I started playing three months ago. I have improved a lot and i am really satisfied with this method.
I composed a song but I am confused as which scale I should use. The chord progresscion Cm Fm G chorus: G# G

I am going to use C minor harmonic, and C minor is that correct?

Somebody please correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe you can use either one.

EDIT: Sorry, misread your question. Yes I think you are correct.

Hope you keep improving your guitar skills!! Good Luck!!

This post has been edited by Xranthoius: Dec 10 2007, 11:24 PM

You can use a mixture of the three minor scales:
Harmonic, Melodic and Natural.
However, make sure you hit the sharpened leading note when you get to your G chord or it will clash with the B in it!

Also, just a handy note, the correct enharmonic spelling for your chord progression would be:
Cm / Fm/ G / Ab / G
This is because of C minor's key signature of 3 flats - Bb, Eb & Ab.

Hope that helps you!
David

David there is some lesson explaining th c minor keys signature? there is some lesson with the melodic and natural scales (you mean the c minor scale). What you say if I understood correctly if the guy is playing Cm dont play a B scale just follow the chord progression.

I'm not sure if there's a lesson explaining key signatures but I can always explain it for you!

Every key (G major, B minor, Bb Major etc) has a key signature which ensures the key has the correct notes in to form the scale. A key signature is made up of either sharps or flats (the black notes on the piano), so the key of C major has no sharps or flats in its key signature because it is made up of just the white notes on a piano. G major has only one sharp (F#), because it is only one note different to the C major scale.

The key your piece is in (C minor), is the relative minor of Eb Major (meaning it has the same key signature as Eb Major, but starting on a different note). Therefore the natural minor scale will simply be:

C, D, Eb, F, G, Ab, Bb, C.

The harmonic minor is the same as the natural minor scale except for that the leading note (the seventh note in the scale) is sharpened:

C, D, Eb, F, G, Ab, B, C.

This changes some of your chords that come from this scale. Your chord progression has a G major chord in (made up of G, B and D), which comes from the harmonic minor scale.

However all the rest of your chords are common to both scales so you can use a mixture of both scales but you must make sure to play a B over the G major chord, not a Bb!

The melodic minor scale is similar to the harmonic minor scale apart from that you also sharpen the sub-mediant (the sixth note in the scale) giving you:

C, D, Eb, F, G, A, B, C.

You can use this scale over the Cm and G chord in your progression, but not the other two as it will clash!

Hope that helps and let me know if you need any more help!

David

David I am playing the B minor scale, an B minor pentatonic and it is okay
I dont understand when the key is Cminor

Well the G chords does fall naturally in the B minor scale (Bm C#dim Dmaj Emin F#min Gmaj A maj
) but I wouldn't recommend using that scale over those chords as it will clash with the all the other chords, and also there is no Bm chord in the progression, so it will be quite confusing!

Try using the c harmonic minor scale and it should sound great!

Hope that helps
David

This post has been edited by David.C.Bond: Dec 13 2007, 12:30 AM