Six Essential Scales for `Ukulele
From these six essential scale you can get through a wide variety of traditional and contemporary music.
Published: Jan 2, 2005 Updated: May 14, 2014
ukulele | Subjects: scales • intermediate • advanced • jazz • beginner • quickstart • modes • core
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The six essential scales are: Blues, Major Pentatonic, Mixolydian, Dorian, Aeolian, and Ionian. From the six essential scales, you can get through a wide variety of traditional and contemporary music.
What IS a Scale?
A scale is simply a collection of pitches or notes, not really a "this is a Jazz scale", "this is a Blues" or "this is a Rock scale". It's how a scale is used that really matters not its name.
Most music starts with a scale. The melody, chords, licks and riffs all can be related back to a particular scale or scales.
The Six Essential scales ( in no particulate order ):
- Blues (Minor Pentatonic)
- Pentatonic (Major Pentatonic)
- Dorian (Minor)
- Mixolydian (Dominant)
- Aeolian (Natural Minor)
- Ionian (Major)
There are two scales that can be the memorized and other essential scales referenced from these two. These two scales are the Major and Natural Minor scales. The Major and Natural Minor scales are traditional scales and common scales in all forms of contemporary music.
This lesson explores the Major and Natural Minor scales and their derivations.
Here are the six essential scales, in open position, the key of C. Check out the video tab above to see the Ionian and Aeolian scales played on ukulele.
QuickStart Scale and Arpeggio Fingerings for Ukulele
This lesson uses the same page format as the QuickStart Scale Fingering series of books.
QuickStart Scale Fingerings for Ukulele 3 volumes.
C, G, and D tuning.
(QuickStart Scale Fingerings for Ukulele)
The QuickStart Scale Fingerings Vol 1 covers the Blues, Pentatonic, Dorian, Mixolydian, Aeolian and Ionian scales.
Traditional names for these scales are: Minor Pentatonic, Major Pentatonic, Minor, Dominant, Natural Minor and Major.
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The Harmonized Major and Minor Scale Charts
The Major Scale or Ionian scale is a diatonic scale, made up of seven distinct notes, plus an eighth which duplicates the first one octave higher. In solfege these notes correspond to the syllables “Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Ti/Si, (Do)”, the “Do” in the parenthesis at the end being the octave of the root.
A Practical Approach to Exploring Scales
On ukulele there aren't many positions where you can play a one octave scale from the root to octave. An instrument like the guitar with the additional lower strings five and six allows one to play a one octave scale in multiple positions in the basic 4-fret, 4-finger position. On ukulele there might be one or two depending on the scale and the key - and whether your using a low string four tuning.
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Learning the Ukulele Fingerboard - C Tuning
Finally, learn the names of the notes of the fingerboard. Learning the notes of your instrument allows you the flexibility of not having to remember so many shapes. There are simply way too many chords, scale and notes patterns, and shapes to remember. It all comes down the notes.
Learning the Ukulele Fingerboard - D Tuning
If your goal is to finally learn the names of the notes on the ukulele fingerboard. Then Learning the Ukulele Fingerboard - D Tuning is your answer. Learning the Ukulele Fingerboard - D Tuning, has a step by step approach to finally mastering the ukulele fingerboard.
Learning the Ukulele Fingerboard - G Tuning
If your goal is to finally learn the names of the notes on the ukulele fingerboard. Then Learning the Ukulele Fingerboard - G Tuning is your answer. Learning the Ukulele Fingerboard - G Tuning, has a step by step approach to finally mastering the ukulele fingerboard.
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