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Fig. 1 · C natural minor · first 12 frets

guitar scale

C natural minor

C1D2E♭♭3F4G5A♭♭6B♭♭7

The major scale started from its sixth degree: same seven notes, a different centre of gravity.

on ukuleleon pianothe key signature

Written out

Fig. 2 · C natural minor, ascending

Every accidental is written in, rather than left to a key signature, so the letters can be read one at a time.

The step pattern

CWDHE♭WFWGHA♭WB♭WC

What is true of it

C natural minor is C, D, E♭, F, G, A♭ and B♭, and back to C.

Its steps are W – H – W – W – H – W – W, where W is a whole step and H a half.

On the same tonic, C harmonic minor differs from it by exactly one note.

Across the first twelve frets of the guitar its notes fall in 44 places, which is what makes a scale a shape rather than a list.

Chords made only of these notes

CmminorCm7minor seventhDdimdiminishedDm7♭5half-diminished seventhE♭majorE♭maj7major seventhFmminorFm7minor seventh

Found by testing every chord in the catalogue against these 7 sounds, not chosen.

Other scales on C

C harmonic minorminorC melodic minorminorC majormajorC harmonic majormajorC Dorianmode

C♯ minD♭ minD minD♯ minE♭ minE minF minF♯ minall 374