Klaus Crow, Author at GUITARHABITS

Powerful One-Octave Natural Minor Scales – Part IV

Welcome you diligent guitar student. You have arrived at Part IV of the “One-Octave Natural Minor Scales” Series. The final lesson of these series to practice, play and put it all together. Let’s get your hands dirty!

If you are a first timer in these series start from the beginning and check out:

Powerful One-Octave Natural Minor Scales – Part I

Powerful One-Octave Natural Minor Scales – Part II

Powerful One-Octave Natural Minor Scales – Part III

In Part IV we’re going up the strings again and start with the root note from the G-string (3rd string) all the way up to the high e-string (1st string). We have 3 different scale patterns to learn, all containing the same notes of the natural minor scale.

Why Learn One-Octave Natural Minor Scales?

Learning one-octave natural minor scales will make you see and understand the overal picture of the scale in a clearer way. You can easily recognize the shape, the structure, the notes and the intervals of the scale, also how to practice and put it in action, since it’s only one octave. The scale is as important for beginners as it is for intermediate guitar players. Both will benefit from these scale tremendously.

If you found yourself in this lesson but you’re looking to learn the two-octave natural minor scales, or you want a follow up for the “One-octave Natural Minor Scales Series” check out: Exploring the Natural Minor Scale and The 5 natural minor scale positions you must know. If you stay with this lesson, focus and dominate!

Powerful One-Octave Natural Minor Scales – Part III

By Klaus Crow 3 Comments

Good day my guitar friends, we’re in the middle of the One-Octave Natural Minor scales series and we continue with Part III.

In the previous lessons we practiced the scale patterns starting on the Low-E and A string and now we’re going to start with the root note on the D-string. We’re heading into the higher regions of the scale where most of the guitar soloing takes place, so the shapes are getting more relevant to your playing once you go up the strings.

If you just stepped into Part III of the One-Octave natural minor scale series you might first want to check out Part I and Part II.here are the reasons you want to learn this:

Summary One-Octave Natural Minor Scales

The one-octave natural minor scale makes it easy to recognize the shape, the structure, the notes and the intervals of the scale. Since it’s one octave they are a perfect start for beginners and will definitely create new insights for intermediate guitar players.

For anyone who’s into rock, blues and pop music the natural minor scale is a crucial scale, but you will also encounter the scale in many other styles as well.

Powerful One-Octave Natural Minor Scales – Part II

By Klaus Crow 2 Comments

A Natural Minor Scales - One Octave Patterns

Hi good people, today we’re going to continue our A Natural Minor (One-Octave) Scales Series with Part II. If you haven’t studied Part I yet, be sure to check it out: Powerful One-Octave Natural Minor Scales – Part I

Benefits of Learning One-Octave Natural Minor Scales.

The one-octave natural minor scales are important scales for Rock, Blues and Pop guitar music, soloing and understanding music theory. They are great for identifying the shape and structure of the scale, the notes within the scale and the intervals. They are also easier to play and comprehend for beginners. For intermediate players they expand the way of approaching scales and soloing.

Natural Minor Scales Starting from the Root Note on the A-string

In Part II we are learning three natural minor scale shape/patterns with the first (root) note starting on the A-string (5th string).

Tip: Learn and memorize the notes on the A-string so you can instantly recognize the key of the scale when you want to move the scale up or down the fretboard.

Natural Minor Scale Fingering

I’ve notated the left hand fingering (right hand players) for all the scale shape / patterns below.

The numbers in the yellow neck diagrams indicate the fingers. The neck diagrams also clearly show what the shape or pattern looks like. Visualize and memorize the shape of each pattern.

How to read tablature? Check out How to Read Guitar Tabs – Tablature

Play the scale shapes using alternative picking alternating down and up strokes. The first note you play is a downstroke, the second an upstroke, the third one a downstroke, the fourth one an upstroke and so on.

Practice the scale in every Key

In the examples below we play the A natural minor scale, but the purpose is to learn these scale shapes/patterns in every possible key. Once you got these scale under your fingers learn the pattern in other keys as well. Move the entire scale up or down the fret to change keys easily. Need more help with that? A more detailed explanation on this in Part I

Now let’s get to it.

Enjoy!

NATURAL MINOR SCALE SHAPES – ROOT NOTE STARTING ON THE 5TH STRING

A NATURAL MINOR SCALE fingering / shape / pattern #4

A Natural Minor Scale - One Octave - Pattern #4

A Natural Minor Scale - fingering - Pattern #4

Powerful One-Octave Natural Minor Scales – Part I

By Klaus Crow 7 Comments

One-Octave-Natural-Minor-Scales - A natural minor scale - Part-I

Today we are going to learn how to play one-octave Natural Minor scales. There are also the more common Two-octave natural minor scales, but in this guitar lesson I’m going to teach you HOW and WHY the one-octave Natural Minor scales are just as important.

Why You Want to Learn One Octave Natural Minor Scales

The one-octave scales are the smaller components of the two-octave scales. Their compact structure and shape makes them easier to play, memorize and comprehend.

Once you get them under your fingers you can combine the patterns to create the two octave and three-octave scales and other wild variations.

Moreover the natural minor scale is the perfect scale to combine with the minor pentatonic / blues scale to add some melodic flavor to your blues and rock soloing.

And last but not least, they give you a better insight in how those scales are constructed and how to easily move them all across the fretboard.

Note: This post is part of a free series where you will learn one-octave natural minor scale shapes across the entire guitar neck that will help you understand and own the natural minor scale landscape.

If you prefer the one-octave “Major Scale” series you can check it out here: Effective One-Octave Major Scales and Why!

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