Scales: notes

Scales

Knowing the way around the fingerboard is essential knowledge.

to know where the notes are
and to know which fingerings are the most beneficial for practice and efficient for performance.

Unlike some instruments, such as the piano, on the guitar, every note can be played in several locations on the neck and each note can be played with any of the four fingers of the left hand. Master these left hand fingerings first and then start to experiment for your self, finding new left hand fingerings.

You will notice that these scales are played in the first position from strings six to one. Then the scale continues on the first string until it reaches its tonic, or start note. Practice extensions would be to play in the first position until the second string (as opposed to the first) and then continue until the tonic.

Which scales to study?

For our flamenco orientated purposes I propose that we look at three scale types

Major scales
Relative harmonic minors
Harmonic minors starting on the same note as the above scales
The Andalusian flamenco modes… in the most common keys of flamenco:

I have organised these scales for convenience and attrempting to reflect relations between the scales and some kind of flamenco conventions. You will find the following:

La familia de Mí – por arriba

Mi/E Andalusian Phrygian: Often called “por arriba”: zambra, soleá, fandangos, peteneras, serranas, fandangos, verdiales, malagueña, bulería. (note wrong labelling on the stave)
Mi/E major: alegría, bulería.
Do#/D minor: relative minor.
Mi/E minor: granaína, rumba, romeras.

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La familia de La – por medio

La/A Andalusian Phrygian: Often called “por medio”: tangos, tientos, soleá, bulería, siguiriya.
La/A major: tanguillo, alegría, guajiras, bulería.
F# minor: relative minor
La/A minor: farruca, rumba, tanguillo, bulería. Fa#/F# minor: relative minor
Do/Cmajor: Zapateado, Alegría – relative major to A minor.

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