Learning Scales

Hi everyone

Does anyone know of any useful tips for learning scales. I know C, G and D but is it just a case and working through and learning them all or is there a short-cut as its quite time consuming!

Does anyone know of any useful tips for learning scales.

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No real short-cuts, there are a multitude of scales beyond the "basic" major doh-ray-me, such as the various "modes" and the "blues" scale(s) ... it's really just a case of learning them as you need them.

One concept you might try ... considering the basic C major as your starting point, simply barre across the first fret and then play all the same note positions "one fret up", with your other three fingers, and that's a C# (Db) major scale ... try the same trick with your original D scale and you've got D#/Eb etc. etc. This becomes a (simpler?) case of remembering the physical relationship of each of the doh-ray-me's in your three or four basic scales, then sliding the whole thing up and down the fretboard, under a barre, as required.

It can be usefull, for instance, to start an E scale on the fourth fret of the C string and "work across" the fretboard under a barre, rather than start on the open E string and "climb up" the fretboard for seven frets.

On the ukulele, especially with the limited range imposed by it's re-entrant (hi-G) tuning, there are rather fewer options than on, say, a mandolin or guitar, as to where one actually "starts" a scale, especially if the tune in question dips below the bottom doh then comes back up.

Hope this helps

After learning the c scale in the standard way try working on the movable scale. Start on c# using the movable scale fingering and simply proceed chromatically up the neck using the same finger pattern. Use the movable scale for your minor scales also. I also work on scale patterns c-d-e-c, d-e-f-d, e-f-g-e etc., try playing them in thirds, c-e, d-f, e-g etc. Be creative.

An important thing to always remember is that the 7th note is always a half a step below the first. B is a half below C.

Okay, think of G. F# is a half a step below.
The only difference between the Key of C and G is the F#.
Key of D, has a half step belowC#. D has an F# and a C#. (Hint: we're spelling out the cycle of fifths C,G, D,A,E, B etc.)

The cycle of fifths will help you with scales and progressions. Memorize it and see the patterns. F-C-G-D-A-E-B learn the rest. Play seventh chords going backwards. See how it sounds. The keys are a fifth apart going clockwise, a fourth going counter. Explore.

Key of E: Has a D# a half step below) E has an F#, C# and D#. It just keeps adding on until it gets to the bottom of the cycle of fifths. Notice BEAD going backwards.

C: no sharps G: 1 D:2 A: 3 E:4 B:5 The new sharp comes from what was in the key before on the cycle going clockwise.

I found this site one day and can help you find all the scale notes. its pretty good http://www.ukulelescales.com/

I just give myself a lot of time with each scale and then go from there. Play melodies/songs in that scale/key as well - it helps. I've not learned all the scales and am going very slow.

Kimosabe said:

An important thing to always remember is that the 7th note is always a half a step below the first.

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Not quite. Case in point: a C major scale has the F#, but the C dominant scale does not. Only difference is the 7th.

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To the OP, there isn't an easy way to start on learning scales, as there are MANY of them (as people have mentioned), and you need to learn theory along with it to fully understand it and not get frustrated (although learning theory and frustration does go hand in hand as well). Start by learning what a major scale IS, instead of what a C major scale is. Example (Whole Step = two frets, Half Step = one fret):

C Major Scale: C D E F G A B C
Major Scale Intervals: Whole Step, Whole Step, Half Step, Whole Step, Whole Step, Whole Step, Half Step

Those intervals are what make the scale what it is. Now, if you look at C minor, you can start to see what note values are different and how the intervals change:

C Minor Scale: C D Eb F G Ab Bb C
Minor Scale Intervals: Whole Step, Half Step, Whole Step, Whole Step, Half Step, Whole Step, Whole Step

So, I would approach learning scales this way (which was also how I was taught all those many moons ago), as it helps to 1. learn the major and minor scales together but 2. learn them by intervals instead of note names, which allows you to transpose much easier.

Most folks on this thread are probably interested in major scales. So, my thoughts on remembering the seventh do help. It helps to know the name of the notes in the scale so that you can find them all over the neck and become better at knowing the neck.

Yes, one can always count steps but that isn't always practical or quick. It's very important to learn the Cycle of Fifths as soon as possible for a variety of reasons and that will help know how many and which notes are sharped or flatted in a key.

C: how many sharps?

G: how many?

D: how many?

Pretty soon you'll remember them because they build.

And yes, I do use my fingers to count when making chords sometimes. Flat the third. Raise the third. Sharp the fifth. But then you begin to remember.

Intervals, the circle of 5ths, both have worked about as well for me. For major scales (clarinet playing) I just memorized the notes because you play the so very much. Every day. I found that after I had the majors down well, I could make the changes to get the other scale forms - natural minor, harmonic minor, melody minor... and other modes. Everything I do is based with that major scale as the foundation.

Here's something crazy - I can play intervals WWHWWWH more easily with a trumpet or euphonium but not any of the woodwind instruments. Something about those three valves makes quicker sense of it in my brain.

Here are some interval formulas for different scales/modes:

Major Scale: R, W, W, H, W, W, W, H
Natural Minor Scale: R, W, H, W, W, H, W, W
Harmonic Minor Scale: R, W, H, W, W, H, 1 1/2, H (notice the step and a half)
Melodic Minor Scale: going up is: R, W, H, W, W, W, W, H
going down is: R, W, W, H, W, W, H, W
Dorian Mode is: R, W, H, W, W, W, H, W
Mixolydian Mode is: R, W, W, H, W, W, H, W
Ahava Raba Mode is: R, H, 1 1/2, H, W, H, W, W
A minor pentatonic blues scale (no sharped 5) is: R, 1 1/2, W, W, 1 1/2, W

The R refers to the root, or first note of the scale.

Learning scales

To play scales across the fretboard, there are really only five basic movable patterns that you need to learn. The first position scales are basically derivatives of these patterns, with open strings sometimes replacing notes you would have to fret higher on the neck; and occasionally, the bottom of the associated pattern is stripped off in open position, so that you have to play those notes higher on the neck on the next lower string. There are also special cases (such as the keys of D and G) in which, in first position, you may combine two adjacent patterns, using the open strings of the lower one and extended notes from the higher.

For the patterns themselves, search the net for the CAGFD system, or get hold of Beloff & Sokolow's book Ukulele Fretboard Roadmaps. I suggest that you notate the patterns on graph paper, specially marking the root, 3rd and 5th of the underlying major chords, either with special marks or colors. The root will correspond to the tonic of the key you apply that pattern to. For each string there's at least one pattern with a tonic on that string, so if you can locate the tonic note in the general region you want to play in, it's pretty simple to figure out which pattern to use and where. These notes also tell you where you'll have half-steps in the pattern (i.e. where you'll move to an adjacent fret instead of skipping a fret): the 4ths are immediately above the 3rds, and the 7ths are immediately below the tonic. (I'm talking specifically about the pattern itself and the standard major scale, not about all the other "modal" scales that can be played with the same patterns.)

Each pattern covers a different range, relative to the tonic. On reentrant ukes, only one pattern (C) and a special first position case (key of D, combining both D and C patterns) allow you to play an entire scale tonic to tonic without switching position. With the A pattern, you can almost do it, but for the low tonic, you have to slide your index down two frets. In other words, all the other patterns cover an octave range but start and end in the middle of the scale. On linear ukes, the patterns cover an octave and a fourth, so you can use the C, A or G shapes to play a full scale (and then some), while the F pattern is like the A pattern in reentrant tuning: you have to slide your finger down out of position to complete the scale.

When you shift up from one pattern to the next (typically by about five frets), you skip a pattern name in the cyclic CAGFD sequence, so the G pattern usually shifts up to the D pattern, which usually shifts up to the A pattern. Of course, there are times when you'll shift position up or down only two or three frets, to the patterns in between. You're always in or close to one of the patterns.

The minor scale pattern is the same as the major pattern, but starting two notes (three frets) before, i.e., on the 6th note of the major pattern. On your pattern charts, you might want to mark the 6th of each major scale in a distinctive way, so you can easily see where the relative minor scales begin for each pattern, and how to position them. (You'll have already marked the 3rd and 5th of the minor scale: the third is the major's tonic, and the 5th is the major's 3rd.)

These scale patterns also support the common "liturgical" modes that pop up frequently in folk music (Lydian, Mixolydian, and Dorian; Ionian and Aeolian are equivalent to major and natural minor)—they use the major pattern, but, like minor, start on a different note: the 4th, 5th and 2nd note, respectively. The "major dominant scale" with the minor 7th, which One Bad Monkey referred to above, is the same as the Mixolydian mode; it's used a fair bit in country and rock music. In other words, if you learn the five CAGFD patterns, all these other scales map directly onto them. There are many other scales which do not, like the harmonic minor and the blues scale, but you can think of them as alterations to the five major or associated minor patterns. Gap and pentatonic scales also typically map onto these patterns, but just lack one or two of the scale notes.

There's lots of stuff online about the CAGFD system. There's even more about the very similar CAGED system, which applies to guitars and ukes in G tuning. Like all chord names and patterns, in G tuning the scale pattern names are shifted down by a fourth: the C pattern of CAGFD is the G pattern of the CAGED system: the equivalent patterns are thus GEDCA (which, when rotated three positions becomes CAGED; mystery solved). But since the same shapes are used in both, you really don't have to relabel anything, unless you're talking with a guitar dude.

Good training for learning scale pattern boxes and the location of upper fretboard notes is just to read through simple tunes, like folk song melodies and fiddle tunes, trying to stay in one position as much as possible. I also try playing them a fret higher, so I'm playing in less common keys and reducing my reliance on open strings.

Put your index finger down, skip a fret, put your middle finger down, skip a fret, put your ring finger down, put your pinkie down, skip a fret and repeat. That is a major scale