Best way to approach guitar scales?

Question

I am learning natural major and minor scales, and I'm finding it a bit confusing. I am playing in C Minor for example (which would be A Major) and I know that there are 5 minor scale shapes. However, if I am not playing the root note as the first note (which would be C)/playing 4 of the 5 scale shapes, how would I know what key I am playing in? If the root note is Eb on a certain scale shape of C minor, couldn't I just be playing some other scale?

I basically just want the best way to learn the scale shapes and know what scales I'm playing.

Answer 1

I will add to Soulmate's answer. He is correct in stating that you need to know all your major keys and its relative minor and vice-versa as starter.



As you stated in your question, C minor not A Major. C minor and Eb major contain the same note. Best way to approach any scales if you are soloing, is to know what notes make up THAT particular key and apply any or all of these notes in your soloing as roots.



Another thing to consider are the guitar MODES. If you are playing in C minor, you can play in Eb major, or throw in a lick in Ab major or Db major. These two scales are referred as Phrygian and Locian mode which fits well if soloing in C minor.



To sum up what scales you can play in C minor, you can play C Dorian, C minor Pentatonic, F major pentatonic, Bb major pentatonic, Eb major Bebop scale, Cblues and C minor.



Hope this helps :)

Answer 2

I spotted one error that may be at the heart of your problem, but maybe it's just a typo. cm does not equal A major. The notes they contain are quite different and incompatible. However, a minor = C major. These are relative keys which contain the exact same notes. Each major key has its minor counterpart, and vice-versa. Other than that, every scale has a unique key signature, so it is unmistakably identifiable.



I'm not sure what you mean by scale shapes, or the number 5. There are variations of scales with notes outside the conventional ones. But in my experience, simply learning these is useless unless you really know what you're doing, and therefore a waste of time.



If you stick to the standard major and minor scales, these color notes will become intuitive over time as your ear develops.

Answer 3

The best way to learn scales is to understand key signatures. These are the notes that make up a major scale starting on a particular root note, and they apply to any instrument. If you understand key, then you can understand how to build chords and modes using the notes available within a particular key. In turn, that will allow you to learn how a chord can appear naturally in one or more keys, with different functions in each. Its also the foundation of positional playing on the neck of the guitar; each position represents the notes from a particular key that fall under your fingers in that position. Those notes define a set of modes or chords in a particular key. This is why A minor can be the relative minor of C or the ii chord in G with corresponding A Dorian mode, or the iii chord in F with corresponding A Phrygian mode. Learning key signatures will help you to see the notes that are common in all of these A minors, as well as the notes that are different, and why.



Limiting yourself to "scale shapes" on the neck of the guitar is not really seeing the whole picture, its a starting point. You might try learning one scale through all positions on the neck; for example, learn G major in III position. The same notes make up A minor in V position, and B Phrygian in VII position, D Mixolydian in X position, and E Aeolian in XII position. Coincidentally these are also the same positions that the G pentatonic "boxes" are in.



Once you can play that key in all positions, try the next one in the circle of fifths (Dmaj) or circle of fourths (C maj). Your goal is to be able to play all 12 keys and all 12 relative minors in any position. This will take YEARS, so be patient and methodical.

Answer 4

Song, melody or lick doesn't always start on the root note, but it requires to get get to that root note. Notes can be root or introductory. It's the matter of practice. I can't tell how musician's figure out the key - it's practice and intuition. Don't rush, learn scales and play melodies. Don't worry, in some time you'll understand this.

Check out modes here. This will be something new for you:

http://bit.ly/18soUys