guitar scales

What Scale to Play Over 7b9 Chord
- By Stef Ramin
- On 07/12/2019
- In Scales & Arpeggios
- 0 comments
Dominant 7 flat ninth chords (7b9) are generally related to the fifth mode of the harmonic minor scale known as Phrygian dominant scale, which makes it the most obvious choice for improvising over 7b9. However, we will see in this article that there are many other options.

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How to Practice Pentatonic Scales On Guitar
- By Stef Ramin
- On 06/01/2019
- 0 comments
What are Pentatonic Scales?

Pentatonic scales are scales with five notes per octave. They are frequently used in music all over the world. The word "pentatonic" comes from the Greek word "pente" meaning five and "tonic" meaning tone.

Talk of "the" pentatonic scale generally make reference to the major pentatonic scale and its relative minor. It's a mistake, indeed there are many types of pentatonic scales (Egyptian, Ritusen, Man gong, Altered, Locrian...).

Pentatonic scales are considered earlier than heptatonic scales (seven-note scales) and can be divided into two categories :
- Containing semitones (hemitonic)
- Without semitones (anhemitonic)
The purpose of this post is to propose some tips and ideas for practicing and develop pentatonic scales.
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12 Types of Major Scales - Guitar Lesson With Diagrams
- By Stef Ramin
- On 04/16/2019
- 2 comments
When we think about major scales, the first that comes to mind is the Ionian mode, best know as THE major scale. However, there are several other types of major scales (Ionian #5, Lydian augmented #2, Ionian b6) which deserve a little more attention. Here they are listed with guitar shapes and formulas.

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Locrian Mode Guitar Cheat Sheets - PDF and JPEG Formats
- By Stef Ramin
- On 12/25/2018
- 0 comments
Locrian Mode Cheat Sheet For Guitar

The Locrian mode is the seventh mode of the major scale. It has a particular sound because of the b2, b3, b5, b6 and b7. It is probably the least used and the most misunderstood of all of the modes of the major scale. The Locrian mode is usually played over minor seventh flat ninth chords (m7b5).

The Aeolian mode is built with : root (1), minor second (b2), minor third (b3), perfect fourth (4), diminished fifth (b5), minor sixth (b6) and minor seventh (b7).

locrian-mode-guitar-cheat-sheet.pdf (145.18 Ko)

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Aeolian Mode Printable Cheat Sheet - PDF and Jpeg Files
- By Stef Ramin
- On 12/25/2018
- In Guitar Cheat Sheets, Methods & Books
- 0 comments
Aeolian Mode Cheat Sheet

The Aeolian mode (also called "natural minor scale" or "relative minor scale) is the sixth mode of the major scale, it is known as a relative minor to the ionian mode. It is a minor scale containing a minor third (b3), a minor seventh (b7) and a minor sixth (b6).

The Aeolian mode is built with : root (1), second (2), minor third (b3), perfect fourth (4), perfect fifth (5), minor sixth (b6) and minor seventh (b7).

aeolian-mode-cheat-sheet-for-guitarist.pdf (137.92 Ko)

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Mixolydian Mode Guitar Cheat Sheet - PDF and JPEG
- By Stef Ramin
- On 12/25/2018
- In Guitar Cheat Sheets, Methods & Books
- 0 comments
Mixolydian Scale Guitar Cheat Sheet - PDF / JPEG

The Mixolydian mode, also called dominant scale is the fifth mode of the major scale. It is a major type scale. This is the mode to know when you want to play over dominant chords (not altered). The Mixolydian mode is widely used in jazz and blues music and one of the most important to master.

The Mixolydian mode is built with : root (1), second (2), third (3), perfect fourth (4), perfect fifth (5), sixth (6) and minor seventh (b7).

mixolydian-mode-sheet-cheat-for-guitar.pdf (134.74 Ko)

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Lydian Mode Cheat Sheet - PDF and JPEG
- By Stef Ramin
- On 12/25/2018
- In Guitar Cheat Sheets, Methods & Books
- 0 comments
Lydian Mode Cheat Sheet

The Lydian mode is the fourth mode of the major scale. It is a major type scale very used to play over major chords. It gets interesting when it is played over a major chord, indeed it brings a little bit of tension because of the raised fourth / raised eleventh (#11).

The Lydian mode is built with : root (1), second (2), third (3), augmented fourth (#4), perfect fifth (5), sixth (6) and seventh (7).

lydian-mode-cheat-sheet.pdf (130.63 Ko)

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Phrygian Mode Cheat Sheet For Guitarist - PDF and JPEG
- By Stef Ramin
- On 12/25/2018
- In Guitar Cheat Sheets, Methods & Books
- 0 comments
Printable Phrygian Cheat Sheet

The Phrygian mode is the third mode of the major scale. It is one of the three minor modes of the major scale. The Phrygian mode is a minor type scale, indeed it contains a b3. It can be played over minor chords but it is rarely used because of the b2 scale tone.

The Phrygian mode interval pattern is : root (1), minor second (b2), minor third (b3), fourth (4), perfect fifth (5), minor sixth (b6) and minor seventh (b7).

phrygian-mode-cheat-sheet-for-guitar.pdf (138.44 Ko)

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Dorian Mode Cheat Sheet - Printable PDF and Jpeg File
- By Stef Ramin
- On 12/25/2018
- In Guitar Cheat Sheets, Methods & Books
- 0 comments
Printable PDF / JPEG Dorian Mode Cheat Sheet

The Dorian mode is the second of the seven musical modes.It is a minor type scale because of its minor third (b3), often the first choice to play over minor chords and one of the most important scales to know.

The Dorian mode is built with a root (1), a second (2), minor third (b3), fourth (4), perfect fifth (5), sixth (6) and minor seventh (b7).

dorian-mode-sheet-cheat-for-guitar.pdf (131.29 Ko)

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Ionian Mode Cheat Sheet For Guitar
- By Stef Ramin
- On 12/25/2018
- In Guitar Cheat Sheets, Methods & Books
- 0 comments
Printable PDF / JPEG Ionian Mode Cheat Sheet

The Ionian mode (aka major scale) is the first of the seven musical modes. The other Greek modes are Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian and Locrian modes. The Ionian mode has exactly the same notes as the major scale and surely the first scale to learn for a beginner musician.

The major scale consists of a root (1), second (2), major third (3), fourth (4), fifth (5), sixth (6) and major seventh (7).

major-scale-sheet-cheat.pdf (138.61 Ko)

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Three Kinds Of Minor Blues Scales
- By Stef Ramin
- On 10/23/2018
- In Scales & Arpeggios
- 0 comments
The minor blues scale is mostly referred to as the minor pentatonic scale with a b5 thus giving the interval pattern 1 - b3 - 4 - b5 - 5 - b7. However, few musicians know that there are three types of minor blues scales depending on wether you incorporate the flat fifth (b5), the major third (3) or the major seventh (7) to the minor pentatonic scale. In this lesson you will learn how to build, play and recognize each of these three minor blues scales.

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Modes of the Major Scale and Related Chords - Guitar Infographic
- By Stef Ramin
- On 07/24/2018
- In Infographics
- 0 comments
This infographic provide guitar shapes that will help you to make the link between the seven modes of the major scale and their related drop 2 and drop 3 chords.

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List and Comparison of Music Scales - Formula Charts
- By Stef Ramin
- On 06/25/2018
- 0 comments
Here is a list of the main musical scales and modes.

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Harmonized Major Scale For Guitarists With Shapes
- By Stef Ramin
- On 04/27/2018
- In Infographics
- 0 comments
This infographic with three neck diagrams is a useful reminder for beginner guitarists and composers. It shows how to build a drop 2 seventh chord from each note of the major scale.

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How To Play Pentatonic Scales Over Giant Steps
- By Luke-Adams
- On 01/16/2018
- In Jazz Guitar Lessons
- 0 comments
Giant Steps is one of those tunes in jazz that sends a bolt of fear through a lot of young or even experienced jazz musicians. It certainly does that to me anyway! The fast harmonic rhythm and the seemingly distant relationships between the chords means it is a very daunting challenge.
However, there is a very cool and simple way of practicing navigating through these changes and it involves using 3 different pentatonic scales.

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Jazz Guitar Scale Exercises – Position Shifts with the Melodic Minor Scale
- By Gareth-Evans
- On 01/14/2018
- In Scales & Arpeggios
- 0 comments
Learning and playing scales can be an important part of any guitarist’s practise regime. By playing scales in a variety of ways we can develop our familiarity with the fretboard beyond simply going up and down scales. In this tutorial we will look at combining two different scale patterns by shifting between them on various strings. For this we are going to use two patterns of an Eb Melodic minor scale, patterns 2 and 3. The Melodic minor scale consists of the intervals R 2 b3 4 5 6 7 (R is for the Root note).

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