Understanding Scale Theory: Part 1: The Basics

Scale theory can be a little intimidating, but once you understand it, everything in music makes so much more sense. There are 12 scale tones, which can be used to make a nearly infinite number of scales.

We use numbers to represent the scale tones, and notes can be put in place of any of these. For example, let's look at the major scale in C:

C D E F G A B

in scale tones, we would write it like this:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

this series of scale notes is called the scale formula for the major scale. they show how many half-steps (1 fret on the guitar, also called a semitone) and whole steps (2 frets on the guitar, also called a whole tone) . The first note (the 1) is also called the root note. so, for the major scale we have:

1: the root
2: the second, a whole step higher than the root
3: the third, two whole steps higher than the root.
4: the fourth, 2 1/2 steps above the root.
5: the fifth: 3 1/2 steps above the root.
6: the sixth: 4 1/2 steps above the root.
7: the seventh: 5 1/2 steps above the root.

using this formula, we can plug any note into the root, and get the major scale of that note. For example, let's put in A instead of C:

A B C# D E F# G#
1 2 3 4 5 6 7

and that's how we can find the major scale. next time we'll discuss how this can work for other scales, and applying this knowledge to the fretboard!

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