Guitar Lesson Nine - Theory part II

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Guitar Lesson Nine - Theory

Part II:

Now it's time to turn our attention to harmonizing the minor scale.

The cool (confusing?) thing about the minor scale is that it contains the exact same notes as its relative major scale starting from the 6th degree of that major scale. (Review lesson 7 if this is not clear.) This means that the minor scale uses the same harmony as its relative major scale. You just have to start on vii and play the harmonies in order from there.

Piece of cake!

Let's look at our harmony chart again:

I ii iii IV V vi vii I

M3 m3 m3 M3 M3 m3 m3 M3

W W h W W W h

Now, let's re-arrange it so that we start with vi:

vi vii I ii iii IV V vi

m3 m3 M3 m3 m3 M3 M3 m3

W h W W h W W

Some people insist that the harmony you start with must be called I, so they go to the trouble of re-numbering the whole thing:

i ii III iv v VI VII i

m3 m3 M3 m3 m3 M3 M3 m3

W h W W h W W

I have never found re-numbering the harmonized minor scale to be of any practical value, so I don't bother. I've always found it more convenient to think that the minor scale starts on vii.

Use whatever numbering scheme makes the most sense to you.

That's all there is to know about harmonizing the minor scale. Work this out in every key on every pair of strings and up and down the entire fingerboard.

This lesson is divided into five parts

Theory Part I

Theory Part II

Technique - Left Hand

Technique - Right Hand

Music

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