The chords formed from the major scale are commonly used to form chord progressions, and there is also a lot of theory on how to form harmonies with this scale.Īdditionally, this scale is used to form modes which are also commonly used. The major scale is heavily used in a number of ways. You can read more about this scale in our article on the natural minor scale and you can practice this scale over backing tracks on our backing tracks designed for this scale. The two main positions for the scale on the guitar are: As well as being used to form solos, the chords formed from the natural minor scale would be the most commonly used chords in popular chord progressions. The natural minor scale is very commonly used in rock and popular styles. Scale 3: The Natural Minor Scale or the Aeolian Mode You can practice this scale over our blues backing tracks. Soloing over the blues using this scale is relatively easy to get the basics of, but you could spend a life time honing the subtle nuances of the style, such as the feel of the bends, the vibratos and the timing of your phrases. This scale in its two most common positions are as follows:Īs the name suggests, the scale is used heavily in blues but is also used in rock and jazz based styles a lot too. Once you learn the minor pentatonic scale, it should be relatively easy to learn the blues scale as it is essentially the same with one additional note (a flattened 5th).
If you would like to practice this scale over a backing track you can use the blues backing tracks or the backing tracks designed for the Aeolian mode or the Dorian mode. I might devote lesson to these more advanced uses in the future. Once you have mastered the basics of using the scale over a minor chord progression, there is also some more advanced uses based on playing different positions of the scale over a minor chord or moving the scale up or down a fret to get a “playing outside” sort of sound. The scale is quick to learn and easy to learn to improvise and phrase with. The two main positions this scale is played in are: The minor pentatonic scale is typically the first scale guitarists learn to solo with and is very commonly used to form solos in rock, blues, and other popular styles. The 6 Most Commonly Used Guitar ScalesĪ pentatonic scale is a scale that has 5 notes per octave. I’ll then also discuss how to practice these scales as well as some basic theory concepts that are useful to understand in relation to scales. Here I will show you through some of the most common scales used on the guitar in soloing and improvisation, talk a bit about their use and illustrate some of the most common positions to play these scales. Welcome to the guitar scales section of.