Natural Minor Scale
The natural minor scale, also known as the Aeolian mode is one of the most used guitar scales in rock and popular music.
The scale can be formed by using the same notes as a major scale, but starting and ending the scale on the 6th degree of the major scale, and considering this 6th degree as the root.
For example, you can see the relationship between C major and A natural minor in the diagram:
If you look at the notes of the natural minor in relation to the notes of a major scale with the same root, we have the notes:
1, 2, b3, 4, 5, b6, b7, 1
That is, if you flatten the 3rd, 6th and 7th degree of a major scale, you have the natural minor scale with the same root.
The combination of tones and semitones that form the scale are as follows:
Natural Minor Scale = Tone – Semitone – Tone – Tone – Semitone – Tone – Tone
Guitar Positions for the Natural Minor Scale
Similarly to the major scale, there are five main closed positions to learn for the scale. I always recommend starting with the two positions with the root note under the first finger on the 6th or 5th string.
These positions for the natural minor scale (with the root note circled) are as follows:
You can then progress to the remaining three positions as follows:
When practicing these positions, in addition to practicing the scales ascending and descending, I also like to practice sequences of the scales as well. You can read about practicing scales in sequences in our article on guitar scale sequences.
The Chords Formed from the Natural Minor Scale
You can use a scale such as the natural minor to form a family of chords that often work well together in the same key. To read how this is done, take a look at our article on forming chords from scales. That article takes you through using the major scale as an example, but you can apply the exact same procedure to form chords from the natural minor scale.
You can see the chords formed from this scale when looking at the numbering (or degrees) of the notes of the scale, as well the example in the case of A natural minor in the diagram as follows:
Use of the Natural Minor Scale
The natural minor scale is probably the most used scale in styles such as rock, pop and many other forms of popular music.
Many of the progressions in these styles will be based on the chords of the scale shown above and many popular songs will feature guitar solos over these chord progressions that are entirely built from this scale.
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It is very informative and useful for an aspiring guitarist like me from India. Apart from the 6th and 5th String Positions starting with the 1st Finger on the Root, please explain me as to start with Which Finger in the rest of the 3 Positions. It would be much helpful. Thankyou.
Hi Dominic,
For the position where you have root under the first finger on the 4th string, the pattern would also start on the first finger as well.
For the next pattern that also has the root on the 5th string, I would start the pattern with my 1st finger and then move my hand down a fret at the 4th and 3rd strings then back up for the 2nd and 1st strings.
For the final pattern, I would start this pattern with my second finger and then move my hand position up a fret for the 2nd and 1st strings.
Where exactly on these scales you move your hand position can vary depending on the phrase your playing, but these suggestions should be good for learning the scale ascending and descending.
Also, these suggestions are if you are starting at the bottom note in the pattern, but you will often want to practice the scales starting at the root as well.
Hope this helps.