help

[zerofr33ze]

hi shawn


you said that the formula of making minor scale is 1 2 b3 4 5 b6 b7 but what if i like using the whole and half step concept w h ww h ww.. isnt it the same thing or are they diferent or do the numbers work better???\

thanx

[Dimitrivich]

Well...I'm not Shawn, but I can tell you that both of your examples are the same thing...the whwwhww is the "guitar" way of doing it...the 12b3456b7 is the "music" way to do it...but in my opinion, whatever you are comfortable with is the best way, as long as you get the desired results...

[cyberfret]

The advantage of understanding the numbers is that you can see the relationship of each note in the scale to the root (1). The numbers are very important in understanding chord structures, and scales. It is good to understand the whole steps and half steps, but I believe the numbers are far more important. It is just a way of labeling a sound. 3 will sound a certain way in a key, b3 will sound different. Understanding the scale only from the perspective of whole and half steps will not give you any insight into the sound.

The numbers are just what the notes are in relationship to the major scale. The major scale is the constant to which you compare everything in music. So a major scale is 1 2 3 4 5 6 7. Therefore if you see that a minor scale is 1 2 b3 4 5 b6 b7, then you know that 1 2 4 and 5 are the same as a major scale, and 3 6 and 7 are lowered by a half step......that is what b3, b6 and b7 means.

The more ways that you can think of things, the more clearly you will understand them.

--Shawn