Natural Minor ScaleAll the logic that’s described in the major scales section applies to the natural minor scale. The only difference is the pattern itself. That pattern is
W H W W H W W So starting on the note of A Up two frets (a whole note) and you get a B Up one fret (a half note) and you get a C Up two frets (a whole note) gives you a D Another two frets (a whole note) gives you an E The last one fret jump (a half note) gives you a F (remember no E#) Up two frets (a whole note) gives you G And the final two fret jump (another whole note) takes you back to A Which gives you: If you’re observant you’ll have noticed that the actual notes in the A natural minor scale are the same as those in C Major. There are many weird things in music theory. This one though is definitely worth remembering, each major scale has a related minor scale which uses the same notes but starting on a different one. Unsurprisingly, this is called the relative minor. More on this in the scale spelling section.
So translating that onto the fretboard. Again you can play them along one string, in this case the 5th string. A = Open, B = 2, C = 3, D = 5, E = 7, F = 8, G = 10 and A = 12 Again the beginner version across the strings is: A = Open 5th string B = 2nd fret 5th string C = 3rd fret 5th string D = Open 4th string E = 2nd fret 4th string F = 3rd fret 4th string G = Open 3rd string A = 2nd fret 3rd string Which looks like this: Unlike the C Major scale this pattern is useable around the neck, so if you move to the A note on the 6th string and use the same pattern (although you need to use different fingers) you get:
A = 5th fret 6th string B = 7th fret 6th string C = 8th fret 6th string D = 5th fret 5th string E = 7th fret 5th string F = 9th fret 5th string G = 5th fret 4th string A = 7th fret 4th string. Giving you Which on a guitar fretboard looks like.
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Theory Home Scales - what are they? Major Scale Natural Minor Scale Scale spelling Sharp Keys Flat Keys Pentatonic Scales COMING SOON Blues Scale Chord Construction Major Chords Major 7th Chords Minor Chords Minor 7th Chords Dominant 7th Chords Minor 7th Flat 5 Chords Diminished Chords Augmented Chords Suspended Chords |