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Chapter 9 - Common Guitar Scales

guitar lesson 1
FORMULAS

Some guitar players substitute one type of scale for another. This creates TENSION or mood changes. Most the time the substitutions relate to the scale it replaced.

The chart below shows the names of the some of the most popular scales, the formula (in comparison to the Ionian mode) and the RELATIVE.
NAME DEGREES RELATIVE

 

PURE MAJOR SCALE

1st. degree Ionian (pure major) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 major
2nd. Dorian 1, 2, b3, 4, 5, 6, b7 minor
3rd. Phrygian 1, b2, b3, 4, 5, b6, b7 minor
4th. Lydian 1, 2, 3, #4, 5, 6, 7 major
5th. Mixolydian 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, b7 major, dominant
6th. Aeolian (pure minor) 1, 2, b3, 4, 5, b6, b7 minor
7th. Locrian 1, b2, b3, 4, b5, b6, b7 diminished, minor

 

HARMONIC

1st. degree 1, 2, 3, 4, #5, 6, 7 major, augmented

 

MELODIC*
*In jazz, the melodic scales change back to the church modes, when descending.

1st. Lydian augmented 1, 2, 3, #4, #5, 6, 7 major, augmented

 

PENTATONIC

1st. Major pentatonic 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 major

 

DIMINISHED

Diminished 1 1, 2, b3, 4, b5, b6, 6, 7 diminished
Diminished 2 1, b2, b3, b4, b5, 5, 6, b7 diminished

 

WHOLE TONE

All degrees 1, 2, 3, #4, #5, #6 major, augmented

 

CHROMATIC

All degrees 1, b2, 2, b3, 3, 4, b5, 5, b6, 6, b7, 7 any

 

BLUES

All degrees 1, b3, 3, 5, 6 major, minor

 

 

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