Beginner Guitar Lesson 36 - Extended C Major and A Minor Scales

Welcome to another lesson in your journey to learning the guitar, just another step toward mastering that incredible instrument!

Today we are going to get down to some fundamental theory that will help you to understand the way chords are constructed as well as aid you in further understanding the layout of the fret board. We will focus on two scales that are essentially the same, except that they start on different notes.

First let’s tackle the extended C major scale. Starting on the third fret of the A string for root note C, follow the tablature and notation below.  You may also view the camtasia file here too.

 
The above notation includes some chord extension numbers in the middle of the staff. Later on in this lesson this is explained in detail, so please refer to it at that point. For now, let us tackle the fundamental structure of the scale.

Below is another diagram that illustrates the fret spacing (tone steps) between each of the notes, where 2 frets is a whole tone and 1 fret is a half tone. By learning this pattern, it is possible to transpose a major scale to any key on the guitar. The green notes represent the notes if you carry the scale into the second octave (set of 8 notes) and the highlighted note represents the octave (8 notes away) from the root.

C 2frets D 2frets E 1fret F 2frets G 2frets A 2frets B 1fret C 2frets D 2frets E 1fret F

    Whole     whole   half     whole     whole    whole   half

Practice this scale at about 100 bpm using alternate picking up the scale, and then play down the scale by reversing that process. Try to say the tone steps as you play from note to note. Now, if we add just two notes before the root note C, we can achieve an extended A minor scale. Again, follow the TAB and notation below and view the camtasia file here.

 
Below is the diagram of the tone steps between notes. You now know that a whole note is 2 frets and a half is 1 fret.

A whole B half C whole D whole E half F whole G whole A whole B half C whole D whole E half F

Now compare the patterns of the tone steps between major and minor scales, so you can understand and see the difference.

Major: whole whole half whole whole whole half

Minor: whole half whole whole half whole whole

Now that you have a basic grasp of the steps, you can begin to understand more about how chords are built. Look at the diagram below, which shows you the C Major scale and numbers each note. This scale goes through two octaves to illustrate the numbers relating to chord extensions such as 6, 9 and 13.

The 1st, 3rd and 5th notes are highlighted because they form the triad or the basic major chord. The red numbers give the common extensions (notes added to a chord to give it different qualities), but 8,12 and 14 are not extensions because they are the same notes that appear in the triad chord, only an octave higher. You can also refer to the C major scale diagram at the beginning of the lesson.

C D E F G A B C D E    F   G   A   B   C

1 2 3 4 5 6 7  8 9 10 11 12 13

So, if I said to play a C Major 7, what notes would it have in it? You got it: C E G B. Simple isn’t it? What about a C major 9? That’s it: C E G D. How about a C Major 6 9?  C E G A D.

Here is a new challenge for you: what notes will an A minor 9 have in it? (answer in the next lesson).