Course: E-shape Scales
Make scales sound musical by orienting them around chords, starting with the familiar movable E shape.
As described in Playing Scales Musically, one of the best ways to make scales sound musical is to practice them over chord shapes, focusing on landing chord tones on downbeats, which trains our ears and fingers to automatically express musical phrasings when we improvise.
This course shows how to practice the most common scales over the E-shape chords.
Major Scales
Scales to play over major chords.
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E-shape Major Arpeggio
The underlying chord tone heartbeat of an E-shape major scale.
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E-shape Major Pentatonic
The most useful scale pattern for E-shape major chords.
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E-shape Major Scale
The definitive scale for getting oriented on the E-shape I chord.
Minor Scales
Scales to play over minor chords.
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E-shape Minor Arpeggio
The underlying chord tone heartbeat of an E-shape minor scale.
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E-shape Minor Pentatonic
The most useful scale pattern for E-shape minor chords. It works over all minor chords in the key (vi, ii, and iii).
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E-shape Minor Scales
How to approach the seven-note minor scales over E-shape minor chords.
Related material
Course: Introduction to Scales
Scales are the foundation of Western music. Learn how to make them sound musical instead of like a robot running up and down the stairs.
Course: E-shape Movable Chords
A beginner-friendly approach to the first barre chords learned by most guitar players.