Home
> Guitar
Scales > Natural
Minor Scale
Natural Minor Scale
on Guitar
The natural minor scale (also the 6th mode of the major scale, Aeolian) is a very commonly used minor scale on guitar. There are a number of reasons for this, and it's therefore an important scale to understand.  Rather than just throw scale patterns at you (like many guitar sites out there) I'll provide you with some essential minor scale theory and backing tracks to help you explore this scale's unique flavour. You'll then be ready to apply the scale across the entire fretboard in a fluid and musical way. Natural minor scale guitar basics1 W 2 H b3 W 4 W 5 H b6 W b7 W 1First, let's look at a basic "boxed" pattern and analyse what makes up the natural minor scale.   The presence
of the flat 3rd (b3), also known as the minor 3rd, tells us
it's a minor scale (ok, and the name "natural minor scale" is a bit of
a giveaway!).The minor triad is made up of the root (1), minor 3rd and 5th. The other tones in natural minor can be seen as "dressing", giving this particular minor scale its unique sound. We'll look at how these other tones interact with chords later. The most common fingering for the above boxed pattern is as follows...  It's also useful to learn the boxed pattern for natural minor rooted on the A string, allowing you to build it conveniently around those A form minor barre/movable chords rooted on that same string...  We'll expand out of these boxes in another lesson. First, we need to understand a little theory behind the natural minor scale and how to use it over chords and chord progressions. Playing the natural minor scale over chordsAs we established before, the natural minor scale is a... minor scale! Therefore it will be compatible with minor chords. However, it's often not that simple, as you'll be most likely playing over a sequence of chords, so you need to be able to identify when a minor tonic is being used that suits natural minor's sound.For example, take a listen to a typical minor key progression below that resolves around the tonic of E minor... E minor - C major - D major - E minor - click to hear > In that example, E minor is clearly our tonic chord, so if we chose to play natural minor, we'd play the E natural minor scale. A lot of knowing whether the other chords in the progression will "fit" with the scale will become clearer with time, as your ear skill develops. The chord sequences in the backing tracks we'll be playing over later will be compatible in this way. Now, when resolving to that tonic minor chord, there is a tone you need to watch out for in natural minor... The flat 6th (b6) The flat 6th is most often used as a passing tone. These are tones you shouldn't emphasise as they will sound unharmonious or unresolved, which often sounds too jarring on the tonic chord of a progression. Try to glance over them instead, as part of a larger phrase involving the other more stable tones from the scale (the most stable tones are those that make up the minor triad - the root, minor 3rd and 5th). The lead section covers many techniques that will help negotiate passing tones effectively, but here are a couple of examples, in the key of D minor... Using hammer-on and pull-off phrase - click to hear > Using a run to glance over the flat 6th - click to hear > So, make sure when you're learning the scale pattern that you learn where the flat 6th is situated (as well as the other tones!) so you can negotiate it properly over that resolution minor chord. When the chord changes from that tonic minor chord the scale is focussed on, you'll have to use your best judgement as to which tones from the scale will be compatible. Again, over time your ear will get better at picking out chord movements that will correspond with phrases from this scale. Natural minor scale backing tracksSo, from what we've learned - the basic boxed patterns and using the flat 6th as a passing tone, have an experiment with natural minor over the backing tracks below. They are written specifically for this scale and use chord sequences that reside within the key of A minor and F# minor respectively. One easy going, the other more rock/metal!At this stage, the most important thing is you explore how each tone interacts with the chord sequences, and especially the tonic minor chords of each sequence. Don't worry too much about elaborate lead guitar techniques at the moment - there's plenty of time to incorporate those! As we're using the boxed patterns (provided for you again below), it's simply a case of positioning them at the right fret for the key you're playing in.
 Natural Minor Scale Positions > < Learn More Guitar Scales
|