Guitar music theory is not much different from the general music theory, however most music theory resources are written from a piano players perspectives. And a guitar is fundamentally different from the piano, as the notes on the guitar fretboard are distributed in 2 dimensions, rather than just in a straight line.
Guitar is Different From Other Instruments
As mentioned, the notes on guitar fretboard the notes are distributed in 2 dimensions (up and down as well as sideways) over six plus strings.
and you have patterns for scales, arpeggio, and other structures that are the same for every key. A pentatonic scale pattern is the same for the key of D and the key of G: only its position on the fretboard changes.
A piano, on the other hand, has notes on a line, fingering on winds/brass instruments is not on a line.
Even the tuning on a guitar is different from other string instruments (violin/cello are tuned in 5ths, guitar is tuned in 4ths).
It just means that even if you know how to play keyboards, you will have to spend time understanding the fret-board and navigating it comfortably in order to learn to play the guitar.
Prerequisites for Music Theory
Just pick up any book on music theory, and the assumption made is the reader has basic skills, such as:
- Able to read music notes on the staff,
- Able to play chords on a keyboard
Earlier books on music theory were written for academic institutions where the student is expected to have basic keyboard skills. That is why music theory seems daunting to guitar players, as most guitar theory books are ‘inspired’ by a piano curriculum.
What is Music Theory
Music theory at the simplest level means learning the basics so that you can get started. This would mean identifying the notes, learning how to play the scales and on. But you can go a lot further by learning about intervals, chords, etc.
Every beginner has to start with learning the musical notes. It is important so that you can communicate in the language of music; so that you can learn and talk in a common language.
More things that are covered in music theory for guitar:
- learning musical notes
- Notes on the guitar fretboard
- learning Scales & Chords
- Music Notation / Guitar Tab
Understanding the Guitar Fretboard
Understanding the Guitar Fretboard is the key element of mastering guitar music theory. By learning the notes on the entire fretboard, you will be able to play scales & chords easily and compose more effectively.
There are very few guitarists’ who actually know all the notes on the guitar fretboard & their relationships with each other. So you should definitely aim to be one of them. Learn more here…
Music Notation
Knowing the notes on the fretboard is definitely helpful but you should also familiarize yourself with the standard Music Notation.
Standard music notation depicts any song in a way so that it can be read by any instrumentalist or singer. It has its standard way of denoting the notes, their length, the key, the rhythm, the chords, the tempo, etc. on a sheet of music.
Knowing how to read music notation helps you to play any musical piece without having heard it before. The notation will tell you how to play the piece. Though for playing guitar, most players use the guitar tablature (tab) which is comparatively easier to understand.
Chords
Chords are set of notes played together to enhance the overall sound. There are various types of chords such as Major, Minor, Augmented, Diminished and many more, which you will learn over due course of time.
Guitar Tabs
Guitar tab is an easier way of denoting guitar music, preferred my most musicians. It is used to write chords, arpeggios, lead guitar riffs, lead breaks.
Guitar tabs are numbers written on 6 horizontal lines. The horizontal lines correspond to the six strings on a guitar and the number indicates what fret needs to be played on that string.
Guitar Scales / Modes
So what are scales? Scales are basically a set of unique related notes which are used to create riffs, chords and even instrumentals. The chromatic Scale is the only scale that uses all the 12 different notes found in western music.
Read: Guitar Scales Chart and Guitar Keys
Guitar Modes and how to use them in contemporary music to create great solos. In contemporary music, you will find a lot of usage of the two “modes” of the major scale: namely the Aeolian and the Dorian. Learning modes helps you to come up with interesting solos and really start having playing the guitar.
Pentatonic Scale
Ask any guitarist, and he/she would say that the pentatonic scale is the basis for all soloing (at least those who play contemporary styles, classical and jazz guitarists may have a different opinion however).
And all those intermediate level players who want to introduce some variations in their playing should look at ways to go beyond the Pentatonic.
Guitar Modes: Modal Scales Aeolian
Here, we will see how to effectively use the Aeolian and the Dorian (in another post), together with the pentatonic your guitar playing.
With this technique, you should be easily able to incorporate progressive fusion based music in your playing.
Example
So lets start with the key of A. Here’s the A Minor pentatonic scale:
E|——————————-5-8—————————–|
B|————————-5-8———————————–|
G|——————-5-7—————————————–|
D|————-5-7———————————————–|
A|——-5-7—————————————————–|
E|-5-8———————————————————–|
To keep it simple and to just make the concept clear, I’m just going to cover the G,B, and high E strings. The rest of the strings just work of the octaves of these notes.
E|——————————-5-8—————————–|
B|————————-5-8———————————–|
G|——————-5-7—————————————–|
D|—————————————————————-|
A|—————————————————————-|
E|—————————————————————-|
Now we can start adding modes, the first mode we’re going to work with is the Aeolian.
And all you’ve to do is to add 3 additional notes to the pentatonic scale above.
E|——————————-5-(7)-8————————|
B|————————-5-(6)-8——————————|
G|——————(4)-5-7————————————-|
D|—————————————————————-|
A|—————————————————————-|
E|—————————————————————-|
The notes in the brackets mark the added notes.
So if you add all the notes together you will get this scale:
E|———————————–5-7-8———————–|
B|—————————5-6-8——————————-|
G|——————4-5-7—————————————-|
D|—————————————————————-|
A|—————————————————————-|
E|—————————————————————-|
Was that difficult?
I don’t think so, we just added a few notes. And if you have been playing the guitar for some time, this should be easy.
Guitar Modes: Modal Scales Dorian
We have already discussed about the importance of modes and how to use the Aeolian scale to your pentatonic; the Aeolian scale is the natural minor scale and these along with the minor chords are used to create a sadder / melancholic feel.
Dorian Scale
Next in this series is the Dorian scale, which is the opposite as it has a happier tone to it.
And that is the reason it is used in most popular, fun, and energetic songs. Black Magic Women (Sanatana), Planet Caravan (Tony Iommi), are a few examples.
In fact, you can use it with funk, jazz, and other chord progressions (all major based).
So in addition to the pentatonic, you can now play new modes, which adds versatility and zing to your guitar playing.
Example
Going back to the to the key of A Minor pentatonic scale, I’ll just cover the D, G,B, and high E strings. The rest of the strings just work of the octaves of these notes.
E|——————————-5-8—————————–|
B|————————-5-8———————————–|
G|——————-5-7—————————————–|
D|————-5-7———————————————–|
A|—————————————————————-|
E|—————————————————————-|
Now let’s add in the Dorian scale.
All you’re going to do is add 3 additional notes to the pentatonic scale above.
E|———————————–5-(7)-8———————|
B|————————-5-(7)-8——————————-|
G|——————-5-7—————————————–|
D|———(4)-5-7———————————————-|
A|—————————————————————-|
E|—————————————————————-|
The notes in the brackets mark the added notes.
So if you add all the notes together you will get this scale:
E|——————————– -5-7-8———————–|
B|————————-5-7-8——————————–|
G|——————-5-7—————————————-|
D|———–4-5-7———————————————|
A|—————————————————————|
E|—————————————————————|
It’s not difficult to play and fits perfectly over any minor based rock. You just need to solo the normal way and add these new notes as passing tones. That took only a few minutes to learn and now you have Guitar Modes / Scales (Aeolian, Dorian) added to your skills repository.
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