Learning Guitar Scales

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Intervals are the key to learning guitar scales "i can't insist enough". Learning intervals will let you really understand music theory and especially guitar scales. Intervals are a must and are the first thing you should learn after learning "the notes on the fretboard" and "whole and half steps".

An interval is the distance between 2 notes and they are measured from the lower note to the higher one. They could be described as "melodic" intervals if the notes sound successively OR "harmonic" if the two notes sound simultaneously.

Intervals could take a lot of shapes, so an interval could be described as: "Major", "Minor", "Perfect", "Diminished", "Augmented".

Lets take the major interval as a reference to other intervals (remember:the major scale is the standard to all other scales), we get these:

- A major interval lowered by a "half step", becomes a minor interval ==> A minor interval raised by one half step, becomes a major interval.

- A major interval lowered by 2 "half steps= whole step", becomes a diminished interval ==> A diminished interval raised by 2 half steps, becomes a major interval.

- A major interval raised by a "half step", becomes an augmented interval ==> An augmented interval lowered by one half step, becomes a major interval.

In the case of Perfect interval:

- A perfect interval lowered by a "half step", becomes a diminished interval.
- A perfect interval raised by a "half step", becomes an augmented interval

These are the basic shapes of intervals that will help you in learning guitar scales and naming scales and chords without even knowing them, you can try other combination your self and find out the resulting interval like for example a minor interval raised by two half steps, becomes an augmented interval...and so on.

Intervals are the basic concept in learning guitar scales, when you learn them properly you'll be able to name any scale and any chord just by knowing its intervals.