Transcription below…

Pro tip: please watch the video version of this post. It will give you a much clearer grasp of what I’m sharing here.

People have asked me, “What’s the first guitar scale I should learn?”

My opinion? A scale you can remember the names of the notes for, and one that you can play in open position, with the fewest fingers possible.

With this in mind, I want to take you through the open A natural minor scale. So, grab your guitar if it’s close by.

As you may know, the musical alphabet has only 7 letters. They are A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Right after G comes – not H, but A. Try saying that with me – A, B, C, D, E, F, G, A.

Our strings are numbered 1 through 6, from the highest pitch to the lowest.

We can also name the strings by open note from lowest to highest, like this: E, A, D, G, B, E, or Eddie Ate Dynamite, Good Bye Eddie…right?

Fretting hand fingers are numbered 1, 2, 3, and 4.

So, if we’re going to play this open A natural minor scale, we’ll be using 3 open strings, and 2 fingers.

The 3 open strings we’ll use will be strings 5, 4, and 3, which are the A, D, and G strings. And the 2 fingers we’ll use are fingers 2 and 3, which will find their homes on frets of the same number, frets 2 and 3, on these strings. It’s easy to remember, because if we’re playing a note on the 2nd fret, we’ll be using our 2nd finger, and if we’re playing a note on the 3rd fret, we’ll be using our 3rd finger. And in addition to the fretted notes, there will be 3 open notes.

So, let’s try the open A natural minor scale. We start on the 5th string, played open, with the note A. Remember, we’re just saying the alphabet.

Up next is our 2nd finger on the 2nd fret, for B. Then our 3rd finger on the 3rd fret for C.

What’s next? The same configuration on the 4th string, where we have open D, then our 2nd finger on the 2nd fret for E. Then our 3rd finger on the 3rd fret for F.

One more string – the 3rd string played open, with the note G. Then we finish with our 2nd finger on the 2nd fret for A.

I’ll play these notes again, just using my pick to play down strokes, going from the open A on the 5th string, to the fretted A on the 2nd fret of the 3rd string. Here I go. A, B, C, D, E, F, G, and A.

Feel free to try it with me. Ready, go. A, B, C, D, E, F, G, and A. Now, if you weren’t able to play along with me just now, no worries. Just take it slow, one note at a time, and make sure you can hear each note sounding cleanly. You’ll get it.

So, there you have it, the open A natural minor scale. I invite you to get to know this scale. After you can play it fairly smoothly, try playing it and saying the note names, like I did. Then try playing it from high to low, saying the alphabet backwards, like this: A, G, F, E, D, C, B, A. Then, if you’re feeling creative, try making up a melody inside the scale.

As you can see, there’s all kinds of potential here. This scale is a great starting point that leads to making music, which is what we’re going for, right?

Keep showing up, and I’ll see you next time!

P.S. Lots more is waiting for you at www.GuitarSuccess4U.com.

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