SimplyMandolin

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Music Theory

The Minor Scale

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image of a 1951 gibson F5
1951 Gibson F5

Sometimes, the minor scale is said to have a sad, melancholy, or haunting sound as compared to the Major scale. The latter often being described as happier, or more upbeat.

No matter how you might hear it, the minor scale definitely does have a very distinct sound. And, it doesn’t take long to train your ear to hear that difference.

Just close your eyes and play an A Major chord several times listening closely. Then play an Am chord.

The minor sound is very recognizable!

So, what changed?

Well, lets take a quick look at how those chords are constructed. To build a basic Major chord, you use the 1st, 3rd and 5th degree of the Major scale. In the case of A-Major, you have:

A – C# – E

You can turn any Major chord into a minor chord simply by flatting the third. If we flat the third of our A Major chord (C#), it becomes a ‘C’, and we end up with an Am chord:

A – C – E

And, that’s the whole minor sound!
The third of a chord defines whether it is Major or minor.
A flatted 3rd gives us a minor sound!

But.., I’ve gone off topic a bit. Lets forget about chords right now and get back to scales! I’d like to show you three different ways to explore the minor scale.

Minor Confusion

You might have heard of a natural minor, a relative minor, a harmonic minor, a melodic minor, a parallel minor…?

Well, don’t get confused. We’ll look at each of those terms shortly, but really, there’s only one minor scale that we’re going to worry about. I’ll show you how to find it, and how to build it. However, there is more than one way to do that, and I’d like to try and simplify it for you.

I think you’ll find it really isn’t that difficult

Major Differences

Before we begin, there is one prerequisite. You should have a good understanding of the Major Scale.

The Major Scale is pretty much the most important thing to learn in music. Many concepts and ideas in music theory are explained by demonstrating how they differ from, or how they relate to the Major scale.

And, that’s how we’re going to explore the minor scale. So, if you haven’t yet familiarized yourself with it, you should take a look at the section on ‘the Major Scale’ before continuing with this lesson.

If you’re good with that, lets move on!

 

The Natural Minor

A natural occurrence

First off, let’s just take a look at a minor scale.

Here’s the A-minor scale:
A – B – C – D – E – F – G – A

Those are the notes in the A-minor scale. Here’s the tab:

The A-minor scale
The Am scale.

Play it a few times and listen to how it sounds.
Notice anything about those notes? They are all natural notes. There are no sharps, or flats in the key of Am.

Can you think of another key that has no sharps or flats? If you said C Major, you’d be right!

That’s because the A-minor scale occurs naturally in the C Major scale starting at the 6th note.
Take a look!

Image of C Major scale
Am scale occurs naturally in the C Major scale

You can easily see that if we start on the 6th note (degree) of the C Major scale, we get an Am scale.

Lets look at it in tab form.

diagram of tablature for C Major
The Am scale inside of the C Major scale

You see, there’s a minor scale that occurs naturally in every Major scale. You can take any Major scale, start on the 6th degree (note) of that scale, and you’re playing a natural minor scale. The red circle in the notation indicates the key signature (what key its in). In this case you can see there are no sharps or flats in the C Major scale. And, the A-minor scale uses all the same notes.

Its All Relative

We can see that C Major and A-minor are made up of exactly the same notes . Both scales have the same key signature (no sharps or flats). They just start on a different note, or tone.

Therefore, we can say they are related. It’s like having the same genetic make-up but different names. They are relatives. So the term ‘relative minor’ simply refers to the natural minor scale that occurs in any specific Major scale.

A-minor is the ‘relative minor’ of C Major.

And, guess what.. C Major is the relative Major of the A-minor scale!

The relative minor uses the exact same notes
as it’s relative Major, but has a different tonic (a different name).

It works every time!

This is true for all the Major scales. Every Major scale has a relative minor, and it always starts on the 6th note of that Major scale.

For instance:

The 6th note in the F Major scale is ‘D’.
F – G – A – Bb – C – D – E – F

Also, the 6th note in the D Major scale is ‘B’.
D – E – F# – G – A – B – C# – D

And, the 6th note in the Bb Major scale is ‘G’.
Bb – C – D – Eb – F – G – A – Bb

So…

  • Dm is the relative minor of F Major
  • Bm is the relative minor of D Major
  • Gm is the relative minor of Bb Major
  • etc…

I’ll give you another diagram example. We’ll take a look at G-Major. G-Major has 1 sharp (F#).

image of a g-scale
The Em scale occurs naturally in the G Major scale

The 6th note (tone) in the key of G Major is ‘E’. Therefore, Em is the relative minor of G Major.

Starting with that E-note, and using the same notes that are in G Major, we get the key of E-minor.

Here’s the tab.

tab for G Major
The Em scale starts on the 6th note of the G Major scale

As a result, we say that E (E-minor) is the relative minor of G Major. However, the inverse is also true:

G is the relative Major of E-minor.

A Major Bonus!

Its like a 2 for 1 sale! Because, if you’ve been practicing your Major scales, then you have the relative minor scale under your fingers.

Say you know the G Major scale really well. You’ve developed a feel for those notes and can noodle around in G with ease. You know where the notes are, and can almost picture them on the fretboard. G is your tonic:  you might start on that tone, or lead into it, create tension and resolve to G, etc…

Well, using all those same notes you can play in Em, simply by focusing on the E (6th) as your tonal center, instead of the G. You don’t have to think about changing any notes, you don’t have to worry about a formula…

There’s a Formula?

Of course there is. Lets take a look at that A-minor scale we’ve learned and figure out the formula.

A minor scale:

A – B – C – D – E – F – G – A

A to B is a Whole Tone
B to C is a Half Tone (Semitone)
C to D is a Whole Tone
D to E is a Whole Tone
E to F is a Half Tone (Semitone)
F to G is a Whole Tone
G to A is a Whole Tone

So… we’ve found the formula (in whole tones and half tones) for our minor scale:

W-H-W-W-H-W-W

In terms of semitones it would look like : 2 – 1 – 2 – 2 – 1 – 2 – 2

Which makes sense! The Major scale formula is W-W-H-W-W-W-H, and, by starting with the 6th note of the Major scale, all we’ve really done is move the last two intervals of the Major formula to the beginning, to build our new minor formula.

Diagram of the formula for the minor scale
Formula for the minor scale

And, that’s our formula for the ‘natural minor scale’.

On the next page, we’ll take a look at the ’parallel minor’!

Next Page…

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The Augmented Chord

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Image of music notation for a C augmented chord.
Notation for a C+ chord.

Augmented Triad (1–3-#5)

The augmented chord is the next chord build we’re going to take a look at. The numbers you see in parentheses after the title above (1–3–#5), indicate the spelling, or formula used to build an augmented triad. The formula is based on the major scale.

Therefore, an augmented triad is built using the 1st, 3rd and sharp 5th (#5) of the major scale.

*The augmented chord is the same as a major chord, except the 5th is raised by a semitone (half tone).

An augmented chord example

To build a C+ chord (Caug), let’s look at the C major scale and find our augmented triad (1–3-#5):

Image of a C-scale
Image 1

The notes of the C Major scale are depicted in black.

The root of our chord is the 1st, or tonic of the scale. That note is a “C”.
The 3rd is an “E”.
The 5th is a “G”, but we want to sharp the 5th (#5), so we raise it by a semitone to a “G#”.

Our C+ triad is C – E – G#.

So we can build a C+ chord just by using those notes. We can put them in any order (different inversions), and we can double up any note in the triad if we wish.

I won’t walk you through “building the chord” on your mandolin this time. If you want to try it yourself, or if you need help on how to do this, check out the previous articles on “The Major Chord” and ”The Minor Chord”.

But, I will show you 3 shapes for the Caug chord:

Image of the C-augmented chord for mandolin.
Image 2

The augmented chord is unique

Aside from a few open string chords, the augmented chord has only 3 different shapes! And, each of those shapes is moveable.

Check this out

What if we want an Eaug chord?

Here’s the E major scale:

Image of the E major scale.
Image 3

Our augmented triad formula is 1-3-#5. So the root of our chord is the 1st, which is an “E”.
The 3rd of the scale is G#.
The 5th is a B, and when we raise it a half tone to make it sharp, we get a B# (which is a C).

So the notes for our Eaug triad are E–G#-C.

If you haven’t noticed already, those are the exact same notes as the Caug triad!

And, if you figure it out, the G#aug triad is G#-C–E.

The same three notes again!

How can that be?

Well, the augmented triad is built by stacking a Major 3rd on a Major 3rd.

Let’s look at the C+ triad again – C, E, G#.

Image of the C major scale.
Image 4

There are 4 semitones (half tones) in a Major 3rd interval. We can see that there are 4 semitones from C to E.
There are 4 semitones (a Major 3rd) from E to G#. That’s 8 semitones.
There are only 12 notes, so if we go another 4 semitones (a Major 3rd) from G#, we get to C again.

No matter which of those notes we start with, by moving 4 semitones each time, we’ll always end up with the same three notes. They are all 4 semitones (a Major 3rd) apart.

In other words, the three notes in a C+ triad are the same as the notes in an E aug triad, which are the same as a G# aug (Ab aug) triad.

So, the augmented chord is named for any note found in that chord shape.

Move it!

Take any one of the C augmented chords shown above in Image 2, and move the whole shape up one fret.

You now have a Db (C#) augmented chord. But, because it can be named for any chord in that shape, it is also an A aug chord, or an F aug chord. So, using 1 shape in two positions, we’ve actually made 6 augmented chords.

Move it up another fret. Now you have a D augmented chord, or a Bb aug chord, or a Gb aug chord. Now we have 9 chords.

Move it up another fret and you get a Eb aug, or a B aug, or a G augmented chord. That gives us 12 aug chords.

Move it up one more time and we’re back to that C augmented (Eaug, G#aug) triad again!

There are only 12 notes in western music. As a result, there are only 12 possible augmented triads. We have discovered that each chord can be named for any of the 3 notes in that triad. Therfore, there are really only 4 possible augmented chords, and each one can have 3 different names (4 X 3 = 12).

Each chord repeats itself every 4 frets (in a different inversion).

As you can see below, the notes in the chord shape repeat themselves every 4 frets!

"Image

Try it with one of the other shapes.

It’s the same no matter which augmented chord shape you try.

You can put any one of the previous 3 shapes anywhere on the fretboard, and the resulting augmented chord can be named after any note in that shape.

Neat, huh?

In Review

We’ve learned how to build the augmented chord using the formula for an augmented triad: 1–3–#5.

We’ve also learned some rather unique characteristics of the augmented chord. Let’s review those:

1. Aside from a couple of convoluted efforts, there are only 3 common shapes for the augmented chord:

Image of augmented chord shapes for the mandolin.
Image 6

2. The chord can be named for any note it contains.
3. Each chord repeats itself every 4 frets.

But where can you use it?

Jazz and swing are certainly the first genres that come to mind. However, the augmented chord is often found in blues turnarounds, and you’ll find them in popular music as well. The augmented chord is not all that common in bluegrass, but as bands are playing more and more popular music in the bluegrass style, I hesitate to say you won’t find them in that genre, as well.

The augmented chord is something you can experiment with. Let your ear make the decision. You can put it anywhere you want if you like the sound. Consequently, It’s often used as a passing chord. In other words, use the augmented chord when moving from one chord to another (by changing a single note to move in a chromatic fashion).

Just as an example, try it in a chord progression moving (or passing) from the 1st to the 4th, or the 1st to the 5th , or the relative minor.

Try this in ¾ time:
/ A / A+ / D / D /
/ A / A+ / E / E /
/ A / A+ / F#m / D /
/ A / E / A / A /

Try using the following chord shapes for the example above. You just have to put down your second finger to move from the major to the augmented chord.

Image depicting the difference between “A-major” and “A-augmented”.
Image 7

It’s a matter of 3rds

So let’s compare intervals again:

Remember, a Major 3rd is 4 half tones (4 semitones or 4 frets), and a minor 3rd is 3 half tones (or 3 frets).

Intervals used to build a Major chord = Major 3rd + minor 3rd.
The intervals used to build a minor chord = minor 3rd + Major 3rd.
When building an augmented chord = Major 3rd + Major 3rd.

Augmented chords – It is written

Augmented chords are usually written with a plus sign ‘+’ or ‘aug’ after the note letter, such as “A+”, or “Aaug”.

If you would like more info on augmented chords, check out this video.

Next, I’ll take a look at diminished triads.

The Minor Triad (1-b3-5)

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Music Notation – C minor chord

Mandolin Minor Chords

Minor chords can be built from the major scale using the 1st (root), the flatted 3rd (b3) and the 5th. That’s our formula for a minor triad: 1 – b3 – 5.

The minor triad is the same as the major triad only the 3rd is lowered by a semitone (half tone).

To get a minor, flat the 3rd. Its that easy!

As a result, any major chords that you might already have in your arsenal, can be made into a minor chord, simply by lowering the 3rd by a semitone (1 fret).

Major chords to a minor chords

Let’s start by taking a look at the A major scale again.

Diagram showing the 1st, 3rd and 5th of the “A” Major Scale
Image 1 – The “A Major Scale” (shown in black)

The 1st is A, the 3rd is C#, and the 5th is E: 1st, 3rd, 5th = A-C#-E

For a minor triad we have to flat the 3rd. The 3rd is a C#. If we flat that C# (lower it by one semitone), we get a C note. So, the 1st, flatted 3rd and 5th gives us: A-C-E
So our Am triad is A – C – E.

Below is the root position Amaj chord we built in the last section. The 3rd of that major chord is a C#, and it’s at the fourth fret of the second string. If we move it down to the third fret, then we’ve lowered that note by a semitone to a “C”. We end up with an “A minor” chord (Am). To make a major into a minor chord, you just flat the 3rd.

Image showing the change from a major chord to a minor
Image 2 – Flat the 3rd to get a minor.

This is, of course, a moveable minor chord shape (see “Moveable Mandolin Chords“).

Try another

Here’s the D major scale:

Image of the D major scale
Image 3 – The D-major scale.

The 1st is D, the 3rd is an F# and the 5th is A.

To build minor chords, we flat the third (1 – b3 – 5). Therefore, we flat the F# and end up with an ”F”.

Our Dm triad is D – F – A.

Below is a diagram of an open string Dmaj chord that I’m sure everyone is familiar with. The 3rd of a Dmaj triad is “F#”, and it’s at the second fret of the first string. If we flat that 3rd by moving it down one fret, we end up with an “F”, and we now have a Dm chord.

Image changing "D" major to "D" minor.
Image 4 – Flat the 3rd to get a Dm.

 

Minor construction

Of course, it’s also fun to just build the chord around a note. Let’s say we’ve done our “close your eyes and put your finger on the neck” exercise. When we open our eyes, our finger is on the third string (D string) at the eighth fret. That’s a Bb.

Let’s look at the Bb major scale:

Diagram of B-major scale.
Image 5 – Bb Major scale

Bb – C – D – Eb – F – G – A – Bb

The 1st (root) is “Bb”. The 3rd is D and the 5th is “F”. To build a minor chord we want to flat the third. Therefore, we end up with a ”Db”.

So our Bbm triad will be Bb – Db – F.

We know our root is on the eighth fret of the 3rd string (solid red), so let’s look at all the triad notes close to that.

Image of different options for the B flat minor chord
Image 6 – Triad notes close to our root.

I’ll put my ring finger on our root note because I see a Db at the sixth fret of the 4th string (G string), and I’m going to cover that with my index finger. On the second string there’s an “F” at the eighth fret right beside our root note. I’ll put my pinky there.

Any options?

Now, if I want, I can mute the 1st set of strings with the fleshy part of my index finger and play the 3-note chord. However, on the first string I see another root note (Bb) at the sixth fret and a Db at the ninth. The easiest fingering for me from here would be to double up on the root note by fretting the first string at the sixth fret (with my middle finger).

We end up with the following Bbm chord (another moveable minor chord).

Diagram of a ''B" flat minor chord.
Image 7 – Bbm chord with root on the third string at the 8th fret

Just as a side note, did anyone recognize this as a 1st inversion Bbm chord? (Because the 3rd is the lowest note in the chord)

It’s always good to keep exploring when you can, because you might find something that works better. Here’s a few more Bb minor chords built off that same root note.

Image of 3 different "B" flat minor chords.
Image 7 – More Bbm chords built around the same root.

Try that exercise a few times. Put your finger on a fret, figure out what note it is, then build a minor chord around that root note. Take a little time to explore any other minor chords that might possible around the same root.

The intervals in a minor triad

In the section on major triads, we discussed two intervals – the Major 3rd and the minor 3rd.

If two notes are separated by 4 semitones, then they are a “Major 3rd” apart (M3). The interval of 4 semitones is called a “Major 3rd”.

If the distance between any two notes is 3 semitones (3 half tones), then they are separated by a “minor 3rd” (m3). The interval of 3 semitones is called a “minor 3rd”.

The distance between the 1st note (tonic) and the flatted 3rd note in the major scale is 3 semitones. That is a minor 3rd interval! The distance between that flatted 3rd note and the 5th note in the major scale is 4 semitones. That’s a major 3rd!

When we build a minor triad we use a minor 3rd, then a Major 3rd.

Image depicting a minor, then major interval for a minor chord.
Image 8 – A C-minor chord is made up of a minor interval, then a Major interval.

Look at the diagram of the C-major scale above. You can see that, once we flat the 3rd, we end up with a minor 3rd interval (3 semitones), then a Major 3rd (4 semitones).

So let’s compare intervals

The intervals used to build a major chord – Major 3rd – minor 3rd.
The intervals used to build a minor chord – minor 3rd – Major 3rd.

Its just the opposite for minor chords.

It is written

Minor chords are usually written with a small “m” after the chord letter, such as “Am”, or “Em”.

Next, we’ll have a look at augmented triads.

The Major Triad (1 – 3 – 5)

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image of musical notation for C-Major
Music Notation – C Major Chord

The numbers you see in parentheses after the title above (1 – 3 – 5), indicate the spelling, or formula used to build a major triad. The formula is based on the major scale. Therefore, a major triad is built using the 1st, 3rd and 5th of the major scale.

It is written

The major chord is written with the designation “maj” after the root letter, such as “Amaj”, or “Emaj”. Of course, it can also be designated with the full word, such as “E major”. However, the major chord is often depicted without any designation, such as “A”, or “E”. That’s how they’ll appear in the tablature section on this website.

Finding the notes

So let’s find the notes used to build an A major triad (Amaj). To begin, let’s look at the A major scale. The black dots represent our major scale (W – W – H – W – W – W – H).

Diagram showing the 1st, 3rd and 5th of the “A” Major Scale
Image 1 – The “A Major Scale” (shown in black)

The notes in the Amaj scale are: A – B – C# – D – E – F# – G# – A

 

A major triad

To build an A major triad, we want to use notes 1, 3 and 5 of the A major scale. The 1st is A, which will be the root of our chord. The 3rd is C#, and the 5th is an E (see image 1 above).

So, our Amaj triad is A – C# – E .

Remember the intervals? The major triad is built using a Major 3rd, and a minor 3rd. Notice that the interval from A to C# is a Major 3rd (M3), and from C# to E is a minor 3rd (m3).

We can put those notes together in any order to get an Amaj triad, or a basic Amaj chord.

And that’s it! That’s how you make an A major triad.

 

C major triad

Of course, you can apply that formula to build any major triad. Say you want a Cmaj triad. Remember, our formula is 1 – 3 – 5, so let’s look at the C major scale:

Diagram showing the 1st, 3rd and 5th of the “C” Major Scale
Image 2 – The “C Major Scale” (shown in black).

The notes in the C major scale are: C – D – E – F – G – A – B – C

The root note of the chord is always the first note of that scale (the tonic).

The 1st is “C”.

The 3rd is “E”.

The 5th is “G”.

The C major triad is C – E – G. We can put those notes together in any order to get a Cmaj triad, or a basic Cmaj chord.

Notice that from C to E is 4 semitones, or a Major 3rd, and that E to G is a minor 3rd  (3 semitones).

 

Bb major triad

What about Bb? Here’s the Bb major scale:

Diagram showing the 1st, 3rd and 5th of the “B flat” Major Scale
Image 3 – The “Bb Major Scale” (shown in black)

The notes in the Bb major scale are: Bb – C – D – Eb – F – G – A – Bb

The 1st is “Bb”.

The 3rd is “D’.

The 5th is “F”.

The Bb major triad is Bb – D – F. Those notes can be put together in any order to get a Bbmaj triad, or a basic Bb chord.

So, you know the 3 notes in the triad. As a result, you can build that chord anywhere on the fingerboard by looking for the root note, then finding the other two notes within reach of the first.

Let’s look at some examples.

 

Example 1

For practice, lets build an A major triad on the mandolin. We’ve already looked at the A major scale and we know the triad notes are A, C# and E. We’ll start with the root of our chord (which is the 1st of the scale), so we need an “A”. Lets use the “A-note” at the second fret of the fourth string (G string). That’s the lowest “A-note” on the mandolin.

Diagram of a mandolin fingerboard showing an “A” note at the second fret
Image 4 – The “A” root note at the second fret of the “G” string.

We want to build a chord around that root note, so now we need a C# and an E.
The C# on the next string (the D string) is way down at the eleventh fret. That’s an impossible stretch! However, there is an E-note on the third string at the second fret, right beside our root note, so we’re going to use that “E” as our 5th. Remember, we can put the notes in any order.

Diagram of a mandolin fingerboard showing the first and fifth of an A major triad.
Image 5 – The first and fifth of our A Major Triad.

Now we need a C# to complete the Amaj triad. There happens to be one at the fourth fret of the A string (second course of strings). That’s reachable!

Diagram of a mandolin fingerboard showing the C# on the second string.
Image 6 – Completed Amaj triad – 1, 3 and 5 – A, C# and E.

That completes our A major triad. We now have a basic Amaj chord. Give it a strum. Just mute the 1st string for now.

To make that chord a little  “fuller”, we can double any of the notes in the triad.

What are our options?

The first string is an “E” string. That’s one of the notes in our triad, so we can play that string open. As a result, we get an Amaj chord with an A, a C# and two E notes (fifths). We could also double up our root note by fretting the first string at the 5th fret for an “A”, resulting in two root notes, a single 3rd and a single 5th (see image 7).

Diagram of a mandolin fingerboard with 2 options to complete the A major triad.
Image 7 – A couple of options on the first string.

So we’ve just constructed 3 options for an Amaj chord built around the “A” at the 2nd fret of the G string.

A Major Chords

Diagram of 3 “A” major mandolin chords.
Image 8 – All three Amaj chords are built from the 1st, 3rd and 5th of the A major scale.

Example 2

What if we use a different “A” note as our root. How about the open A string (2nd string)?

So the open A string can be our 1st (root). Now we need a 3rd and a 5th  (C# and E) to build around that root note.

On the fourth string (G string), there’s a C# at the sixth fret. That will be our 3rd.

Diagram of a mandolin fingerboard showing an open “A” string as the root note.
Image 9 – Open “A” string and our 3rd at the 6th fret of the fourth string.

For our 5th, let’s use the same E as before, at the second fret of the D string. The finished triad will look like this:

Diagram of a mandolin fingerboard showing an “A” major triad in first position.
Image 10 – First, third and fifth of our A major triad (A, C#, E).

Now we have the same options as before. We could simply mute the 1st string and play our 3-note chord, or we can play the E-string open to double up our 5th. Also, we have the option of fretting the 1st string at the fifth fret for another “A”.

Diagram of a mandolin fingerboard showing two options to complete our “A” major triad.
Image 11 – A couple of options on the first string.

Here are the finished A major chords built around the open A-string. I like the sound of the middle one, with the first and second string played open. I find it a little awkward to fret that “A” on the first string in the third shape.

Amaj Chords

Diagram of a mandolin fingerboard showing an open “A” string as the root note.
Image 12 – Amaj chords using the open A string as the triad root.

 

Example 3

As you move away from that first position, you may be surprised at the voicing options you can find. Say we’re looking for an Amaj chord near the seventh fret.
Let’s try using the A-note at the seventh fret of the D-string as our root.

Diagram of a mandolin fingerboard with triad root at the seventh fret of the “D” string.
Image 13 – Amaj triad root at the seventh fret of the “D” string.

What are our options? What notes are available?

Let’s look at all the A, C# and E notes within reach.

Diagram showing note options available around the root at the seventh fret.
Image 14 – Options within reach of our root note.

So we know we need a 1st, 3rd and 5th for each triad, and we can double up any of those triad notes. By using the options above, here are some of the Amaj chords we can build around that A note at the 7th fret of the D string.

Amaj chords

image of seven “A” major mandolin chords formed around the root note at the seventh fret.
Image 15 – Amaj triad root at the seventh fret of the “D” string.

That last one is an Amaj chop chord!
And remember, any shape that doesn’t have open strings is a moveable chord!

And, some shapes with an open string can be made moveable by muting that open string.

Change it up!

As you can see, it’s not that hard to figure out which notes you need to build a major chord. However, there are a lot of ways to put those notes together on your mandolin. Consequently, you’ll find some shapes that are easier to fret than others. Also, you’ll find some that might sound better to you than others. As a result, you’ll find preferences and favorites.

Make your voice heard!

All those different ways of putting the chord together are called voicings. Voicing refers to the way a chord is presented, or the manner in which the notes are distributed.

Maybe you play a Dmaj chord with open strings, and then play a Dmaj chord somewhere else on the fingerboard. You’ve used a different voicing. In addition, you might make one of the triad notes an octave higher (or lower), or change which note is doubled in the chord. Since you’ve changed the way its put together, you’ve used another voicing of that chord. You could change the order of the notes in the chord, or leave one of the triad notes out completely (yes, you can). You can even create a chord voicing by spreading the notes out over different instruments.

A different voicing is simply a different way of putting the same chord together.

Double Double

You can double up any note (or notes) in the triad when building a chord. The doubled pitch can be the exact octave, or they can be octaves apart. When choosing whether to double one note over another, ease of fingering can often be the deciding factor. Other than that, it’s best to let your ear decide.

Chord inversions

Chord inversions on the mandolin are defined by which note is the bass note, or lowest note in the triad. Therefore, if the lowest note is the root note, the chord is said to be in “root position”.

When the lowest note in the chord is the 3rd of the triad, its a  “1st inversion”.

If the lowest note is the 5th, then that shape is said to be a “2nd inversion” chord.

Take a look at the chords in Image 16 below. These are 3 of the Amaj chords we built in the previous section. The first one is from example 1. We ended up with an Amaj chord in root position (the root is the lowest note).

The second is from example 2. The lowest note is a C#, which is the 3rd of the Amaj scale. When the 3rd is the lowest note, we have a 1st inversion. So that would be an Amaj chord in 1st inversion.

The last one is from example 3, and its an Amaj “chop chord”. That would be a 2nd inversion Amaj chord because the lowest note is an E, which is the 5th. It’s a 2nd inversion when the 5th is the lowest note.

Image of mandolin chords showing root position, 1st inversion and 2nd inversion.
Image 16 – Chord Inversions.

Omitting notes

Sometimes, we play chords that don’t contain all the notes of the triad. It seems like this contradicts what I said earlier about the triad being the smallest possible true chord. Right? Not really, because we’re just not playing “true” chords.

But, if you’re playing with another musician, or in a band situation, the omitted note can be heard on another instrument. Other times, your ear may interpret the note when the chord is played in the context of the tune.

Extended chords (9ths, 11ths, 13ths etc.) have more than 4 notes, and a mandolin only has 4 courses of strings. We sometimes sacrifice some notes in order to keep the pitch, or interval that will give the chord the desired sound or color.

What notes can be omitted?

The most common note omitted is the 5th.

The 3rd defines the chord as major or minor, but it is sometimes omitted. In that situation, the resulting chord can actually be used as a major, or a minor chord, because there is no defining 3rd , and it contains pitches common to both.

Technically, if it doesn’t contain all three notes of the triad, then it isn’t a true chord. But they look like chords, and they sound like chords, so we call them chords.

Here are a few examples of some common chords that don’t contain all the notes of the triad.

image of mandolin chords with omitted triad notes.
Image 17 – Sometimes we don’t use all the notes in the triad.

Next: The Minor Triad

Chord Theory – The Triad

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G-Chord

Building Mandolin Chords

Some folks tend to think that building chords is an advanced subject that requires a lot of music theory. As a result, they’re missing out on something that can be valuable to their musical experience. In this article, I hope to show you that building chords on the mandolin is not as difficult as you might think!

You might even find it interesting.

At the very least, a little chord theory may help you find a few new moveable chord shapes. However, you’ll also explore more of the fingerboard and learn to build chords anywhere on the neck. By understanding a littles chord construction you can form new chords from the ones you already know, simply by changing one or two notes.

Chord theory can be applied to any instrument. The diagrams and examples on these pages are all about the mandolin.

What you should know

Building chords is not a difficult thing to learn, but throughout this article there are a few things that I’ll assume you already know:

First of all, you need to be able to find all the notes on your mandolin. You don’t need to memorize them; you just need to know how to figure out where they are. For instance, can you find a “C” on the fourth string? Can you find an “A” on the first string, or a “C#” on the second string?

Secondly, you should know how to make a note flat (lower it 1 fret), or sharp (raise it by 1 fret). If you’re not quite sure about these first two requirements, or if you’d like a refresher, see the article “Music theory – the absolute basics”.

Finally, you should be familiar with the major scale. More specifically, you should know how to build the major scale in any key, and understand the different degrees of the scale (how the notes are numbered). For help with the major scale, see the article “The Major Scale”.

Here’s a quick review

1. To build a major scale, you start with the “tonic” which names the scale. In other words, to build a C major scale you start with a C note (C is the tonic).

2. Then apply the formula for a major scale, which is: whole tone (W), whole tone (W), half tone (H), whole tone (W), whole tone (W), whole tone (W), half tone (H).

(W-W-H-W-W-W-H, or 2-2-1-2-2-2-1)

C Scale = CDEFGABC

3. Each note in the scale is a degree, and is numbered accordingly. The tonic is the 1st degree, followed by the 2nd degree, 3rd degree, 4th, etc.. Usually, we’ll just refer to them as the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.

Quite often, you’ll see Roman Numerals used to designate the degree of the scale.

( I – II – III – IV – V – VI – VII – VIII)

For more info on major scales, see the article “The Major Scale”.

Chord Building Blocks

Build it to scale

We’ll be building chords using the major scale. So we use the C major scale to build a “C” chord, the A major scale to build an “Am” chord, and the F major scale to build an “F” chord or an “F7” chord, etc.

The Triad

In music theory, 3 notes played at the same time (in chorus) is a basic chord. This group of 3 notes is called a triad. The smallest possible “true” chord is the triad.

We’re going to have a look at 4 triads: the major, minor, augmented and diminished triads.

Each triad has its own simple formula based on the 1st, 3rd and 5th degrees of the major scale.

The Major Triad (1-3-5)

The formula for a major triad is “1 – 3 – 5“. A basic major chord is built using the 1st, 3rd and 5th of the major scale. It’s that simple!

image of music notation for Cmaj
Cmaj Triad

You would use the C major scale to find the notes for a Cmaj triad.

image depicting a major triad
Major Triad

The 1st is “C”, the 3rd is “E” and the 5th is a “G”.
Therefore, the C major (Cmaj) triad is C – E – G.
It doesn’t even matter what order the notes are in, it’s still a Cmaj triad (we’ll discuss inversions later).

Just strum those 3 notes on your mandolin, using fretted or open strings, and you have a basic Cmaj chord. Because a triad only has 3 notes, and the mandolin has 4 courses of strings, you have a string left over. Well, you can double up any of the notes in a triad for a fuller chord sound.

This gives you 3 options:

  1. You can play the other string open, as long as its one of the triad notes.
  2. If physically possible, you can fret the other string with a finger to get a triad note.
  3. Or, if neither of the first two options are possible, you can mute the other string and play the triad as a basic chord.

If all this seems a little confusing at this point, don’t worry! You’ll get some practice building chords on the mandolin with the exercises in the next article, “The Major Triad“.

The Minor Triad (1-b3-5)

The formula for a minor triad is “1 – b3 – 5”. A basic minor chord uses the 1st, a flatted 3rd, and the 5th of the major scale.

image of music notation for a C minor triad
Cm Triad

You would use the C major scale to find the notes for a Cm triad.

building chords from the major scale
Minor Triad

The 1st is “C”, the flatted 3rd would be “Eb” and the 5th is a “G“.
Therefore, the C minor (Cm) triad is C – Eb – G.

 

The Augmented Triad (1-3-#5)

The formula for an augmented triad is “1 – 3 – #5”. A basic augmented chord uses the 1st, 3rd, and a sharpened 5th of the major scale.

image of C augmented triad
C+ (Caug) Triad

You would use the C major scale to find the notes for a C+ (C aug) triad.

building chords - the augmented triad
Augmented Triad

The 1st is “C”, the 3rd would be “E” and the sharpened 5th is a “G#”.
Therefore, the C augmented (C+) triad is C – E – G#.

 

The Diminished Triad (1-b3-b5)

The formula for a diminished triad is “1 – b3 – b5”. A basic diminished chord uses the 1st, a flatted 3rd, and a flatted 5th of the major scale.

image of C diminished triad
Cdim Triad

You would use the C major scale to find the notes for a Cdim (C°) triad.

building a diminished chord from the major scale
Diminished Triad

The 1st is “C”, the flatted 3rd would be “Eb” and the flatted 5th is a “Gb”.
Therefore, the C diminished (Cdim or C°) triad is C – Eb – Gb.

A diminished chord is also sometimes called a “minor flatted 5th”.

Another Way to Look At Things

We know that an “interval” is the distance between two notes or pitches. Intervals are made up of semitones (half tones), and each interval has a name, depending on the number of semitones that it contains.

At this point, I’m not going to confuse you with all the interval names. However, I would like to mention just a couple because, another way to build triads is with their intervals. And, we only need two intervals!

The first interval we’ll look at is the Major 3rd.

A Major 3rd (M3) consists of 4 semitones (4 half tones). Any two notes separated by 4 semitones are a Major 3rd apart. The interval of 4 semitones is called a Major 3rd.

The other interval we’re going to look at is the minor 3rd.

A minor 3rd (m3) consists of 3 semitones (3 half tones). Any two notes separated by 3 semitones are a minor 3rd apart. The interval of 3 semitones is called a minor 3rd.

 

Intervals in the Major Triad

The distance between the 1st note (tonic) and the 3rd note in the major scale is 4 semitones. That’s a “Major 3rd”.

image depicting major and minor thirds
A Major 3rd, then a minor 3rd to build a major triad

When we count the semitones between the 3rd and the 5th note of the major scale, we find there are 3. That’s a “minor 3rd”.

We know that a major triad is built using the 1st, 3rd and 5th notes in the major scale. As a result, we can say that a major triad consists of a Major 3rd, then a minor 3rd.

We now have another way to build the major triad! We can pick any note as our root. Our next note is a major 3rd above that root note, and the following note is a minor 3rd above that. We don’t even have to look at the major scale.

Intervals in the Minor Triad

You learned that a major can be made into a minor, simply by flatting the 3rd. A minor triad is built using the 1st, flatted 3rd, and 5th of the major scale. The distance from the 1st to the flatted 3rd is 3 semitones. That’s a minor 3rd. The distance from that flatted 3rd to the 5th is 4 semitones (a Major 3rd).

image depicting how to build a minor chord from intervals
A minor third, then a Major third to build a minor chord

We can pick any note as our root. Our next note is a minor 3rd above the root, and the following note is a Major 3rd above that.

Therefore, a minor triad consists of a minor 3rd, then a Major 3rd.

 

Intervals in the Augmented Triad

We use the 1st, 3rd and a sharpened 5th to build an augmented triad. When we raise the the 5th by a semitone, we end up with 4 semitones from the 3rd to the sharpened 5th. That’s a Major 3rd.

image of uilding an augmented chord using intervals
A Major 3rd, then another Major 3rd

We can pick any note as our root. Our next note is a major 3rd above the root, and the following note is a Major 3rd above that.

So, an augmented triad consists of a Major 3rd, then another Major 3rd.

 

Intervals in the Diminished Triad

The formula for a diminished triad is 1 – b3 – b5. As a result, we end up with 2 intervals of 3 semitones.

image to show intervals in a diminished chord
A minor 3rd, then another minor 3rd

We can pick any note as our root. Our next note is a minor 3rd above the root, and the following note is a minor 3rd above that.

The diminished triad consists of a minor 3rd, then another minor 3rd.

Where do we go from here?

This has been a quick introduction to basic chord theory for the mandolin. Over the next few articles we’ll take a more “in depth” look at building chords from each of the triads. We’ll look at examples and exercises to help adapt the theory, and drive the idea home. You should be able to build different chord shapes anywhere on the mandolin fingerboard.

Next: The Major Triad

The Major Scale

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1929 Gibson F2

Essentially, the major scale is one of the most important scales in music. For that reason, I’ll be using lots of examples and repetition, because I want to do a thorough job of explaining the concept. As a result, this has turned into a fairly lengthy article.

Learning Scales

This lesson is intended to teach you how to find the major scale in any key.

I used to hate scales. I always felt like I’d rather be playing a tune, or learning something new and musical as opposed to spending time practicing my scales. They always seemed kind of boring and uninteresting.

However, if you learn how to build them, how to change them and how they can be used, you’ll see a purpose.  You’ll find that you make use of that knowledge on a regular basis. You may even find it gets interesting!

The Major Scale

The major scale is the most important scale you’ll learn. A little knowledge about it is essential, no matter what instrument you might be learning. And that knowledge, along with a little theory, will open up a lot of musical possibilities, such as:

  • how to build chords – how to form a triad, how to turn a major chord into a minor, how to build compound chords (major 7ths, dominant 7ths, 9ths, 13ths, etc.)
  • how to find different notes and chords most commonly used in any particular key.
  • the use of partial scales, different scale sequences and arpeggios as one of your tools for improvisation.
  • how to form double stops, learn harmonization
  • how to transpose a tune to a different key.

What Else?

Not only that, but physically practicing scale patterns and sequences on your mandolin (or any instrument) has many advantages as well:

  • It can help develop your ear. You’ll learn to recognize the different pitches associated with the individual keys.
  • You’ll improve your technique – develop better string attack and improved sound quality and tone from your instrument.
  • It can help with relaxation and improve overall control and economy of motion.
  • It’ll help develop your hands, correct finger movement, improved coordination and finger strength.
  • It’s very good position exercise, and a great way to get better acquainted with your fingerboard.

Learning scales doesn’t have to be an exercise in memorization. Although certain things do have to be committed to memory, you don’t need to memorize every scale.

Scale Patterns

By learning a simple interval pattern you’ll be able to figure out any major scale. From any major scale, you can build minor and pentatonic scales. Many scales are derived from the major scale, or at least explained and learned in terms of how they differ from that pattern.

So… if I’ve managed to talk you into a little scale study, let’s take a look at how to build a major scale.

You will need to know what “whole tones” and “half tones” are. It’s important to know the names of all the notes and understand their order and position in relationship to each other. You should understand which notes are “enharmonic”, and what an octave is. And, you should be able to figure out the interval (distance) between each note in tones and semitones (half tones). If you need help with any of this, go back and read the article “The Absolute Basics of Music Theory”.

So, if you’re good with all that, let’s move on…

Major Scales Rule!

We’ll start with a quick look at a few rules for an ascending major scale:

  1. The first note of the scale will be the note that the scale is named for. In other words, the first note of the C major scale will be a C, the first note of the G major scale will be a G, etc..  The first note of the scale is called the “tonic”.
  2. Starting with the tonic, each letter of the musical alphabet must be used once, in alphabetical order. Whether it’s used as a natural, a sharp or a flat, each individual letter can only be used once. This means that if you have a C, you can’t have a C#, or if you have an F#, you can’t also have an F. This will result in seven notes because there are only seven letters in the musical alphabet.
    Eg. C – D – E – F – G – A – B
  3. Finally, we’re going to add another note to the end of the scale. This note will be the same as the “tonic” , only an octave higher (Actually, it’s the start of the next octave of that scale). Hence, that eighth note is called the “octave”.  When we write the major scale, or play the scale, it’s usually described from tonic to octave.

So, now we have a major scale with 8 notes. It looks like this:

I       II      III       IV       V       VI       VII       VIII
C      D      E          F        G        A        B          C

What’s with the Roman Numerals up top?

At a later time we’ll look at them a little differently, but at this point, we’re basically just numbering the notes in the scale. The first note in the C major scale is a C, the third note is an E and the fifth is a G.

Actually, in music lingo they’re called degrees. We think of the first, second or third degree of a scale. For instance, in the example above, the seventh degree of the C major scale is a B note. Normally, we’ll leave the word “degree” off, and just say the seventh, or the fifth, etc.

So in the C major scale, the tonic is a C, the fourth is an F, and the fifth is a G.
Make sense?

OK. On the next page, we’ll take a closer look at the intervals in the C major scale, and see if we can figure out a pattern.

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