How to play the seven modes of the major scale on the guitar. Each lesson provides guitar scale charts, shapes, theory, tabs and exercises for practicing. Bass lesson beginners guide to scales and modes the bass. Free guitar scales pdf 84 scale and arpeggios chart. When you play the major scale beginning on its 1st degree, you create the familiar do, re, mi. There are 3 major modes ionian, lydian, mixolydian and 3 minor modes aeolian minor, dorian, phrygian, and one diminished mode locrean contained in the major scale. Learn and practice all the modes of the major scale. I have a dvd and download called master the major scale which goes into a detailed practical approach to learning to use that. This pdf download sheet contains the modes of the major scale in all keys. Bass lesson beginners guide to scales and modes the. Major scale modes on guitar where do modes come from. Also includes the five closed major scale patterns over the entire. Published in 1995, with thousands of copies sold worldwide, this one of a kind ebook, written by andrew wasson, is quite likely the most well rounded systematic guide ever produced to explain how to use and understand the major scale modes.
Heres a chart containing the 7 modes of the c major scale. When learning how to play the seven major modes on the electric guitar. Because most of the rest of the modes and scales are derived from the major scale. Above is a chart which contains the 7 modes in the key of c major. Links to dedicated page, high quality pdf and guitar pro files. In the introductory major scale lesson, we learned the basic intervals that build the scale and some basic patterns on the guitar fretboard. Jul 04, 2019 major scales for classical guitar pdf beginner to intermediate classical guitar. The pentatonic scale and major scale modes every guitar.
But what is really interesting and where you start to see. It provides a full accounting of 5, 6, and 7note scales containing intervals no larger than a major third and selected 8note scales, chiefly to account for the bebop scales and. Guitar major scale learn the first and most important scale. This may seem like a small change, but youll hear that because of. The major scale has 7 modes, because it has 7 tones. I fairly recently learned the patterns for all of them starting on the root no. We always use the major scale as our reference when naming notes within chords and scales. Just like with the idea of parallel major and minor scales, you can choose to write solely. Download theory supplements, midi files, chord changes and full notefornote transcriptions of every lesson.
How to play all 7 major scale modes on guitar series. The major scale should be one of the first scales you learn on guitar, because its one of the most commonly referenced in music especially western music. This video accompanies a guitar lesson on my website, where you can learn more about this guitar scale method and download a pdf with. The word mode sounds so ambiguous and lame, i prefer to use the word mood, as. Key of db major bb or minor guitar scales as we discussed in our introduction, some notes can be referred to by di. The green circles show the root notes of the scale. You can get more diagrams in the tuning of your choice by using my interactive web app here.
Ill show you how to use the pentatonic to build modes. A lot of guitarists have trouble coming to understand the modes of the major scale, i know it took me many moons to come to grips with it, but once i finally unravelled its mysteries, i realised how simple it really is. List of music scales and modes guitar lessons jazz guitar licks. Nov, 20 in this lesson i introduce the concept of scales and modes and explain their function in improvisation. The pentatonic scale is a reduced version of the major and minor modes of the major scale. Pdf total guitar the ultimate scale book guilherme mauricio. Used to solo over m7, maj7, 7, and m7b5 chords, melodic minor is just as important as its major cousin.
All modes note in the f major scale, it follows that f major notes which will are scales in their own right they just take their intervals from a make up our phrygian. Once you know all six major scale patterns up and down the neck you know all the modes of the major scale. The guitar major scale is the first scale most music teachers would want you to learn and get under your fingers, into your brain and out of that huge amp that is sitting there in your room slobbering on itself waiting for you to show it some love. These patterns are all played in a single c major shape at the 8th fret of the e string. It provides a full accounting of 5, 6, and 7note scales containing intervals no larger than a major third and selected 8note scales, chiefly to account for the bebop scales and the diminished scale. So i understand the modes and how they relate to are the major scale. Guitar scales and modes explained easy shapes, licks. Guitar modes chart learn the 7 modes on guitar fachords guitar. Bass guitar scales made easy learn guitar for free. One of the first soloing concepts you encounter when learning how to play guitar is the major scale. G major e minor pentatonic scale guitar scales the pentatonic scale is a favorite of many guitarists and its easy to see why. Yet, these same students have no problems understanding the concept of the, relative minor scale, found off of the 6th degree of the major. We have created this guitar learning software to help you understand modes in an easy and interactive way in many online guitar lessons there is a lot of confusion about modes, in particular when related to guitar scales. The major scale is called the ionian mode and the relative minor is the aolian mode so you already know 2 of them that just leaves 5 left to learn.
Major scales for classical guitar pdf sheet music, tab. Pdf includes notation, tab, fingering, some diagrams, tips, and more. I is always ionian the major scale and vi is always aeolian the minor scale just as ii is always dorian etc etc. Remember that the modes are all just variations of the major scale and you will be playing the modes by shifting emphasis to a different note in the parent or mother major scale. Guitar modes are scales made from the major and minor scales. This pdf contains the diagrams for all the major and minor pentatonic scales in all keys for guitar in standard tuning. Feb 01, 2018 major scale modes on guitar where do modes come from. Major scales for classical guitar pdf beginner to intermediate classical guitar. Major and minor scales, modals, diminished, triads and seventh arpeggios, exotic scales.
We then go through each mode individually and talk about the specific character and sound of that mode so that we can then use this information in our soloing and improvisation. Major scale positions 7 positions of the major scale on guitar. Now that i have you confused, lets look at the most used and known modal system on the guitar, the 7 modes of the major scale. It includes seven degrees, or pitches, and involves seven steps or intervals. I recommend that you learn scales in a practical environment. Fretboard topologies boo to compose, improvise, and explore the instrument.
Intermediate guitar players often struggle with the idea of these, other scales, found within the major scale referred to as, modes of the major scale. A beginner guide to modes the modes by numeric pattern. There are seven modes derived from the major scale. For the purpose of the series of lessons on guitar modes, we are going to treat g ionian and g major as an identical scale. In this article i will take you through how modes are formed from the major scale and what these modes are. Major scale positions 7 positions of the major scale on. The various modes of the major scale are commonly used when improvising guitar solos in many contemporary styles such as jazz, fusion and a lot of rock music. Ionian, dorian, phrygian, lydian, mixolydian, aeolian and locrian. Yet, these same students have no problems understanding the concept of the, relative minor. Yet, these same students have no problems understanding the concept of the, relative minor scale, found.
Work through every scale and notice how the only thing that changes is the starting note. Common open and closed scale patterns up to four sharps or flats, two octaves some three octaves, and examples of open string shifts. The fretboard diagram below shows you one way of playing a 2 octave major scale. The modes of the major scale play a fundamental role in jazz improvisation. How to play the major scale on guitar complete guide. Join pianogroove pro to access all downloads and learning resources.
When playing the modes of the major scale, it is played a bit differently than the conventional five patterns of the major scale. In this lesson, well concentrate on the modes of the major scale the major scale being the parent scale in this case. For a free pdf for every chord in each key click here chord theory. Ionian modes major scales four ionian modes on the treble clef wwhwwwh c major.
November 2015 remember, all of these modes are simply contrived by taking the exact order of notes that are found in a major or minor scale and starting the pattern from a different note other than the root. As you study guitar theory, youll hear terms like mode, tonic, and scale. These patterns are fine for getting to know the scale, but eventually youll want to free up your soloing and play the major scale across the entire fretboard. So now you have seen the modes all laid out in a series the series of modes that come from one major scale. A beginner guide to modes the modes by numeric pattern mode 1. In this lesson i introduce the concept of scales and modes and explain their function in improvisation. These patterns are fine for getting to know the scale, but eventually youll want to free up your soloing and play the major scale across the entire fretboard this lesson is about unboxing the major scale by visualising seven positions. This exercise takes you through all seven modes of c major while staying in one position. Now that you learned the major scale modes, you can explore another essential scale system, melodic minor. For each of the 7 modes, i show you the scale in root position and i play an. This interactive guitar modes chart shows you the structure, notes and chords for each modal scale. Guitar scales and modes explained easy shapes, licks, and.
In this lesson, you will learn the modes of the c major scale. The best way to deal with modes is simply to consider them as types of scales. From the very left we have the numbers 17 and their corresponding mode. Always find the scale in a straight line horizontal on one of the strings where you can play the whole scale and study the pattern and the sound. Just select your string tuning standard tuning is default, click the link that says go then click a key link. Aeolian modes are called by names of the minor scale, e. Youll find fretboard diagrams for modes created from the major, harmonic minor and melodic minor scales. The guitar command guitar scales chart book is a comprehensive reference book for all lead guitarists. T his guitar scales fretboard chart generator will show you all the major and minor guitar scales and modes with tons of customizable tunings. This added note is called the flattened fifth because it is one semitone down from the fifth note of the relative major scale.
If you are interested in learning about modes and guitar scales, it should be pointed out that the g major scale is effectively the same scale as the g ionian scale. This scale is used to solo over major family chords, especially tonic major chords, such as major, maj7, maj9, 6, and 69 chords. Under the main diagram are the seven modes of the major scale. Exercises jazz guitar method pdf ebook 40 dominant mixolydian guitar licks. Guitar modes chart learn the 7 modes on guitar this interactive guitar modes chart shows you the structure, notes and chords for each modal scale. As you can see, theyre built using the same notes as those in the major scale. My blues lead guitar series will teach you all about using the minor pentatonic, the blues scale, the major pentatonic, dorian and mixolydian modes. Jan 16, 2019 one of the first soloing concepts you encounter when learning how to play guitar is the major scale.