alphabet. If
we were making a D minor scale, the note we’d start on would be D. If we were making an F#
minor scale, we would start on an F#. In this case, we’re going to be making an A minor scale.
So the first note will be an A. The rest of the notes are defined by applying the minor scale
formula.

The Degrees Of The A Minor Scale

Now we’ll number the notes of the A minor scale. Knowing the degrees of your minor scale will
help you relate this scale to other scales as well as help you to develop an understanding of the
intervals within the scale.

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Relative Major & Minor Scales
The relative major scale can be found by going up 3 frets/semi-tones from the minor scale root
note. Alternatively, you could locate the 3rd degree of the minor scale. In our A minor scale, this
note would be the C. This makes our relative major scale a C major scale.

C Major & A Minor Scales

Here are the most commonly used shapes for the C major scale and the A minor scale. The
black dots mark the root notes (the C notes in the C major scale and the A notes in the A minor
scale) of each scale.

Extended A Minor Scale

You should already know that the A minor and C major scales
contain the exact same notes. They just start at different points. The
A minor scale contains the notes 1A 2B 3C 4D 5E 6F 7G, and the C
major scale contains the notes 1C 2D 3E 4F 5G 6A 7B.

Because of this, we can combine the standard major scale shape

and the standard minor scale shape into our larger “extended”
scale.

C Major & A Minor Extended Scales

The only difference between the C major and A
minor extended scales is the root note
locations. In the C major shape, the C notes are
our root notes. In the A minor shape, the A
notes are our root notes.

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Extended Scale Horizontal View
Here’s another way to look at this extended A minor scale shape.

Using The Extended Minor Scale Shape In Other Keys

It’s really easy to use this scale shape in other keys. All you have to do is move the entire shape
so that the root note locations become the root note of our minor key. If you wanted to play this
minor scale shape in B minor, you would move the entire shape up two frets so that your A root
notes became B root notes.

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 The Major Pentatonic Scale

http://www.leadguitarlessons.com/guitar-lessons/scales/the-major-pentatonic-scale.htm

The major pentatonic scale is the third essential scale. It’s a scale used very commonly in almost
all genres of music and is an important scale to know for all guitar players.

What Is A Pentatonic Scale?

A pentatonic scale put simply, is a scale comprised of five notes. These notes all come from the
major scale and the minor scale.

How The Major Pentatonic Scale Is Made

The major pentatonic scale comes directly from the major scale. All you have to do is remove
the 4th and 7th scale degrees from the major scale. Once these two notes are removed, you’re
left with a major pentatonic scale. In a C major scale, the 4th scale degree is an F and the 7th is
a B. Remove these two notes and you’re left with C D E G A, which is a C major pentatonic
scale.

Relative Major & Minor Pentatonic Scales

Just like the major scale, the major pentatonic scale has a relative minor pentatonic scale. This
can be found using the same method used to find the relative minor of the major scale. The
relative minor pentatonic of the C major pentatonic scale is A minor.

Check out this article on The Major Scale if you need more clarification.

C Major & A Minor Pentatonic Scales

Here are the most commonly used shapes for the C major pentatonic and A minor pentatonic
scales. The black dots represent the root notes (the C notes in the C major pentatonic scale and
the A notes in the A minor pentatonic scale) of each scale.

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Extended C Major Pentatonic Scale
Since the C major and A minor pentatonic scales share the same
notes, we can put the two shapes together to create an extended C
major pentatonic scale shape.

The C Major Scale & The C Major Pentatonic

Scale
One of the great things about this scale shape
is that if you know the C major extended
scale, then you already know the C major
pentatonic version. It just omits the 4th and
7th scale degrees. The red notes (and the
black notes) dictate which notes are
pentatonic within the C major scale.

Extended Scale Horizontal View

Here’s another way to look at the C major pentatonic scale shape. Note the red (pentatonic) and
black (root) notes within the major scale shape.

Using The Extended Major Pentatonic Scale Shape In Other Keys

Just like the major scale, you can move this entire shape to other keys as well. Just move the
entire shape so that the root notes line up with the root note of the key you want to play in. If you
wanted to use this scale shape in the key of E major, you would move the entire shape up 4
frets.

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 The Minor Pentatonic Scale
http://www.leadguitarlessons.com/guitar-lessons/scales/the-minor-pentatonic-scale.htm

The third essential scale is the minor pentatonic scale. This scale is probably the most
commonly used scale amongst guitar players. It’s very easy to learn and has a lot of applications
in many genres of music.

If you don’t know what a pentatonic scale is, you should read the previous article on The Major
Pentatonic Scale.

How The Minor Pentatonic Scale Is Made

The minor pentatonic scale comes directly from our minor scale. All you have to do is remove
the 2nd and 6th scale degrees from the minor scale. Once these two notes are removed, you’re
left with a minor pentatonic scale. In an A minor scale, the 2nd scale degree is a B and the 6th is
an F. Remove these two notes and you’re left with A C D E G, which is an A minor pentatonic
scale.

Relative Major & Minor Pentatonic Scales

Just like the minor scale, the minor pentatonic scale has a relative major pentatonic scale. This
can be found using the same method used to find the relative major of the minor scale. The
relative major pentatonic of the A minor pentatonic scale is C major.

Check out this article on The Minor Scale if you need more clarification.

C Major & A Minor Pentatonic Scales

Here are the most commonly used shapes for the C major pentatonic and A minor pentatonic
scales. The black dots represent the root notes (the C notes in the C major pentatonic scale and
the A notes in the A minor pentatonic scale) of each scale.

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Extended A Minor Pentatonic Scale
Since the C major and A minor pentatonic scales share the same
notes, we can put the two shapes together to create an extended A
minor pentatonic scale shape.

The A Minor Scale & The A Minor Pentatonic Scale

This shape is actually essentially the same as the extended minor scale. It just omits the 2nd
and 6th scale degrees. The red notes (and the black notes) dictate which notes are pentatonic
within the A minor scale.

Extended Scale Horizontal View

Here’s another way to visualize the scale shape. Note the red (pentatonic) and black (root) notes
within the minor scale shape. For the scale to be pentatonic, you would just have to omit the
white notes in this shape.

Using The Extended Minor Pentatonic Scale Shape In Other Keys

Just like the other scale shapes we looked at, you can move this entire shape to other keys as
well. Just move the shape so that the root notes line up with the root note of the key you want to
play in. If you wanted to use this scale shape in the key of B minor, you would move the entire
shape up 2 frets.

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 The Blues Scale

http://www.leadguitarlessons.com/guitar-lessons/scales/the-blues-scale.htm

The blues scale is a slightly different scale from the other 4 essential guitar scales. The blues
scale is a 6 note scale that comes from the minor pentatonic scale. The reason the blues scale
is different from other scales is that the note that’s added to the minor pentatonic scale to create
the blues scale does not naturally occur in the key it’s being played in. This means that you’ll
want to use it sparingly and tastefully in your lead guitar playing.

The Blue Note (Flat 5th)

The “Blue Note” is the only difference between a minor pentatonic scale and the blues scale.
The blue note is also known as a flat 5th.

To find the flat 5th, we have to start with our standard minor scale. In this case, we’ll be looking
at an A minor scale. Locate the 5th scale degree of the A minor scale. The 5th scale degree of
an A minor scale is an E. We take that note and lower it by a half-step, making it our flat 5th.

How The Blues Scale Is Made

To make a blues scale, we start with a minor pentatonic scale. We’re going to be making an A
minor blues scale, so we’ll start with the notes from an A minor pentatonic scale. Then we’ll add
the blue note that we found from the A minor scale. Adding that note turns our A minor
pentatonic scale into an A minor blues scale.

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The A Minor Pentatonic & A Minor Blues Scales
You can see here what adding the blue note to the minor pentatonic shape looks like. Listen to
the differences between the two scale shapes. An important thing to note is that the blue note
doesn’t naturally occur in the key the scale is in. So you’ll want to use that note tastefully when
improvising or writing licks. It sounds great in Blues, Rock, and Jazz music.

A Minor Blues Scale Horizontal View

Here’s another view of the A minor blues scale.

Using The Blues Scale Shape In Other Keys

Just like the other 4 scale shapes we looked at, you can move this entire shape to other keys.
Just move the shape so that the root notes line up with the root note of the key you want to play
in. If you wanted to play a C minor blues scale, you would move the entire shape up 3 frets.

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 Combining And Applying The Essential Guitar Scales

http://www.leadguitarlessons.com/guitar-lessons/scales/the-combined-scale.htm

In this article, were going to combine all 5 essential guitar scales into one combined scale
shape. This combined shape will give you a home base when youre playing lead guitar. This
shape works great in just about every style of music and gives you a ton of notes to choose from
when writing your own guitar licks, solos, or when youre improvising.

At the bottom of the page, you can download a PDF of all the scale shapes to use as a
reference. You can view it on your computer or print it off.

Recognizing The Notes

This combined scale shape will include 4 different types of notes. These are the root notes,
pentatonic scale notes, major/minor scale notes, and the blue notes. For a more in-depth
explanation of the different notes, youll want to read the previous articles on each scale.

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Adding The Major/Minor Notes To The Pentatonic Scale
For this combined scale, well be working in the key of C major. To start putting this shape
together, were going to begin with the C major pentatonic scale. To that, well add the notes that
would make this scale a C major scale shape.

Adding The Blues Notes To Major/Minor Scale

Now that we have combined our major pentatonic scale and our major scale, well add the blue
notes to this shape.

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C Major A Minor Combined Scales
What were left with after adding all these notes is a combined scale shape that gives you all the
notes you're allowed to play in the key of C major. Since A minor is the relative minor key, you
can use this exact same shape to play in A minor. Just remember that the root notes change
from C notes to A notes, which means you'll want to accentuate those new root notes a little
more.

Technically, if you wanted to build this A minor combined scale shape from the ground up, you
would use the minor pentatonic scale and the minor scale. But since they are the relative minor
scales we can just move the root notes of the major shape to change the scale shape from C
major to A minor.

C Major Combined Scale Horizontal View

Here's another view of this combined scale shape. Use the colors to understand how this scale
shape is made up and why it works.

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Playing This Scale Shape In Other Keys
Moving this scale shape to other keys works the same way as the other scales we've talked
about. Just move the entire shape so that the root notes land on the root note of the new key
you want to play in. If you wanted to play in E major, you would move this entire shape up 4
frets.

Using Applying The Combined Scale

This scale shape is incredibly simple to apply. Basically, it gives you all the notes youre allowed
to play inside of a key (there are many more, but they are outside of this shape). Its up to you to
decide which notes you play and when, but this shape should give you the ground work for
infinite riffs and licks.

Remember to really accentuate the root notes of the key you're in. If you're in the key of C major,
make sure the C notes really pop out. Also, remember that the blue notes don't occur naturally in
the key they're played in, so use them tastefully to add a different flavour to your licks.

Are you looking for more lead guitar lessons and relevant jam-tracks? Guitareo is Nate Savage’s
step-by-step video training system. It has some great songs for lead guitar and it also covers
many other important styles of music including rock, country, fingerstyle, metal, classical,
bluegrass, jazz, and more. Best of all it includes a huge library of original jam-tracks so you can
apply everything to music.

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