Understanding the scales on the guitar: The minor scale

As I promised in the previous post now I'll be writing about the minor scale.
How tthe minor scale is made?
The formula for the minor scale is as simple as the formula for the major scale.
Here it is:
2  1   2    2  1   2   2
Or in the key of C it look like this:
C  D   Eb   F   G    Ab   Bb    C
   2    1    2     2    1      2    2
What is that minor scale that has no flat or sharps?
Well, the A minor scale is the only minor scale that has no flat or sharps. Thats because it's relevant to the C major scale.
How do you know which scales are relevant?
This is really simple. Just take one scale and five steps above it it's the relevant scale.
Let's make it more clear. You take the G major key and start to count:
 G: A B C D E
Now for the G major the relevant is the E minor scale.
How many different minor scale exist?
There are a few variety of the minor scale: natural minor, harmonic minor and melodic minor.
The natural is the one that I wrote up in this post.
To make a harmonic minor you need to raise the seventh note a half step when you go up and down the scale.
So the C harmonic minor will look like this
C D Eb F G Ab B C

The melodic is done by raising the the sixth and the seventh a half step when you go up the scale and return to the natural minor when you go down the scale.
So the C melodic minor scale will look like this (I'll go up and down to see how it is):
  C - D - Eb - F - G - A - B - C (up the scale)
  C - D - Eb - F - G - Ab - Bb (down he scale

You can search the YouTube for backing tracks. It's really useful to improvise on music to develop your creativity.

Understanding the scales on the guitar: The Major scale

Why do you need to know the scles?
Actually you can play guitar without knowing the scales, but you'll never get any further than playing basic riffs by tabs. Understanding the scales is vital for going to new levels of guitar playing. It helps a lot in learning a song by ear and even most when you make your own music.
There are to basic types of scale - the major and the minor. The difference between the two scales is that the major scale sound happy and brings positive sense to the melody or the chors progression. The minor scale sounds sad, darky and brings negative sense to the music.
Do you need to remember exactly every scale?
Well, this is the best part - there is no need to remember every scale, because there is structure that they are build on and it's the same for every scale.
How to build a major scale? 
The basic structure of the major scale is 2 2 1 2 2 2 1. These are the intervals between each step of the scale.
In the C major scale the first step is the note C and the second is D. There are two half steps between C and D.
The third step is E and the fourth F. There is only one half step between the two notes.
 C      D      E       F     G     A      B       C
      2      2       1      2      2      2       1
Did you get now. It's really simple. The fourth note is half step higher than the third and the eight (the first one octave higher) is one half step higher than the seventh.
Go on! Apply this structure to every note to understand how it works.
Try it on the G note for example:
You should get this:
G   A    B    C    D      E     F#    G

I'll be very happy to know what you think about this article and the blog. Don't  worry to write down a comment.
And subscribe for my blog if you like it.
Bye.

Guitarity! startup

Hi everybody! Do you love playing guitar? If the answer is YES than you going to fall in love with this blog.
I am playing guitar for a few years and I love to play music alone and with friends. I had a couple of gigs this year and it was WOW.
I am starting this blog to help amateurs learn to play.In this blog you will find lessons, reviews, latest news and other interesting various stuff.
I hope I'll give you a nice time reading my articles and to be very helpful for your overall guitar performance.




Alright lets stop talking and listen to this beautiful piece by the great Otis Rush. The song is called Hold that train.
I like Otis Rush for his distinctive guitar style - a slow burning sound and long bent notes. His sound is known  as
West Side Chicago blues and became influence to many great musicians such as Mike Bloomfield and Eric Clapton.

Have a nice day!