Scales: The Foundation of Music Theory
A scale is a series of notes (or predetermined sound frequencies) arranged
alphabetically consecutively from any note to its octave. There are two kinds
of scales commonly used today: Diatonic and Chromatic.
CHROMATIC: The word literally means "colored." The chromatic scale is
made up of all twelve tones found between any note and its octave.
The tones are one semitone apart.
DIANOTIC: The word literally means "according to the tonic." The diatonic
scale is made up of only seven notes between any note and its octave.
These notes are "spaced" out in tones (whole steps) and semitone
(half steps).
The combination of tones and semitones produces two different kinds of
diatonic scale: Major and Minor.
Letter Tones
Degrees
Note: the shaded tones are one half step apart while the other tones are
one whole step apart. On the guitar, a whole step is the distance between three frets on any place on the
fingerboard. A half step are adjacent frets or next to each other. See the graph above.
Each note has its own particular position in relation to the first note, the "tonic" or key-note. In the example
above, C is the tonic note and C, D, F, G and A are Whole Tones while E and B are Semi-tones.
A scale is a series of notes (or predetermined sound frequencies) arranged
alphabetically consecutively from any note to its octave. There are two kinds
of scales commonly used today: Diatonic and Chromatic.
CHROMATIC: The word literally means "colored." The chromatic scale is
made up of all twelve tones found between any note and its octave.
The tones are one semitone apart.
DIANOTIC: The word literally means "according to the tonic." The diatonic
scale is made up of only seven notes between any note and its octave.
These notes are "spaced" out in tones (whole steps) and semitone
(half steps).
The combination of tones and semitones produces two different kinds of
diatonic scale: Major and Minor.
Letter Tones
Degrees
Note: the shaded tones are one half step apart while the other tones are
one whole step apart. On the guitar, a whole step is the distance between three frets on any place on the
fingerboard. A half step are adjacent frets or next to each other. See the graph above.
Each note has its own particular position in relation to the first note, the "tonic" or key-note. In the example
above, C is the tonic note and C, D, F, G and A are Whole Tones while E and B are Semi-tones.
Notes - Elementary Rudiments for Guitar - Section 2 - Scales
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