Welcome to this months lesson.I have had many replies from newsgroups and
students who have been wanting more information on scales. I have future lessons designed to share that detail in learning, chords, licks,
fingertapping, including fingertapping the 7 modes. For this month's lesson we will be looking at the harmonic minor scale, also known as the "gypsy scale". This scale was used flamboyantly by Rhoads, and Malmsteen
and it's know distinctively for it's very classical sound.
I'll first begin by showing you the scale, and then show you a few exercises that will allow you to obtain some very fast classical sounding licks.This lesson is quite advanced, and the exercises are quite long. Be patient and go slow. And remember, nothing good , comes easy. However , once you have these licks in your library, you will have the satisfaction
of knowing that you have learned some advanced and very noticable licks.
Let's get started.
The Harmonic Minor Scale
This scale differs from the Natural Minor scale, by having a raised 7th interval(note). Compare below.I showed the intervals, beneath the names of each note.
A minor/natural or pure A Harmonic Minor
e :------------------------------------------------------
B :------------------------------------------------------
G :------------------------------------------------------
D :-----------5-7----------------------6--7--------------
A :------5-7-8--------------------5-7-8------------------
E :-5-7-8--------------------5-7-8-----------------------
a b c d e f g a a b c d e f g# a
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1 2 3 4 5 6 #7 8
Here's the Scale in a box shape or form.
e :---------------------------4-5------------------------
B :-----------------------5-6----------------------------
G :-----------------4-5-7--------------------------------
D :-------------6-7--------------------------------------
A :-------5-7-8------------------------------------------
E :-5-7-8------------------------------------------------
Try ascending and descending this a few times before moving on.
I think you'll notice when descending, the demonstration of the
"gypsy" sound.
Here is an alternate form of the scale, known as A harmonic minor
ascending run.
e :--------------------------10-12-13-16-17--------------
B :---------------9-10-12-13-----------------------------
G :----------9-10----------------------------------------
D :---9-10-12--------------------------------------------
A :-12---------------------------------------------------
E :------------------------------------------------------
Exercise # 1
This is a good exercise to begin slow, and each time try to increase speed. This should also help with your playing techniques (hammer-ons,
and pull-offs).
h p h h p h h p h h p h h p h h p h
e :-4-5-4-5----------------------------------------------
B :---------5-6-5-6--------------------------------------
G :-----------------5-7-5-7--4-5-4-5---------------------
D :----------------------------------6-7-6-7-------------
A :------------------------------------------7-8-7-8-----
E :------------------------------------------------------
h p h
e :------------------------------------------------------
B :------------------------------------------------------
G :------------------------------------------------------
D :------------------------------------------------------
A :--5-7-5-7---------------------------------------------
E :-----------5------------------------------------------
Exercise #2
This is a very complex exercise, and may take quite a while to
play fluidly. Once again, this Is, advanced playing, so go slow, and when you have it up to the speed you desire, enjoy playing this lick!
s h h h h p p p p s s h h p p s
e :-----------10-12-13-12-10-----------------------------
B :-9-10-12-13---------------13-12-10-9-10-12-13-12-10-9-
G :------------------------------------------------------
D :------------------------------------------------------
A :------------------------------------------------------
E :------------------------------------------------------
h h p p p p p s v
e :------------------------------------------------------
B :-10-12-10-9-------------------------------------------
G :------------10-9--------------------------------------
D :-----------------12-10-9------------------------------
A :-------------------------11-12------------------------
E :------------------------------------------------------
Exercise # 3
This exercise is basically playing the scale as a ladder
while ascending in 3rds. Playing the first note, then the third,
an so on.Use alternate picking. Begin by picking down, up, down
while muting during the entire exercise.Once again, go slow.
I have shown this to many students, who when first learning
these exercises would easily get frustrated.Then as they continued
to practice, during the month, the reward came from seeing them at
our last weekly scheduled appointment, with a big grin, as many would smile and say " I cant believe that I thought that was actually that hard" . As the key to getting this was to listen to the advice
as well as learn the exercises. "Go Slow"
I always tell students, "Chances are if you cant play it correctly at slow speed, chances are you'll never play it correctly at high speed"
Allow time to develop these very advanced licks.Some will pick this up right away, depending on thier current skill level, others may take longer, but as a guitarist, you will get much further ahead, by focusing
on changing your weakness into strengths. So instead of constantly playing something you already play well, to improve, you should work slowly and patiently on something that is new , hard and challenging.
It may seem tough at first, however there is no reward as a player like the reward of self satisfaction of knowing you have learned something new, improved as a player, and now have some flashy classical licks to add to your playing vocabulary.
e :------------------------------------------------------
B :------------------------------------------------------
G :-------------------------------------------9-9-9------
D :----------10-10-10-9-9-9-12-12-12-10-10-10-------12-12
A :-12-12-12---------------------------------------------
E :------------------------------------------------------
e :------------------------------------------------------
B :------------------------------------9-9-9-------------
G :----10-10-10-9-9-9-12-12-12-10-10-10------10-10-10----
D :-12---------------------------------------------------
A :------------------------------------------------------
E :------------------------------------------------------
e :------------------------------------------------------
B :-10-10-10-9-9-9-12-12-12-10-10-10-13-13-13-12-12-12---
G :------------------------------------------------------
D :------------------------------------------------------
A :------------------------------------------------------
E :------------------------------------------------------
e :-10-10-10----------12-12-12-10-10-10-13-13-13-12-12---
B :----------13-13-13------------------------------------
G :------------------------------------------------------
D :------------------------------------------------------
A :------------------------------------------------------
E :------------------------------------------------------
e :-12--16-16-16-17--------------------------------------
B :------------------------------------------------------
G :------------------------------------------------------
D :------------------------------------------------------
A :------------------------------------------------------
E :------------------------------------------------------
That completes this months free lesson.
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