Are you a fan of B.B. King? What about Jimi Hendrix orAmy Winehouse?If you like these artists or others like themthen C minor may be the scale for you. Before wedive deepintoeverything let’sstart at the beginning.
What are the notes ofthe C Minor Scale?
C
D
Eb
F
G
Ab
Bb
The C Minor Scale on Guitar
The C minor scale is a heptatonic scale, meaning it consists of 7 unique notes.All minor scales are derived from their parallelmajor scale.To get this derivative of C major you apply a formula.The formula for theminor scale is 1, 2,b3,4, 5,b6,b7.I’ll explain this more in a later section.
Let’s look at how the notes lay out on thefretboard of a guitar.
Infigure 1the notes of the C minor scale are laid out from the1stfret to the 15th. You’ll notice at the 13thfret the pattern starts to repeat itself.Thenote at the 13this an octave of the tonic on each string. To helpunderstandthisrememberthe minor scale isheptatonic. If you start from the noteson the 1stfret you can count 7 notesbefore the octave repeats atthe 13th.
You want to memorize the notes of the fretboard.Thereareplenty of methods to dothisbut I like to recommend the CAGED Method.It’sapplicable across multiple scales andit’srelativelyeasy to rememberthe shapesonce you know how they’re developed.
How Do You Play theC Minor Scale on Guitar?
The Caged Method is broken up into 5positions, one for each letter of the word CAGED.Each positioncorrespondsto theopen chord ofeach letter.Infigure 2I’ll display the noteson the fingerboard instead of just where they fall. We’ll then move furtherwith tablature and the shapes of the CAGED system.
In the above figureyou can now seewhichdot corresponds withwhatnote in the C minor scale.It only goes to the 12thfret because as I pointedout the 13thfret repeats the notes of the 1st.Let’s simplify this by shrinking thefretboard down to a manageable size.
The 1stposition of the C minor scalestarts at the 8thfret.Thatis the first occurrence of the tonic on the 6thstring.Now let’s have a look at how the CAGEDMethod directly applies to this position.
You can seehowpattern1 infigure 4lines up exactly with theposition fromfigure3.If youreferto the imageof theentirefretboard,you’llsee that each pattern fromfigure4will match with the placement of the dots in the 1stand 2ndimages.
Laterin the solo section I’ll supply you with tablature to clear up any mystery that may be left. For now,let’s look at what makes up the C minor scaleand why.
What Notes Are in the C Minor Pentatonic Scale?
All the scales in western music are pretty much tied together and they’re allrooted in the Major scale.The C minor scale is directly linked with 3commonscales. It has a pentatonic scale,a parallelmajor,and a relative major. TheCminor scale has other derivativescalled the Melodic and theHarmonic,but we’ll focus onthe related Major scales.
First,let’s look at theC major scale asit alloriginatesthere. The C major scale is the easiest of the scales tonotate as it has no sharps and no flatsand ascend in alphabetical order. It consistsof the following notes:
C
D
E
F
G
A
B
At the topofthislesson,I gave you a formula and here is where we will apply it. Just for a reminder the formula is 1, 2,b3, 4, 5,b6,b7. It will further helpto show you the notes of the C minor scale again:
C
D
Eb
F
G
Ab
Bb
At a quick glance you can see the1st, 2nd, 4th, and 5thnotes are identicaland it’s the 3rd, 6th, and 7thnotesthatchange in pitch. That’s because of the applied formula.A flatted (b)notewhen used universally in a formuladoesn’talways mean to make a note flat, it just means to take the note in that place back a half stepor back one fret on a guitar.
Another scale that is directly related to the C minor is its relative major scale, not to be confused with the parallel major we just covered. Theparallel major consists of different pitches but the same tonic, the relative majorof C Minor has the exact same notes but adifferent tonic.
The relative major of C minor isEbmajor.I’ll show you what I mean below, the notes of Ebare:
Eb
F
G
Ab
Bb
C
D
Eb
You can see the notes are identical to C minor.This can appear confusing to beginnersand if it is itdon’t let itdiscourage you. Guitar players spend their entire lives learningmusic theory and how it applies to their craft.
For our purpose with the C minor scale just know the root note sets the tone. When you’re playing the C minor scale that tone is likely going to bemelancholic and bluesy.
How Do You Solo with the C Minor Scale?
Minor scales sound great over minor chords andifthere’s one thing musicians across the globe agree on it’sthis,minors sound sad.It isn’t just musicians, listeners of musicmight not recognize it, but they surelyfeel it.If you play a C major chord is has a bright quality to itwhereasif you play a C minor chord directly after you can hearadespondentcharacter to it.
Sad,despondent,andmelancholic aren’t words that typically evokeexcitement,but they should because they can all be wrapped up in one word, onegenre:Blues.All music can’t be abouthaving a good time. It’s the Blues that really resonates with us all.So,let’s look at how to get some of that raw emotion out.
We’ve been over the CAGED method and how it applies to the fretboard.Nowwe’ll take all the work out of it and show you some C minor tablature that will get you playing immediately.
Starting with your index finger on the8thfreton the low E string, pick the note and follow up with your ring finger on the 10thfand then the 11thfrets.You willwork yourself down towards the high E string usingonly leaving the 8thfret briefly to the 7thon the 3rdstring.
Once you hit the 11thfret on the first string repeat the process backwards until you end upback on the 6thstring 8thfret. Again, you’ll want to start slowly until you’recomfortable with your accuracy on each noteand increase your speed as you go.
Here is another section of tablature to work on before youmuststart applying the CAGED Method yourself.
With this tablature there’s some continuity with the lastimage. You’llnotice you’re again on the 10thand 11thfrets at places. This willhelpyou with some of the most common moves involved with soloing.
Use the links between the two toslide from one position to the next. Work on hammer-ons and pull-off that takes you through the different octaves of accompanying notes. Here is where youmustimprovise.
Use a track in the key of Cminor.Next, take it a step further andrecord your own backing track, one that your familiar with intimatelyand can be comfortable with the timing and chord progressions.
Another option is to go with what you know works, previously released popular music in the key of C minor.Find your place in the song, learn themelody, andexpandon it, creating a solo of your creation. Here are a few you can start with to choosefrom:
Once I Had a Womanby Jimi Hendrix
You Upset Me Babyby B.B. King
Get Up (I Feel LikeaSex Machine)by James Brown
And if you really feel like a challenge
Rolling in the Deepby Adele
