Understanding and Using Pentatonics Creatively: Lesson 1 Major and Minor Scales When we write melodies, play bass lines and improvise solos, we derive our information from scales. There are many types of scales found within western harmony. In the Tony Grey Bass Academy we’ll be looking at all of these scales and how to apply them in great detail. For this course we will mainly focus on 2 scales to get you started. The information you’ll look at here can be applied to your playing immediately. There will be accompanying videos to watch and study, MP3 tracks for you to play along with, as well as some homework. The 2 scales we’ll be focusing on are the Major and Minor Pentatonic Scales. These scales are each 5-notes in length. Even if you think you’ve never heard of these scales, you’ve been listening to them in one form or another your entire life, because 99% of pop music is based off of these two scales. To understand where the Major and Minor Pentatonic Scales come from, we need to take a couple of quick steps back. Each scale and chord found within western harmony and music comes out of a scale called the Chromatic Scale. Chromatic Scale A Chromatic Scale is a 12-note scale built in half steps. This scale contains all the available notes found within Western Harmony, over one octave. After the 12th note you’ll reach the note you started with, but up one octave. All scales found within Western Harmony are derived from the Chromatic Scale. Here is how the Chromatic Scale looks like on the piano from the note C. The numbers indicate the scale degrees found within the Chromatic Scale.

 

C Chromatic Scale

Next, we’ll show how the Chromatic Scale looks on the Bass. Moving each fret up on one string is like moving to the next note up (black or white) on the Piano. The lowest note on the 4-string bass is an E, which is the open string. This is indicated with a 1 inside a white circle. (see below) Here is how the E Chromatic Scale looks like on the 4 String Bass, starting from the note E, across the E String. The numbers indicate the scale degrees found within the Chromatic Scale.

 

Once this scale reaches the 11th fret, the E Chromatic Scale will start again from the 12th fret. Playing across one string is very limiting technically, so you should learn how to play horizontally across the fingerboard. The note on the 5th fret of the E string (A) is the same note as the open A String. The note on the 5th fret of the A string (D) is the same note as the open D String, and the note on the 5th fret of the D string (G) is the same note as the open G String. Here is the same Chromatic Scale starting on the open E String, played horizontally across the fingerboard. Again, the numbers indicate the scale degrees found within the Chromatic Scale.

Once we reach the 1st Fret of the D String, the E Chromatic Scale will start again from the 2nd fret. Next, we’ll see what the Ascending Chromatic Scale looks like in music notation. This time, like the diagram of the piano, I’m using the Chromatic Scale starting on C. Don’t worry if you can’t read music; I just want you to be exposed to how it looks.

 

If you want to learn how to read music, there are in-depth courses on this subject in the member’s area of the Tony Grey Bass Academy. You’ll notice in the ascending Chromatic Scale I’m using this symbol (#) a lot. This is a sharp symbol and tells us when a note has been raised a half step. The other symbol here is the natural symbol (�). This brings the note back to its original form if it has been previously altered. C Chromatic Scale Ascending

Next, we will look at how the Descending Chromatic Scale looks in music notation. This time you’ll notice in the descending Chromatic Scale I’m using this symbol a lot (♭). This is a flat symbol and it tells us when the note has been lowered a half step. Again, I’ll be explaining all of this theory in detail in the Tony Grey Bass Academy, for now I just want you to see it and hear it. C Chromatic Scale Descending

Like I explained earlier, all of the Scales and Chords found in western music are derived from the Chromatic Scale, including the most recognizable scale in western harmony, the Major Scale. Major Scale Every scale is really analyzed in its relationship to the Major Scale. The Major Scale is probably the most recognizable scale in western music. The Major Scale is often thought of or explained as a happy sounding scale, which is largely due to the 3rd degree.

 

The famous song Do-Re-Mi from the movie and musical The Sound Of Music is the complete Major Scale sang in a stepwise order. If you haven’t heard this song, it’s a great example of the scale in a musical setting. The Major Scale is 7 notes in length, and the easiest way of showing how the Major Scale is formed and how it sounds, is by hearing it on a piano. By playing all of the white keys, in order from the note C to C, you will be playing and listening to the sound of the C Major Scale. Here is the C Major Scale played on the Piano.

The Major Scale is a 7-Note Scale built off a series of Intervals. There are 12-notes found within the Chromatic Scale, so there are 12 possible Major Scales that can be built from it. The Intervallic pattern is the same for each of the 12 Major Scales. It is: W - W - H - W - W - W - H W = Whole Step H = Half Step. A Half Step is the distance between 2 notes that lie next to each other. For example, E to F on the piano is a Half Step. On a bass, a half step will be the next fret up from the one you are playing.

 

A Whole Step is 2 half steps combined. For example C to D on the piano is a whole step, as there is a black key in between. On a bass, a whole step will be 2 frets up from the one you are playing. On a piano the shape of the Major Scale will change depending on the note you start on; however, the interval relationship will remain the same for any Major Scale you build. An Interval is the relationship between 2 notes. For example, the distance between the 1st and 2nd degrees (C and D) is an interval of a Major 2nd. We can analyze this as 2 half steps or a whole step. The interval between the 1st and 3rd degree is a Major 3rd. We can analyze this as 2 whole steps or 4 half steps. The notes that are characteristic to the Major Scale are the Major 3rd and Major 7th degrees. Here is the standard fingering pattern on the bass guitar for the C Major Scale, starting on the note C, which is on the 3rd fret of the A String. The numbers inside the dots represent the fingering pattern.

Unlike the piano, you can play this shape anywhere on the fingerboard and it will be a Major Scale; the only difference will be the key of the scale. Here is how the Ascending C Major Scale looks in music notation.

 

The next scale we’ll talk about is another very important scale in western harmony and that is the Natural Minor Scale. Minor Scale There are a lot of variations of the Minor Scale, but the most important one to know and understand is the Natural Minor Scale, otherwise known as the Aeolian Scale. The Natural Minor and Major Scale have a very strong relationship and are interchangeable when soloing. The Major Scale is described as the happy sounding scale, and in contrast the Minor Scale is often thought of as the sad, somber scale due to the Minor 3rd degree. The Minor Scale is built of the 6th degree of the Major Scale. The Minor Scale is 7-notes in length and again, the easiest way to show you how the Minor Scale is formed and how it sounds, is on a piano. By playing all the white keys in order from the note A to A, you will be playing and listening to the sound of the A Minor Scale, which is the relative Minor Scale of the C Major Scale. Here is the A Minor Scale played on the piano.

 

Like the Major Scale, the Minor Scale is comprised of 7-Notes, built off a series of intervals. There are 12-notes found within the Chromatic Scale, so there are 12 possible Minor Scales that can be built from it. The Intervallic pattern is the same for each of the 12 Major Scales. It is: W - H - W - W - H - W – W On a piano the shape of the Minor Scale will change depending on the note you start on; however, the interval relationship will remain the same for any Minor Scale you build. The notes that are characteristic to the Minor Scale are the Minor 3rd and Minor 7th degrees. Here is the fingering pattern on the bass guitar for the A Minor Scale starting on the note A, which is on the 5th fret of the E String. The numbers inside the dots represent the fingering pattern.

You can play this shape anywhere on the fingerboard and it will be a Minor Scale; the only difference will be the key of the scale.

 

Here is how the Ascending A Minor Scale looks in music notation.