Let's start with the key of C. It's the easiest key!
ONCE YOU GET C, IT ALL FALLS INTO PLACE!
NOTE: There is a special bonus in this tutorial! If I told it to you
now, it wouldn't mean much to you. But once you work through this
tutorial, and then read the BONUS . . . it's gonna be a big AaaHaa Moment!
And this one BONUS will dramatically improve your slills from the
minute you read it! You will soon MASTER YOUR FRETBOARD! You will
totally know every note on the fretboard applying this BONUS INFO!
NOTE: Because C is the easiest key to work in, (it has no sharps
or flats) I put most of the actual "must learn" basics into this
tutorial. Once you get through this one, the other keys will be
much shorter tutorials! Mainly dealing only with specifics about
that specific key.
Did you ever see a musician who could hear a melody, then play it?
Or, could just listen to a recording, and start playing along with
it, knowing what chords were being played?
Does that drive you bonkers!?! Do YOU want to be able to do that, too?
Be honest. Can you do that AT ALL? Most players cannot. And as a result,
it takes a LONG time to learn a new song. Or learn a few new chords.
And the reason you cannot do this, the reason it's taking you a very long
time to learn, the reason why you are struggling to learn is because you
listened to others say things like . . . "You can get there without learning
any theory! Lots of Pro players know absolutely nothing about theory!"
Guess what? That's 100% totally WRONG! You can get pretty good not learning
theory basics in the beginning, but you CANNOT play for a long time, and NOT
know the basics! Because you learn the basics along the way!
The problem is . . . It takes YEARS instead of MONTHS!!!
There is no magic involved. We simply know some things you have not yet
learned. Two of these things are: Recognizing chord combinations, chord
progressions! And . . . recognizing note intervals! Recognizing the
SPACE between notes!
And it really is that simple! Another way of saying this is . . .
We know Music Theory Basics! I'm not talking about "reading music"!
I mean, the application stuff! The hands on tools you need to be
able to move on the the next level!
But here's the thing . . . If you're struggling, can't "get it
together" . . . it's not clicking! You can't move on to the next
level! If it takes you WEEKS to learn a song, or to add a few chords
to your chord library . . . it's because you haven't taken the time
to LEARN the basics.
But if you take the time now, a small amount of time now, you will
KNOCK YEARS OFF YOUR LEARNING CURVE!
So, let's get down to the very basics. Just the bare essentials
you need to become a better player!
Recognizing intervals, and chord phrases and progressions!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
OK, there are 12 notes. That's it! 12! And a "key" is simply
7 of these notes. Just 7! That's all we're going to use in
this entire tutorial!
The Chromatic scale: This is nothing more than all 12 of
the keys on a keyboard. And they're in alphabetical order.
And the same notes just repeat over and over. Same pattern.
It's the same for fretted instruments, too. Start on a fret
on any string. Move up one fret at a time. If you play 12
notes, you played the Chromatic Scale.
OK, THIS IS IMPORTANT! If you want to move ahead, if you really want
to move up a level, or THREE . . . every time you see the Chromatic
Scale written out, like just below, SAY IT OUT LOUD! READ IT! SAY IT!
THREE TIMES, FORWARD THEN BACK! You absolutely must commit this to
memory! It's not difficult! It's just 7 letters and they are in
ALPHABETICAL ORDER! A B C D E F G!
Read it and say it out loud now! C Dflat D Eflat, etc.! 3 TIMES!
C Db D Eb EF Gb G Ab A Bb BC
Guitar, or other fretted instruments, have the same repeating
pattern on every string! Exactly the same pattern. But the
pattern starts on a different note on each string.
If you play the full Chromatic Scale on a piano, starting
on one of the C notes, maybe the one right in the middle
of the keyboard . . . Yup! That's Middle C! . . . it would
sound like this . . .
This isn't a "key". It's simply all of the notes.
Look at a keyboard. You'll see 2 places where there is no
black key between white keys. Between B&C, and E&F.
These notes are one half step apart.
A half step, or half tone is simply one note, up or down
to the very next note. On guitar, or a fretted instrument,
it's one fret up, or one fret down.
One common term you hear in most theory discussions is "interval".
An interval is the distance between notes. Like mentioned above,
a half step, or a whole step. These two intervals are especially
important to understand! Let's listen to some half and whole steps.
In time, you'll need to be able to hear these two particular
intervals so you hear the difference between major and minor chords.
Here are 2 notes, a half step apart. C and B. BCBCB CBCBC
And here are two notes a whole step apart. C and D. CDCDC DCDCD
THAT is the whole tough part! No, it's not so tough. But you do
This is your first "pattern" or formula to learn. In a major scale,
OK, key of C . . . the white notes on the piano!
Note that we will play only the white keys in the key of C.
The Relative Minor
If we add just one more chord, the ii, or 2nd chord of the scale, we
Nearly all songs written in the key of C will only have these
I mentioned above that most of the notes, all of them in most cases,
There are two specific chord scales. One is a 3 note, triad chord scale.
It's done so often, most people think there is a G7 in a regular
You're going to be one happy camper if you followed my instructions!
So, starting with G, moving up using the pattern, you will get . . .
Each chord position has a name, and a number! The positions are
I suggest reading this in it's entirety at least 2 or 3 times! THEN
This will be brief, but I have an entire full tutorial on this! So if
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You'll do this exercise at the beginning of every practice session from
Please help keep us online with a small donation!
There are two more intervals you will become very familiar with as you
continue your musical journey. I'll cover them more in a bit. But for
now, let's look at them as well as the half and whole step.
Much of what you will do, read, play, sing, etc. will be based on thirds.
Both major 3rds and minor 3rds. As you'll soon see, all melodies and
chords are made up of a small number of notes, all spaced "mathematically"
to create a specific feel. Up or down? Happy or sad? Excided or bored?
Major chords, major scales, major 3rds are "UP". Minor chords, minor scales,
minor 3rds are "DOWN". The actual word "minor" implies "less than". Or
"lower than". Just like a half step is lower, or less than a whole step.
A 3rd is simply the 3rd note in a scale. C D
EF G A BC is a C Major scale.
The 3rd note in the scale is E. E is C's "3rd". If we want to refer to Eb,
which isn't a note in the scale, we'd call it a minor 3rd because it's a
half step down from E. It's less than a major 3rd. Less than E. It's Eb!
Minor chords have minor 3rds! (This should be an "AaaHaa Moment"!)
A C major chord is 3 notes: C E G. A Cm chord, you guessed it! C Eb G!
C Major & C minor chords
READ IT 3 TIMES OUT LOUD!
C Db D Eb EF Gb G Ab A Bb BC
So, if we go from C to E, that's moving from the 1st note C, past the 2nd
note D, to the 3rd note, E! Going from C to D is a major 2nd. This will
all make a lot of sense shortly! TRUST ME ON THIS!
If we join two whole steps, we get a major 3rd. C Db D is 3 notes. Each is
a half step apart. So C to D is a whole step, right? Then D Eb E is 3 notes,
a half step apart. So, D to E is a whole step. Therefore, C to E is 2 whole
steps! C D EF G A BC. C to E is moving from the 1st to the 3rd. A major 3rd!
If we join a whole step with a half step, we get a minor 3rd. Let's move
from the E to the G. E F Gb G. E to F is only a half step, right? (No E#
or Fb). F to G is a whole step. (F, skip Gb, to G). So, E to G is a minor 3rd!
READ IT 3 TIMES OUT LOUD!
C Db D Eb EF Gb G Ab A Bb BC
YOU'RE ONLY CHEATING YOURSELF IF YOU DON'T DO THIS!
The clip plays a series of half and whole steps, minor and major 3rds.
I'll cover this in more detail below. Don't sweat it if you're a bit
confused right now. It's all going to fit together shortly! But for now,
All chords are, are 3rds! Major chords have major and minor 3rds.
C to E is a major 3rd. C, skip D, to E. D is the 2nd. E is the 3rd.
That would be going from C on guitar, up 4 frets! Just like on piano,
it's going up 4 NOTES/keys!
Then E to G is a minor 3rd. There's no note in between E and F. So E to
G is only 1 1/2 whole steps, or a minor 3rd. 3 frets on guitar. Then
F to G is a major 3rd. Etc.
This holds true for moving chords as well. Play a full E form, 6th string
root barre chord on the 8th fret, it's a C chord, right? Now move it a
major 3rd, or 4 frets, and it's an E chord!
So learning these 4 intervals is essential! It's why we can hear a melody
and play it! A melody is just a combination of intervals!
Here is the significance of understanding, and being able to hear
half and whole steps. As you'll soon see, one note in a major chord
will be two whole steps from the root, C note. And that note will
be changed, lowered a half step to make it a minor chord.
Don't start to panic if it doesn't make 100% sense yet! Relax. It
will shortly! Once we get through all this text, the pix at the
end will clear up any brainfog that's left! Just stick with me here!
The first part of this tutorial is all about the major scale. The thing
is, once you "get it", the fun part, building chords, will be so much
easier than this first part. But because everything in music comes
from the major scale, you really need to absorb all of this! It's
the only difficult part of it all! But it's the foundation to every-
thing else!
Trust me, it's gonna start getting easier and easier!
Here is another example of whole steps and half steps, but played
together in sequence, so you can hear a whole and half step together.
CDC CDbC CDC CDbC DED DEbD DED DEbD
Listen to the difference between a C major and a C minor chord.
The difference between them is just one half step. The C major
chord has a note that's two whole steps from the root note, C.
What makes the 2nd chord a Cm is that 2nd note. It's only one and
a half step from the root C. As in, that 2nd note in the chord was
lowered a half step. The notes of a C major chord are C E G. A
C minor chord is C Eb G.
Listen to the C major and C minor chords again. Now you know
the notes you're listening to are C E G & C Eb G.
More on this later. I just want you to hear the difference now.
So, what makes a key, a KEY is the space between each note! The
intervals! So here's the 1st thing you need to know about keys.
Everything in music comes from the major scale. And as you can
see in the picture below, most of the notes in the major scale
are a whole step, or whole tone apart. But 2 sets of notes are
only a half step apart. B & C, and E & F.
need to fully "get it" before we can move on to chords.
there is a half step between the 3rd and 4th, and the 7th and 8th
notes of the scale. There is a whole step between the others.
A C major scale is C D EF G A BC. There is a whole step between
C and D. Look at the picture again. You can see there is a black key
between them. So going from C to D, you skip a note. The black key.
Going from D to E, same thing. There is a black key between D and E.
Now look at E to F. NO BLACK KEY BETWEEN THEM! There
is a half step between E and F. No note in between them!
Now look at F and G. Whole step, right? G to A is also a whole step.
A to B is also a whole step. Now look at B to C. No black key is
between them, right! So there's a half step between B and C.
The cool thing is, you don't have to do anything to make the
intervals correct in the key of C. Because they fall naturally
on the keyboard!
If you start on C, the half steps naturally fall on the 3rd & 4th, and
7th & 8th notes! The key of C has no sharps or flats. That isn't true
with any other key! All other keys have at least 1 sharp or flat!. But
the good news is, there is a totally systematic, and eazy way to learn
them! A system we all learn, almost naturally. More about that when you
go to the next key, G!
Again, that's why we start with the key of C! The major scale
"pattern" is naturally there. And what we need to fully understand
is that "pattern!
You need to learn this pattern. Say it over and over! WWH WWWH
WHOLE WHOLE HALF WHOLE WHOLE WHOLE HALF!
OK, now listen to this clip. It's the major scale, but broken up
a bit. It plays in groups of 2. So you hear the intervals between
each set of notes.
The scale is C D EF G A BC. The audio plays like this . . .
CDC (W) DED (W) EFE (H) FGF (W) GAG (W) ABA (W) BCB (H) CDC (W)
There are no black keys played. Depending on what key we're in,
the black keys will be called either sharps, or flats.
We won't cover sharps and flats in this tutorial because there are
no sharps or flats in the key of C. That's why we start there!
Starting from C, go up the white keys until you get to C again.
You don't need to have a piano. Just look at the picture again!
From these 7 notes . . . EVERYTHING IN MUSIC is built! Just 7
notes from the Chromatic Scale builds an entire key! All of the
scales, all of the chords come from this simple set of 7 keys,
7 letters! 7 notes.
The notes in the key of C are: C D EF G A BC That's it!
And if you were to sing these notes, or hum them, it would
sound incredibly familiar! do re mi fa so la ti do Remember
singing that as a kid in school?
THAT is a major scale! And from those 7 notes, that simple scale,
comes ALL of the chords! And making them all is very easy!
I need to add a chord scale in here now. We'll go over how to
make chord scales in a bit. But for now, I just want you to see
what the chords are for the key of C. (There's a method to my
madness! Just stick with me!)
In the key of C, there are 7 CHORDS that go along with the NOTES
of the major scale. They are . . .
C Dm Em F G Am Bdim (diminished). All songs in the key of C will
use some of these 7 chords. So when you hear a song, and want to
learn it FAST . . . just know that once you determine what key the
song is written, you will just need to figure out the chords from
a list of 7 chords, not dozens! The chords will usually be in the
key's chord scale!
This is a C major chord scale. C Dm Em F G Am Bdim
It's important to learn the sound of these patterns of chords, the
most basic progressions used in most songs! It will dramatically
reduce your learning curve when learning a new song!
Here are the three most common progressions.The I IV V (145) is
the 1st, 4th and 5th chord in the chord scale. In C, it's C F G.
It can be played many different ways. This is just one. Followed by
a I vi IV V (1645), then a I vi ii V (1625). We just added the 6th and
2nd chords of the chord scale.
The clip plays as follows: C F G F C F G F C ~ C Am F G C Am F G C and
C Am Dm G C Am Dm G C. Then it plays them in simple form. Followed
by just the 4 and 2, F Dm. F Dm F Dm C.
LEARN TO HEAR THE PATTERNS!
In every key, there is one scale, one chord, that shares the same
notes as the root chord. It's called the Relative Minor. In C, it's
Am! There is an Am scale "inside" of the C major scale!
C D EF G A BC D EF G A BC
Most songs are either in a major key, or are in a MODE of the key.
Some modes are major, some are minor. The most common songs will
have the 3 major chords of the key. And MANY will also have the
Relative Minor chord! Am is the 6th chord in the C chord scale.
For example . . .
In C, the major chords are C F G. A Bazzilion songs have been
written using just the 3 major chords of a key. These chords, as
you'll see below, are the 1st, 4th and 5th chords of the key's
chord scale. Thus, we have what's called a I IV V (1 4 5) chord
progression! The most common progression.
Country, Folk, Gospel, Blues, Rock! Almost all music genres have
some, if not mostly 145 songs! Here's a Swing example.
This is a Swing I IV V in E. The key of E has E A & B. The progression
is a straight I IV V, standard format.
[E '''] [E '''] [E '''] [E ''']
[A '''] [A '''] [E '''] [E ''']
[B '''] [A '''] [E '''] [B '''] E . . .
But there are also a bazillion songs written that have 4 chords.
There are two progressions used more than any others, using a minor
chord in the progression. In the key of C, Am is the most common.
Example: C Am F G. This (along with one other similar progression
you'll see below) is one of the most common progressions used in
music! Going back as far as history was recorded!
So, adding to the exceedingly common I IV V, is the addition of the
6, expressed as vi. Lower case Roman Numeral 6, because it's a minor.
C Am F G is a I vi IV V (1 6 4 5). The trick to being able to hear a
song, and being able to play the song before it even finishes is . . .
Recognizing chord progression "patterns"! So, now, when you hear a
song, you will start to recognize I IV V and I vi IV V chord patterns!
The progression here is C Am F G
can literally play 100s and 100s of songs! In C, the 2 chord, or 2nd
degree of C is . . . Dm. If we substitute the ii chord for the IV chord,
we get . . . C Am Dm G. A 1 6 2 5. And THIS is one of the most common
progressions ever used that have a minor chord.
It was used for so many songs in the 1950's, it's actually called . . .
The 50's progression! C Am Dm G
7 notes. With a few exceptions. Straight out Jazz and songs with
a lot of chords will often have notes outside of the key. And as
you'll see below, we sometimes "alter" a note in the key to make
some chords. But we're only going to cover ONE exception in this
tutorial. Because it's a very common one.
This exception is so common, it's almost not an exception! You'll
find it in just about every song you play!
You learned above that the major scale pattern is WWH WWWH. Let's build
a C major scale, without looking at the piano keyboard above. Don't cheat!
The difficult part for you right now will be . . . You haven't yet
memorized the full Chromatic Scale. So if I say "Go up a whole step
from C", you won't know what note is a whole step up. SO . . .
Instead of looking at a keyboardl, let's use the Chromatic Scale.
It won't matter if I write it out using sharps or flats, because
none of them will end up in the C major scale.
Chromatic Scale using flats . . . 2 OCTAVES!
Say it out loud, forward and backwards!
C Db D Eb EF Gb G Ab A Bb BC Db D Eb EF Gb G Ab A Bb BC
Um, I said no cheating! SAY IT OUT LOUD!
Now, using the W W H W W W H pattern, we'll start with C, and
build a C major scale!
C, up a Whole Step: C Db D. D, up a WS: D Eb E. E up a HS: EF.
F up a WS: F Gb G. G up a WS: G Ab A. A up a WS: A Bb B. B up a HS: BC.
C D EF G A BC ! BINGO! Give yourself a hand!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
OK, now let's see what we can do with the major scale! How about . . .
Building Chords!
in a song, in the melody, AND in the harmony will be contained in the
major scale of the key the song is written. So if you are working on a
song, maybe trying to figure out the notes to play on guitar, trying
to figure out the melody . . . you now know that the notes will be
C D EF G A BC if the song is in the key of C! Right!?!
And if you're trying to figure out the notes for a harmony, this next
part is gonna hold the answers you've been looking for! Because the
harmony notes are ALSO all in the major scale! You just need to learn
where the harmony comes from!
Learning this next part will enable you to figure out all of the
harmonies to your songs! You'll be able to teach them to other band
members! No more guessing! And it all comes from the major scale . . .
and from the CHORDS of the major scale! So let's talk about . . .
Building a C Major Harmony Chord Scale!
The other is a 4 note, with 7ths, Jazz chord scale. The good news is . . .
you build them both the same identical way! Let's do a triad chord scale!
As the name implies, there will be 3 notes in each chord. And it's so simple,
you're not going to believe it! Seriously!
It's technically called "stacking 3rds". Another way to say it is . . .
You just skip every other note! BINGO!
I said I was going to make this EZPZ. So I'm not going to cover a lot of
theory about each chord right now. But once you digest this, and the other
keys in "short form", I suggest delving heavily into my Music Theory 101
Overview tutorial. From this point on, it goes into a lot more detail. But
for now, when I say a chord is a Dm, for example, just accept that it is!
OK, we start with the major scale, then use every other note to make our
chords! So . . .
C D EF G A BC
START WITH C, THEN GO UP EVERY OTHER NOTE, 2 TIMES!
And this is what you get!
C (skip D) E (skip F) G. CEG is a C major chord! Now go to D and repeat.
D (slip E) F (skip G) A. DFA is a Dm chord! Go to E!
E (skip F) G (skip A) B. EGB is an Em chord! Go to F!
F (skip G) A (skip B) C. FAC is an F chord! Now go to G.
G (skip A) B (skip C) D. GBD is a G chord! Now go to A.
A (skip B) C (skip D) E. ACE is an Am chord! Now go to the odd ball! B!
B (skip C) D (skip E) F. BDF is a B diminished chord! Bdim.
If you played the chords C D E F G A B C, and sang the notes of
the C major scale, it would sound really bad! Some notes would
match, but others would clash badly! You guessed it. Because of the
intervals. But if you sang the major scale over the chord scale, it
would sound PERFECT!
So now you know the chords of the C major scale. Right?
C Dm Em F G Am Bdim. These are the chords that will match up to
the notes in just about any song you can imagine! If you know
the chords in a song, almost for sure, the melody notes will be
in whatever chord is being played during that note!
And once you know the MELODY, finding the harmony is a piece of
cake! It will be one of the other notes played over the chord!
Example: If you're singing over an Am chord, the melody notes will
most likely be an A, C or E. The other 2 notes will be your harmony!
Now we'll go one step further, and make some really cool chords! We
do this exactly the same way as above, EXCEPT we do it 4 times! We
simply go one more time, to get the 7ths! And in the process, we'll
cover that ONE EXCEPTION I mentioned earlier!
I won't do the whole thing. You should be able to do it with just
a bit of a starter! Let's start again with C, and make our C major
chord, then go one step further, and make a Cmaj7!
C skip D to E. E skip to G. CEG is a C major chord. Now go one more
time! G skip A to B. CEGB is a Cmaj7 chord! It's a pretty, jazzy
version of the C major chord.
Now do it for the D. You get DFA like before. Then one step more,
and you get: A skip B to C. This is a Dmin7! Cool, right!?!
This is building the 4 note, with 7ths Jazz chord scale. The
chords are a lot prettier! Cool sounding! And this is the scale
you get when you do them all!
Cmaj7 Dm7 Em7 Fmaj7 Gdom7 Am7 Bm7b5. Now for the exception!
You can substitue any of the chords from one scale to the other.
It just depends on how you want the song or progression to sound.
Jazz it up. Take a simple ballad using triads, and substitute the
chords from the Jazz scale, and you get something a lot sweeter!
With that in mind, going back to the regular 3 note triads. The 5th
chord of the C major chord scale is a G major. A very common switch,
almost done in every song, is to substitute the 5 chord of the triad
scale, in this case, a G major, with the 5th chord of the Jazz scale!
Again, in this case, the G7!
THE DIFFERENCE IS SUBTLE, BUT MORE SATISFYING.
G ' C G7 ' C G ' C G7 ' C
3 note C major chord scale. There is not. The reason we usually
substitute the G7 for the G is because G7 resolves back to the C
major chord much better than a plain old G triad!
OK, one more thing in this section to think about. You now can
make any chord scale you want. Albeit, you'll need to know the
Chromatic Scale written with flats, too.! It's the same exact notes.
The black keys simply each have 2 names! And the name 100% is
determined by the KEY you're in! Like the G above, using F#,
instead of Gb!
So here it is!
Yup . . . Say it 3 times, forward and backwards! C Csharp D etc.
C C# D D# EF F# G G# A A# BC C# D D# EF F# G G# A A# BC
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
OK, this is a lot of information to absorb! You need to read it
over and over. Spend some time on it each day! Until it really
sinks in!
Once you get it, once you can maneuver around all of this, and
once it becomes usesful, you're going to see some patterns! And
you might wonder why I didn't mention some of them here.
Well, that's because this is supposed to be nutz and bolts. Just
the basics. But there are other ways to think about most of all
of this! For instance . . .
Once you nail the Chromatic Scale . . . once you KNOW it inside
out and backwards! Once you can say the scale, starting at ANY note,
in sharps AND flats . . . there is another simpler way to write out
scales, chord scales, etc. But you need to fully have the Chromatic
Scale nailed down!
If you have the above pretty much under control, check this out! To
write out any major scale, just start with the root, the key you want,
and simply write out each of the music letters . . . A through G!. Let's
do the key of D!
D E F G A B C D
START THERE. JUST WRITE OUT ALL OF THE "LETTERS".
Then apply the WWH WWWH pattern to the letters/notes!
D to E is a whole step. Cool. E to F is only a half step! So we make
the F an F#! F# to G is a half step. Cool. G to A is a whole step.
Also cool. A to B is a whole step. Cool! B to C is a half step. NOPE!
So make the C a C#. C# to D is a half step. PERFECT! WWH WWWH!
D E F# G A B C# D
Now simply apply the chord pattern, and you'll have a D major chord
scale! Maj min min Maj Maj min Dim.
D Em F#m G A Bm C#dim D! BINGO!
This isn't rocket science. It's just knowing and understanding some
basic patterns and formulae.
Once you read this whole thing a few times, it's going to make so
much sense!
OK, let's be honest. I know you don't have all of this down pat! But
ask yourself this . . . Once you do get it, solid, do you think it
will be easier to continue your learning process? Can you see how
knowing this stuff will help you learn songs FAST!?!?
I need to cover just one more topic! Then . . . It's BONUS TIME!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I want to cover just one more important thing now. Using a number
system to know what chords to play. But I can't go too deeply into it
unless I cover one thing first!
Using the chromatic scale above, if I were to tell you to make a G
major scale, you should be able to do that now. Just apply the same
WWH WWWH pattern, but start with G!
There is no beginning nor end to the Chromatic Scale. You start from
any place in the scale, and use the WWH WWWH pattern, just like C.
It's a LOOP! And goes round and round and round! So let's start with G!
Because G is a "sharp" key, I'll use the sharps version of the scale.
Say it again! Starting from G this time!
G G# A A# BC C# D D# EF F# G G# A A# BC C# D D# EF F# G
Hmmm, actually I'm going to stick with the flats version this time
so I can show you something you will need from time to time! Mainly
when you're trying to transpose a song to a different key! So . . .
Say it out loud, forward and backwards!
C Db D Eb EF Gb G Ab A Bb BC Db D Eb EF Gb G Ab A Bb BC
Because by now you're getting the Chromatic Scale planted in the old
cranium! And in a few minutes you're going to find out how to use it
to totally change your current level! Almost INSTANTLY!
How would you like to know every note on your fretboard without taking
forever and a day to learn it! Well, you will soon!
Key Of G Scale and Chords!
G A B C D E Gb (F#) G. We make the Gb an F# because you cannot have
2 of the same letter in a major scale. Ever! And F# is the same note,
same black key as Gb. Some keys have sharps, some have flats. And THIS
is the reason why! You can't have a Gb and a G in the same major scale!
NOTE: This is one of the iron clad, no exception rules. You must have
one of each of the 7 letters in your major scale. But ONLY one! They
can be flats, or sharps or not. But you must have ONE A B C D E F & G
IN YOUR MAJOR SCALE!
So . . . now you have a G major scale. You make the chord scale the
same way! Start on G, and go every other note. GBD is a G major. Then
go to the A, and you get ACE, Am.
Or simply apply the chord pattern to the G scale! The chord pattern
will always be the same! Maj min min Maj Maj Min Dim.
So . . . G Am Bm C D Em F#dim is your chord scale! And it's exactly
the same for ALL keys! You do it exactly the same way!
OK, so you decide to learn a song you've wanted to play for a long time,
but couldn't figure out the chords. So you listen, keys, or guitar in
hand. You figure out the tonal center, and determine you're in the key
of A. NO PROBLEM!
You know the Chromatic Scale. You know WWH WWWH! And guess what?
You ALSO RECOGNIZE THE CHORD PROGRESSION PATTERN NOW!
This time when you listened to it, you recognized and knew INSTANTLY
that it's a I vi ii V (1625) in A! So now, because you know the
Chromatic Scale, you just start from A. Mentally apply WWH WWWH,
write down . . .
A Bm C#m D E F#m G#dim. Then you circle A F#m Bm E. But you want to
make it sweeter! So you decide to use the Jazz scale! . . .
Amaj7 Bm7 C#m7 Dmaj7 E7 F#m7 G#m7b5. DONE!!!
Getting ready for band rehearsal, you take about 2 minutes and figure
out the harmony "Ahhhs" and "Oooos" for the other guys. You write down
Amaj7: A C# E G#. F#m7: F# A C# E. Bm7: B D F# A. E7: E G# B D. BINGO!
See how this all works!
Roman Numeral Number System
called Scale Degrees. As in, the 2nd chord in C is Dm. Dm is the TWO
of C. The 2nd degree of C. The ii.
We use Roman Numerals to name the chord positions as a way to be able
to identify the chords of one key, and substitute them, pretty much
without thinking, to another key!
Major chords use upper case Roman Numerals. Minor chords use lower case.
So, a C major chord scale could be written out like this . . .
I ii iii IV V vi vii°. If you're in the key of C, the most common chord
progression in all music is a I IV V. (1 4 5) The 1st, 4th and 5th chords
in the chord scale. Basically, the 3 major chords. In C, that'd be . . .
C F G! And if you learn the number system, C is I. F is IV. G is V. If
you want to change the key to say, the key of A, you have . . .
A Bm C#m D E F#m G#dim A. A I IV V would be A D E. Or maybe it's a ballad,
and has some minor chords. Most common progressions are I vi IV V (1645)
and I vi ii V, 1 6 2 5. In A, that would be A F#m D E or A F#m Bm E.
Now change it back to the key of C. C F G, C Am F G and C Am Dm G.
So, if I said, it's a I vi ii V in G, you would think . . .
G Am Bm C D Em F#dim G: G Em Am D.
Ever wonder how some of your buddies can hear a song, and figure it out
while it's playing, and have it all worked out by the time the record
finishes? THAT IS HOW! We recognize PATTERNS! We listen, and hear the
progression "pattern"! The song starts. I quickly figure out it's in the
key of D. And I hear the pattern. Maybe it's a I vi ii V. So I know the
chords are going to be . . . D Bm Em A. EZPZ!
But all songs aren't simply I IV V, or I vi ii V progressions! And what
about choruses, and bridges! How about intros and outros!
It's the same thing. Chord patterns. INTERVALS! I hear 2 chords. One
is a major and the other is a minor. I'm in the key of C. So I know
the minor is most likely Am. Might also be Dm or Em. So I listen to the
interval. I hear the major chord, and it's C. And I listen. A Dm will
be a major 2nd from C. 2 frets up. Em will be a major 3rd, 4 frets.
And an Am will be a minor 3rd DOWN 3 frets. (same as 5 up).
It will take time, and practice. But now the confusion is GONE! You
now know what's going on "musically"! Put it to work!
I hope this was useful! And I hope you read it over, and over! Until you
get it! Because once you do, you will start learning SO MUCH faster! You'll
hear a song playing and almost immediately know the key it's in. You will be
able to figure out the most likely chords in the song. And start playing
the song before it's even finished playing!
It will also help you if you like to write songs!
I'm going to stop here! Once you get a handle on this one, jump over to
the key of G. It's going to be MUCH shorter! And super easy to digest.
It's all the same! Same patterns! Same notes. Just a different key!
So I won't need to do much explaining. I'll assume you read this one first!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
OK, 2 things. 1). Your BONUS! 2). A link to a
"MOSTLY PIX" page that summarizes this whole
tutorial down to a quick scroll!
go to this "Key of C EZPZ Summary" page, and BOOKMARK IT! Take a week
or two, and hit the summary every day! THEN . . . move on the G!
Again, the other tutorials are WAY SHORTER! Go here for the summary!
Key of C EZPZ Summary Page
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
you get into it, and want more, go to that full tutorial.
Fretboard 101
You are doing this, the following, for YOU, not for ME!
You've been working to learn the Chromatic Scale all throughout the
above tutorial. But now we're going to NAIL IT!
If you do this, as suggested, within a very short time, with almost
ZERO physical effort, you will know your entire fretboard like the back
of your hand! PLUS . . . you'll build strength and dexterity!
Here's the thing. You only need to do this ONCE! Because once you have
it down, YOU GOT IT, FOREVER! And you're going to use it so much, so many
times, you won't believe it!
I'm gonna make two comments here. If you spend as much time each week
doing this project as I spent typing it all out . . . you'll see HUGE
results! MONSTEROUS RESULTS! As in, YOU gain a lot. I get nothing!
And the 2nd comment . . . If you read this, and think it's a bunch of
hooie . . . if you think it's a big pain in the hind end . . .
I respectfully suggest you quit playing, and pick a new hobby! Maybe
bowling! Because you suffer from "Stinkin' Thinkin'" and don't have
what it takes INSIDE to get where you think you can get without WORKING!
That being said, I truly doubt anyone has read this far,
and is not committed to learning! BRAVO to you!
Before you start, I highly recommend you get a firm pick! One that
doesn't flex! For several reasons I won't go into right now. Just go
get one!
There are two specifically different exercises you're going to do.
The 1st one you do on your guitar. It has multiple PLUSSES! It's
going to strengthen your fingers and hands! It will dramatically
improve your dexterity, and articulation. It will improve your
chord playing like KRAZY! Your chords will start sounding much
cleaner, clearer! And you will start changing from chord to chord
much faster! And you'll play barre chords a lot easer! PLUS . . .
You will know the names of ALL of the notes on the 1st 5 frets!
today, until FOREVER!
Simply stated, you're going to play the full chromatic scale, in the 1st
4 frets, on each string. You will use all 4 fingers. ONE FOR EACH FRET!
One finger on each fret! And don't cheat!
Alternate pick each note. Pick Down Up Down Up Down.
As you play every note, you SAY the note! Out loud! On each string, you
play the open string, and say the name of the string. Then play the 1st
fret, 2nd, 3rd and 4th fret. Starting on the low E string.
E F F# G G#
Then play it on the A string. Open A A# B C C#
Then the D string. Open D D# E F F#.
Then the G string. Open G G# A A# B
Then the B string. Open B C C# D D#
Then the high E string. Open E F F# G G#
Then play it backwards, in reverse. Fingers 4 3 2 1 Open.
NOTE: There will be 2 B's together when you do this. G string, 4th
fret, and the open B string. That's OK! For this exercise! If it
bugs you, then on the G string just play Open 1 2 3.
That's it for this one. It will be difficult at first, but only takes a
short time before it gets smooth! Don't rush it! Play it slowly, cleanly!
And evenly! Use a metronome if you have one!
If you don't, you can play this MP3. It playes the scale, with a percussion
track, 3 times up and down. Each time through the scale, the tempo increases
a bit. Just go through it until it gets too fast! Then stop it, and start it
again! DO NOT KEEP GOING when it gets too fast! Don't practice sloppy!
There's a 2 measure drum fill between each scale. 1 2 1234
Shake your hands a bit in between each scale!
You can download the MP3 if you like. Just click on the 3 vertical dots on
the right side of the Audio Player, and select "Download".
If you get through this, and would like another MP3 that progresses a bit
more aggresively, starting a little faster, and ending considerably faster
than this one, drop me an email, or PM me on Facebook. I'll get you one!
Email me any time! ~/~
Wayne on Facebook
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
OK, this next exercise isn't quite as simple! But the results are the same
as the 1st one, PLUS! And when you finish this one, you'll know the entire
fretboard! You don't even need a guitar to do the 1st 2 steps!
WEEK ONE . . . 1st few days
1). Get some sticky notes. Write out the full Chromatic Scale in SHARPS!
Make a BUNCH of these! Put them all over the place! Stick them on your TV,
your amp, on your PC or Laptop monitor, in the corner. On your
refridgerator! On your bathroom mirror! Bedroom mirror, on your dresser!
Stick one on the door jam on the door you go in and out of the house!
Is there a window you look out of often? Stick one there! Stick one on
your steering wheel!
If you have an office at work, stick one on your PC monitor! If you're going
to school, stick one on the inside of your locker door! If you have a locker
at a gym, same thing!
Every time you see a sticky note, READ IT OUT LOUD if appropriate. But read
it! And read it THREE TIMES! Forward and backwards! I timed it. It takes
less than a minute! Do it EVERY TIME you see it! Forward and backwards!
So, you can do this a kazillion times while driving to work, or the store, to
school, or to the gym! After a really short time, you'll have it memorized.
BUT KEEP ON READING IT OUT LOUD! This way you SEE it! You READ
it! And you HEAR yourself saying it! And you BURY it into your cranium!
Do this for several days until you have it down SOLID!
WEEK 1 . . . next few days . . .
2). By now you can say the scale forward and backwards with no problem!
What you're going to do now is start applying this to guitar!
Once you KNOW you have it memorized, you're going to start reading, and
saying it, from different start points! Like this . . .
Each time you see a sticky note, read it, starting from the E! Forward
and backwards, ONE TIME! Then read it again, starting from A! Always
forward and backwards!
Then read it again, starting from D. Then from G. And then from B!
What you're doing now it learning your fretboard without even seeing
your guitar! Do this for several days, until it feels natural.
You must be able to say the scale, without looking, starting from
E, A, D, G and B! Once you can . . .
WEEK 2, EVERY DAY!
3). At the beginning of EVERY practice session, guitar in hand, you
will play the Chromatic Scale on every string! But do it like this!
You will play the 1st 4 frets, using fingers 1 2 3 4! Do not cheat! Finger
1 fret 1! Finger 2 fret 2, etc. The 4th finger is fret 4! Don't cheat!
As you'll see below, you'll play from fret 1 to fret 15. After you play
Open, 1 2 3 4 - E F F# G G#, move your 1st finger up 4 frets, to fret 5.
Simply shift your hand forward, and play FRETS 5 6 7 8, A A# B C.
And continue, maintaining the 1 2 3 4 finger/fret combination. Then
shift again. 1st finger to 9th fret. Play 9 10 11 12, C# D D# E. Then,
finally, shift your 1st finger to the 12th fret. And play 12 13 14 15,
E F F# G! This is the only one that duplicates a note, the E.
This is a killer warm up! Builds hand and finger strength. Dexterity!
And your articulation will jump a couple levels almost instantly! And
not just for single note picking. But chords! This will improve
everything you play!
So apply the "hand shift", maintaining the 1 2 3 4 combo for each string as
explained below.
Starting on the Low E! Play the string OPEN, and SAY . . . E!
Then play the 1st fret and say F. And keep going up to the 15th fret!
1st finger on the 12th fret. So you actually play 15 frets. So E,
12th fret is played twice. 4th finger, then 1st finger. Then go
back down! SAY every note! Just do it once!
(OPEN) E F F# G G# - A A# B C - C# D D# E - E F F# G
Now shift your fingers back to the same positions as you did going up.
1st finger on 12th, 9th 5th and 1st frets.
G F# F E - E D# D C# - C B A# A - G# G F# F E (OPEN)
Then . . .
Go to the A string and do the same thing. Open, say A. Play the 1st fret
and say A sharp. Then keep going up to the 12th fret, then back down!
Be sure to SAY each note as you play it!
Now just keep going! D string, G string, B string, then the high E string!
But this isn't going to work, unless you do it right! You play the
notes, and SAY the note names, while you SEE the notes being played!
OK, it's not going to take long to do this. And it's a good warm up before
your practice session anyway! Give it 2 weeks, or 14 sessions! And you'll
amaze yourself!
SIDEBAR: Now you have a solid foundation using sharps! And as a guitarist,
unless you plan to get into Jazz, or plan to play in a horn band, you're
in pretty good shape!
Most common guitar keys are E G A B and D. These are all sharp keys! Yes,
I recommend moving on, and learning the fretboard using flats! Absolutely!
But if you want to take a break, this is an OK place to do it! Stick with
sharps for a while. Because . . .
If you learned to say the scale in flats as you shoulod have, as you did
sharps, you pretty much understand that an Ab is also a G#. And as you
play more, and get experience playing in other keys, flats will come
naturally. In time. That being said, it's time to move on!
OK. Once you have it down, and can play the scale on each string, and
you have ZERO problems doing so, you're going to START OVER! Yeah!
You're going to start back on number 1 again, BUT . . . make all new
sticky notes, this time using FLATS! And do 1 through 3 exactly the
same way! But reading, and saying FLATS!
But it's gonna go WAY faster this time. You'll get it down in a lot less
time! Because most of the scale is already stuck in your head!
This does a LOT of things for you! You'll soon be able to do ALL of the
stuff in the above tutorial . . . IN YOUR HEAD! Build scales, build chords!
You'll be getting a good warm up before practice sessions. And . . .
You're going to know your fretboard like you never imagined!
OK . . . ONE MORE TIME!
Now you're going to nail this so solidly, you'll be able to do it in
your sleep! Do the same thing as above, bit this time . . .
When you write, read, say and play the scale, inclube BOTH sharps AND flats!
E F F#/Gb G G#/Ab A A#/Bb B C C#/Db D D#/Eb E. Do the whole thing like this.
Write it out. Read it. Play it! Saying both sharp and flat for each fret!
This is going to be way easier than you think! And boost your skill level
every time you play it! Plus, you've built hand and finger strength! Upped
your dexterity! Your articulation will be amazingly better! And you'll
be playing with a level of confidence you never imagined.
If you want to do this, and understand it a bit better, if you want to
understand all of the "why it works" stuff, then check out the full
Fretboard 101 tutorial!
Fretboard 101
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hope you found this interesting. If you did, please feel welcome
to drop me a line. Email me, or drop me a PM on Facebook!
Email me any time! ~/~
Wayne on Facebook
Go here for the summary!
Key of C EZPZ Summary Page
Click here to go to The Key Of G Page!
Key of G/Em EZPZ Page
Click here to go back to the Select a KEY page!
Select A Key Page
Back to the Tutorials Home Page
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