Confusion between major and minor scales

Hi Good Afternoon

In Rock Level one I am confused between the major and minor scales .I understand the A major scale Anders says to move the pattern up 3 frets and it will be the A minor scale Would this not be a C major scale This seems different than the grid pattern I learned earlier in guitar fundamentals . Am I missing something? I would like to incorporate scales into my daily practice

Thank You

What your missing is that the A minor scale and the. C major scale consist of exactly the same notes . All naturals with no sharps or flats. Every Major scale has a companion relative minor scale.

your getting in to the circle of 5ths but a starting point is the 6th note of any major scale is it's relative minor scale.

A major - F# minor and as you have found C major- A minor

Dave

From what I remember, that's probably the lessons where Anders is using the Maj and Min pentatonic scales.[br][br]So he's showing you how to move between the major and minor pentatonic scales whilst keeping the tonic note the same.[br][br]e.g.

You can play A min pentatonic starting with your index finger on the 5th fret of the low E string. You are playing the pattern/scale on frets 5-8.[br][br]If you shift your fretting hand to the left so that you are now starting with your pinky on the 5th fret of the low E string and play the same pattern on frets 2-5 then you are now playing A maj pentatonic.[br][br]It's the same fretting pattern but the position of where the tonic A falls in the pattern changes, which changes the intervals relative to the tonic and hence changes it from min to maj.[br][br]HTH

Martin

Originally Posted by: nhuquynhnd1102

I understand the A major scale Anders says to move the pattern up 3 frets and it will be the A minor scale Would this not be a C major scale[/quote][p]Yes, it is both. But as ddiddler indicated the C major scale & the A minor scale contain the same notes. They are relative major & minor scales.

C major:

c-d-e-f-g-a-b-c

A minor:

a-b-c-d-e-f-g-a

Same collection of notes starting on a different note results in a different set of intervals & a different sound.

The relative minor for A major is F# minor.

A major:

a-b-c#-d-e-f#-g#

F# minor:

f#-g#-a-b-c#-d-e-f#

Again, same notes different order.

Originally Posted by: nhuquynhnd1102This seems different than the grid pattern I learned earlier in guitar fundamentals . Am I missing something?

There are a variety of ways to play any given scale pattern on the guitar because you can play the same notes in more than one place. I cover that in my scale tutorials.

[quote=nhuquynhnd1102]I would like to incorporate scales into my daily practice

Use these tutorials.

Major scale patterns

https://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=453

Minor scale patterns

https://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=887

Hope that helps!

Originally Posted by: nhuquynhnd1102

Hi Good Afternoon

In Rock Level one I am confused between the major and minor scales .I understand the A major scale Anders says to move the pattern up 3 frets and it will be the A minor scale Would this not be a C major scale This seems different than the grid pattern I learned earlier in guitar fundamentals . Am I missing something? I would like to incorporate scales into my daily practice

Thank You

Just to add; don't overthink it too much.

Chris is a machine for explaining this stuff clearly and you're right in your example that A minor and C Major are the same thing. Knowing the theory and the 'relatives' as Chris detailed is very important but the part of not 'overthinking' it is that you want to consider the use of minor versus major in terms of the vibe of the scale. If you're playing in the key of A, if you're playing A Major scales, it would sound 'happier'. If you're playing that same A but playing it in A minor pentatonic, it's going to sounds a little darker.

While very much not universal, those happy pop songs tend towards major stuff and rock, hard rock and metal tend to be in minor keys.

Like I said, not universal.

There is theory on when to use a major versus a minor but in all, if you were creating a solo, you kinda have a vibe if the song is more agressive for a minor or if it's a lighter songs for a major.

Thinking beyond that and you'll probably give yourself an unneeded headache. Therefor Anders' simple 'three steps up' is kind of a universal rule of thumb that makes it so that you don't have to overthink placement of major versus minor.