The Minor Scale II: The Parallel Approach

Relating a minor scale to the major scale from which it is derived — the relative approach — is one way of thinking about a minor scale.

Viewing a minor scale as an independent scale and comparing it to the major scale with the same root note — the parallel approach — is another way of thinking about the scale.

This post will use the parallel approach to construct a minor scale and provide instruction on how to play one on a guitar in any key.

Scale Formulas

As with chords, scales have numerical formulas based on the major scale that tell us which notes are included in any given scale.

Each type of scale has its own formula.

With the parallel approach, a minor scale is compared to the major scale with the same root note — its parallel major scale — and assigned a numerical formula based on that comparison.

Determining the Minor Scale’s Formula

Comparing Parallel Major and Minor Scales

If we compare an A minor scale to an A major scale, we can see that:

An A major scale contains the notes A, B, C#, D, E, F# and G# (fig.1).
An A minor scale contains the notes A, B, C, D, E, F and G (fig.2).

Fig.1

Fig.2

Minor Scale Formula

So the scale formula for a minor scale is 1, 2, b3, 4, 5, b6 and b7.

A minor scale contains the first, second, flatted third, fourth, fifth, flatted sixth and flatted seventh degrees of the major scale with the same root note.

So any minor scale can be constructed by lowering the third, sixth and seventh degrees of the major scale with the same root note a half step each.

Constructing an E Minor Scale

We can construct an E minor scale by lowering the third, sixth and seventh degrees of an E major scale a half step each.

To construct an E minor scale:

Write out the notes in an E major scale (fig.3)
Lower the notes G#, C# and D# to G, C and D, respectively (fig.4).

Fig.3

Fig.4

An E minor scale contains the notes E, F#, G, A, B, C and D.

All 12 Minor Scales and Their Parallel Major Scales

All 12 major scales are shown in fig.5, along with their parallel minor scales.

The third, sixth and seventh degrees of each scale are highlighted in blue.

Fig.5

Minor Scales on a Guitar: The Parallel Approach

With the parallel approach, the minor scale is treated as an independent scale and compared to the major scale with the same root note.

To play a minor scale on a guitar using the parallel approach, we have two options:

Learn a separate fingering or fingerings for a minor scale.
Play the major scale fingering with the same root note, but lower the third, sixth and seventh notes a half step each.

The first option is by far the easier one and it’s the one we will use in this post.

Minor Scale Fingering and Examples

A common fingering for a minor scale is shown in fig.6.

Fig.6

This fingering will allow you to play a minor scale starting on any note:

To play an A minor scale, start the pattern on the A on the sixth string, fifth fret (fig.7a).
To play an E minor scale, start the pattern on the E on the sixth string, 12th fret (fig.7b).

Fig.7

Relative vs. Parallel Approaches

Whether you choose to view a minor scale according to the relative or parallel approach, the scale contains the same notes.

The relative approach is probably easier to understand in the beginning but the parallel approach is more useful when comparing a scale to other similar scales.