Constructing Scales and Chords

The universe of chromatic notes

In all of Western music, there are only twelve notes, which repeat at the octave. The sequence of all twelve notes is called the chromatic scale.

Scales are a pattern of notes

Most songs don't even use all twelve notes. Most songs are in a key which indicates a scale that defines the notes used in the song. A scale is a subset of the chromatic notes, derived using a particular pattern.

For example, the pattern of the major scale is seven notes having a whole step (two frets, or a major second) between each, except for a half step (one fret, or minor second) between the third and fourth notes and the seventh and octave.

The first note of a scale is called the 1, or tonic.

Chords and arpeggios

Chords are built by stacking every other note in a scale (aka every "third" note), starting from a given note in the scale, and including as many notes as we want the scale to have. Constructing chords from scales like this is called harmonizing a scale. In Western harmony, most chords have three notes, known as triad chords.

The sequence of notes that make up a chord is called an arpeggio. The arpeggio is another name for the chord tones played in a sequence. For example, here's a major triad arpeggio, including the repeated 1 at the octave.

When improvising with notes from a scale, we can suggest the underlying harmony of the song by emphasizing the chord tones, or arpeggio, of the chord we're playing over. This course describes ways to practice which make that easier.