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All the following scale explorations have the purpose of extending your knowledge about the fingerboard rather than make you play fast.
Below you can see the well known C-major scale. Of course you know that all which follows will be based on this scale and the key of C. But you also know that all examples should be taken into all twelve keys.
The scale is written out for one octave only. Of course you want to practice your scales 1) staying in one position, 2) extend them to two octaves but trying to stay in position, 3) start from the lowest possible note (low open E string) to the highest possible note (depends on your guitar). Also try to play scales 1) all notes on a single string, 2) two notes per string, 3) three notes per string.. etc. This applies to all examples further on in this lesson.
This following example show the same scale harmonized in thirds. To expand on the harmonizing idea also try to add fifths, sixths, tenths, etc.
This next example is a C-major scale harmonized in triads in root position. To do this on a keyboard is the easiest thing. On the guitar there are some real finger stretchers. Whether you’re playing fingerstyle or with a flatpick: practice these voicings also as arpeggios (broken chords).
Now check out what happens when we raise the top-note of the voicing another step.
These are all first inversion triads. Raise the top-note another step. Now you are getting 7th chords without a fifth. This explains why on the seventh position you find a Bm7 rather than a Bo. No fifth.
This next voicing is the C-major scale harmonized in suspended chords. These chords sound very modern and are tonally very neutral because they don’t contain a third.
“Why are we learning all this stuff about triads, when we are talking about scales?” A scale is a tone-row in a certain key, structured in a certain way. But triads created using that scale superimpose a higher structure on the tone material. The practical side is that we use a lot of triads when soloing or playing chords (whether we do it consciously or not.). You can’t know enough of them.
Check this next example out. C-major scale harmonized in fourths.
Add another third on top and you get a second inversion triad.
Raise the top note from the previous example another step and get a fourth chord. McCoy Tyner uses these voicings a lot. There are always problems writing fourth chords as chord symbols. Our system is based on classical music which is very ‘triadic’. Usually they are treated as some sort of suspended chord.
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