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“Scale Positions on the Guitar”
There are many ways to play major and minor scales on the guitar fretboard. This essay discusses one way. We begin with the major scale. Afterwards we will discuss the three minor scales (natural minor, harmonic minor, melodic minor).
The first step is to break the scale up into easily playable segments that can be combined to cover the whole scale. One row of notes that are easily played on a single string is a minor third. A minor third covers 4 frets. A guitar player’s left (fretting) hand easily spans 4 frets and each non-thumb finger can easily play the corresponding note sitting under the finger.
Each minor third in a major scale covers 3 notes of the scale. The scale as a whole contains 7 distinct notes, so 3 minor thirds would more than cover the whole scale. Consider, for example, the C major scale, C D E F G A B C, which begins and ends on C. In C major, one of its minor thirds starts with B, namely, B C D. A minor third starting with E covers the next 3 notes, E F G. A minor third starting with A covers 3 more notes, A B C. If we play each of these 3 rows one after the other, we more than cover the whole scale.
Let us refer to these notes when played on a single string as a “row”. A row that starts with, say, B, is a B-row. A row that starts with E is an E-row. And so on. However, since we want our method to apply to any and all major scales, we will use numbers instead of letters to refer to the notes in the scale. So instead of referring to the row as the B-row, we will refer to it as the 7-row, since B is the seventh note in the major scale.
Within a major scale there are 4 notes that start a minor third, namely: 7, 2, 3, and 6. In C major they would be: B, D, E, and A. Note 1 starts a major third which is not as easily playable since it spans 5 frets. But 1 (C) is contained in the 7-row: 7 1 2 (B C D) and the 6-row: 6 7 1 (A B C). So we don’t need a row which starts with 1. Note 4 (F) also starts a major third, but it is contained in the 3-row: 3 4 5 (E F G) and the 2-row: 2 3 4 (D E F). Note 5 (G) is the exception. It starts a major third, but is contained in only the 3-row: 3 4 5 (E F G). This is a problem because we need a row to follow the 2-row: 2 3 4 (D E F), which will need to start with 5 (G). The solution is to create a 5-row consisting of only two notes: 5 6 (G A). This row can fill in the gap between the 2-row and the 7-row. Since it only spans a major second, it is of course easily playable.
We now have five row types that cover the whole major scale:
5-row: 5 6
2-row: 2 3 4
6-row: 6 7 1
3-row: 3 4 5
7-row: 7 1 2
Notice how these rows are ordered. Descending from the top, the rows cover the whole scale. Ascending from the bottom, the rows again cover the whole scale. Moreover, as long as the ordering is preserved we can continue ascending and descending through one or more additional octaves. For example, we can ascend beyond the top 5-row to another 7-row and octave higher than the one below.
Notice also that the row above any 3-note row starts with a note a fourth above the starting note of the first row. For example, the 6-row follows, when ascending, the 3-row, and 6 (A) is a fourth above 3 (E). This is a very fortunate fact given the standard tuning of a guitar. In the standard tuning of a guitar, string-5 is fourth above string-6. String-4 is a fourth above string-5. String-3 is a fourth above string-4. String-1 is a fourth above string-2. The exception is the distance between string-3 and string-2, which is a major third.
The importance of this fact is that we can vertically stack the rows on top of each other so that they can be played vertically across the guitar neck without changing hand position. For example, the 3-row (E F G) played on string-5 fits right on top of the 6-row (A B C) played on string-6. The only wrinkle comes in when we play the 7-row (B C D) on top of the 5-row (G A). On string-3 and string-2 they will line up perfectly, but there will be a one-fret shift on the other strings. Since there is a most a slight one-fret shift, it is still not difficult to ascend or descend over the rows vertically.
We can start with any row on any string and move vertically up or down through the major scale. Therefore, there are five distinct vertical positions for playing a major scale. For example, starting on string-6, we can easily ascend vertically from the 7-row, the 2-row, the 3-row, the 5-row, and the 6-row. And starting on string-1 we can easily ascend from any of these same rows.
Minor Scale Positions
There are three minor scales: Natural minor, Harmonic minor, and Melodic minor. The Natural minor contains all the same notes as its relative Major scale. The Harmonic minor contains a raised 7. The Melodic minor contains a raised 6 and 7, ascending. Descending it is the same as the natural minor.
For example, the Am Natural scale is the relative minor to CMaj. They both have the same key signature. It contains all the same notes as CMaj, but the scale starts and ends on A instead of C. The Am Harmonic minor contains G#. The Am Melodic scale contains both F# and G#, when ascending, but F natural and G natural when descending.
Since the Natural minor contains all the same notes as its related Major scale, the same 5 rows can be used to play through it as are used in the Major scale. The only difference is how the rows are labeled. For example, the 1-row of the Am scale is the same as the 6-row of the CMaj scale. The 7-row of the CMaj scale is the same as the 2-row of the Am scale.
Major Scale Natural Minor Harmonic Minor Melodic Minor (ascending)
——————- ———————— ————————– ———————-
5-row: 5 6 (G A) 7-row: 7 1 (G A) 7-row: 7 1 (G# A) 7-row: 7 1 (F# G# A)
2-row: 2 3 4 (D E F) 4-row: 4 5 6 (D E F) 4-row: 4 5 6 (D E F) 4-row: 4 5 6 (D E)
6-row: 6 7 1 (A B C) 1-row: 1 2 3 (A B C) 1-row: 7# 1 2 3 (G# A B C) 1-row: 7# 1 2 3 (G# A B C)
3-row: 3 4 5 (E F G) 5-row: 5 6 7 (E F G) 5-row: 5 6 (E F) 5-row: 5 6 7 (E F#)
7-row: 7 1 2 (B C D) 2-row: 2 3 4 (B C D) 2-row: 2 3 4 (B C D) 2-row: 2 3 4 (B C D)
The Harmonic minor is a little more complicated. Note 7 (G) is contained in two rows of the Natural Minor Scale. There is no problem with modifying the 7-row, as shown above, by sharpening the 7. The resulting row is just as easily playable. But modifying the 5-row by sharpening the 7 changes the row from a minor third to a major third, which is not as easily playable. A better solution is to add G# to the beginning of the 1-row, as shown above. This row is a little less playable than the 1-row of the Natural minor, but it is playable. When ascending we can slide our index finger from the 7# to the 1. When descending we can slide it from the 1 to the 7#.
The Melodic Minor requires two changes when ascending. We move the 6# (F#) up from the end of the 4-row to the front of the 7-row. This new 7-row is still easily playable since it’s a minor third. The new 5-row is also easily playable since it’s just a major second.
Finally, we might or might now want to change the labeling of the 7-row and 1-row to match the new starting notes. I’ll leave that decision to the reader.
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