Descending natural and melodic minor scales

Descending natural and melodic minor scales how to#
Descending natural and melodic minor scales free#

The melodic minor scale is the only scale that features completely different sets of notes for its ascending and descending scales. Melodic minor scales are found in tons of guitar music, especially in the virtuosic guitar solos commonly heard in metal and hard rock music. The harmonic minor scale is exactly like the natural minor scale except that in this scale, youвЂ™ll raise the 7th note in the scale by a half-step (one fret). Harmonic minor scales are much rarer in music, but theyвЂ™re still found in plenty of guitar riffs and solos. Harmonic minor scales feature the unique sound found in Middle Eastern music. For natural minor scales, youвЂ™ll play the same pattern of notes going up (ascending) and down (descending). No matter what you do, make sure you practice this scale with a metronome. A good way to memorize this scale is to create a drill where you move the scale from fret to fret without pausing.

Descending natural and melodic minor scales free#

Feel free to memorize it on any fret, but when youвЂ™ve got a good grasp on how it works, move it to other spots on the guitar. WeвЂ™ll show you a simple one-octave natural minor scale shape here. Natural minor scales are unavoidable in not only guitar material but all music. If youвЂ™ve heard the term вЂњrelative minor,вЂќ itвЂ™s referring to all major keyвЂ™s closely related natural minors. Also referred to as the Aeolian Mode, natural minor keys are the foundation for most the minor chords and tonalities we hear in music. Natural minor scales are the most common minor scales found in music. ThatвЂ™s massively helpful information that will help you whether youвЂ™re trying to shred or improvise over some jazz chords. This means that youвЂ™ll only have to learn the three basic minor shapes weвЂ™re about to show you one time before you can adapt them to any key in music. Whether itвЂ™s scales, chords or riffs, any material on the guitar that doesnвЂ™t include open strings can be memorized once and easily moved to other frets (keys) on the guitar. In not only minor scales but all other types of scales, guitarists have a massive playing advantage over other musicians. Each type of scale sounds completely different and features its own unique set of notes. ThereвЂ™s three basic types of minor scales for guitar that are found in music: natural, harmonic and melodic. Minor scales and chords are often used to convey everything from reflection to anger. Music is much more complicated and nuanced than something that can be simply described as happy and sad. People typically describe minor chords and scales as sounding вЂњsad,вЂќ but that oversimplified description does a poor job of describing the minor sound and its vital role in music.

Chords work the same exact way except that their notes are played simultaneously rather than individually. The quality of the scale youвЂ™re playing is wholly dependent on its unique pattern of notes. In terms of guitar music, all the notes you rely on to build chords, riffs and solos come from scales based in whatever key you happen to be playing in. Whether youвЂ™re listening to a heavy metal song or one of MozartвЂ™s operas, all the music youвЂ™re hearing borrows notes from various scales. Also referred to as modes, scales explore the different keys we hear in music. Scales, whether theyвЂ™re major, minor or any other tonality, are step-by-step sequences of notes that explore a certain musical sound. If you havenвЂ™t already done so, start practicing everything youвЂ™ve already learned alongside the click of a metronome.

Yes, scales develop the skills of tone, muscle memory and finger placement in a player, but rhythm is also a huge factor in playing scales solidly. Metronomes are devices that produce audible beats you can practice to. To fully internalize the information here, youвЂ™re going to want to write down the scale shapes and patterns of notes we show you in this article. To get this most out of this article, hereвЂ™s what youвЂ™ll need:

Descending natural and melodic minor scales how to#

In this article, weвЂ™ll teach you not only how to play some different minor scales for guitar, but weвЂ™ll also tell you why theyвЂ™re so important to learn. To put it plainly, if you want to be a serious guitarist, youвЂ™re going to want to memorize as many minor scale shapes as you can. Scales are a massively important tool used for everything from understanding music theory to providing incredibly helpful insight on how to construct riffs and solos. In case you havenвЂ™t heard, scales of every quality, major, minor, blues and pentatonic, are much more important than just acting as simple exercises for your fingers. If you recently started playing, learning minor scales for guitar probably isnвЂ™t very high on your list of priorities, but it should be.