Topic: scales?

I have been playing for about a month and am starting to get the hang of barre chords. I have been trying to figure out scales though and I am having trouble wading through all of the information. I don't really have any formal musical training so I guess what I'm needing is someone to dummy it down for me. Thanks for any help or thoughts y'all can offer.

Re: scales?

Hi there,

music theory can be a bit mind blowing. Remember that everything in music is related to the major scale. So the major scale is the best place to start.

Scales are made up of a series of notes at cetrain intervals or steps up the fretboard. If you remember that every fret on your guitar is a half step or half tone (i.e. 2 frets = 1 whole tone). Try to remember that every major scale is made up of intervals in this order - whole, whole, half, whole, whole, whole, half. {w,w,h,w,w,w,h}

So looking at it simply - if you start with an open E(6th) string and move up the string at those intervals then you will have a major scale.

Here is a link to a site which lets you search for different scales in different keys and shows you them on the fret board.

http://www.all-guitar-chords.com/guitar_scales.php

I hope I've helped. I'm not exactly a music theory wizard myself. All the best.

Is anything really made up of zeros and ones??

Re: scales?

David Harp did a great little theory book titled "Musical Theory Made Easy."  And that's just what it does.  Here's a link to it on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Music-Theory-Made … amp;sr=8-4

The book's a lot better than what I could do, as I'm still learning a lot about theory myself.  Read this book, and pay attention to what's going on while you play, and patiently wait for the 'EUREKA! moment.' 

- Big D

Granted B chord amnesty by King of the Mutants (Long live the king).
If it comes from the heart and you add a few beers... it'll be awesome! - Mekidsmom
When in doubt ... hats. - B.G. Dude

Re: scales?

Thanks for the link to that chart that definitely gives me somewhere to start. That book looks like it may help me out too. I appreciate the help!