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The minor scale

Let's have a look at that other scale, the minor scale, where the distance between the tones is different.

For this we will look at the scale of A minor. Just as the scale of C major, this scale is easy to remember because it does not have any flats or sharps. This is the scale:

Just as with all scales, you can repeat the scale (you repeat it "after the octave":

The distances between the different notes in the minor scale are:

So that is:"whole half whole whole half whole whole"

There is a whole tone between A and B.
There is a semitone between B and C.
There is a whole between C and D.
There is a whole tone between D and E.
There is a semitone between E and F.
There is a whole tone between F and G.
There is a whole between G and A.

When played on a single sting on the guitar, the distance between these tones can be seen clearly:

On the piano it looks like this:

This is the A minor scale, because it start on the note A. It is the A minor scale because of the specific ditsances between the successive notes.

Here again, the ratio between the first note (tonic/root note) (the A) and the third note (the C), is especially important. We saw earlier that the third note is called the “third”.
In this scale, the distance between A and C is one and a half tones. That is a small distance, which is why we call it a minor third. One and a half notes = minor third.
A minor scale subjectively creates a “melancholic”, “sad”, “gloomy” atmosphere. The minor scale is also called “Minor Third Scale”.

A minor on the guitar

This is how you can play the A minor scale on the guitar:

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