The Natural Minor Scale on Guitar

The natural minor scale is seven notes built from the pattern whole, half, whole, whole, half, whole, whole. In A it's A, B, C, D, E, F, G — the same notes as C major, starting from A. On the guitar, the shape to learn first is a two-octave position with its root at the 5th fret of the low E string, built around the A minor pentatonic box.

Minor, in full

If the minor pentatonic is the sound of a rock solo, the natural minor is the sound of a minor-key song: the melody, the chords and the darker colours in between. It's part of the guitar scale lessons, and it builds directly on the pentatonic scale: add two notes to the minor pentatonic and you have it.

Its formula from the root is 1, 2, ♭3, 4, 5, ♭6,♭7. Compared with the major scale, three notes are a fret lower: the third, the sixth and the seventh. The flat third is what makes it minor; the flat sixth gives it its sadness; the flat seventh stops it pulling as hard towards the root as the major scale does.

The relative of the major scale

A natural minor uses exactly the same seven notes as C major. They're relative keys, the same relationship as the relative pentatonic scales. Start the C major scale from its sixth note, A, and you're playing A natural minor. Every major key has a relative minor whose root is its sixth note, three frets below the major root.

That's why the same notes can sound happy or sad. What changes isn't the notes but the centre of gravity: which note the chords and phrases keep returning to.

A two-octave shape built on the pentatonic box

This position has its root at the 5th fret of the low E string, in the same area as the first A minor pentatonic position. Notes are labelled by scale degree.

If you know the minor pentatonic box, look at which notes are new. The pentatonic is 1, ♭3, 4, 5 and ♭7; the natural minor adds the second (B) and the flat sixth (F). Here they are outlined:

Those two notes fill the pentatonic's gaps with half steps: B to C, and E to F. That's where the natural minor gets its smoothness and its melancholy. Treat them as colour, moving through them on the way to the pentatonic notes you already lean on.

The chords of a minor key

Build a triad on each note of A natural minor and you get the seven chords of the key of A minor:

They're the same seven chords as C major, in a different order of importance. A progression such as Am, F, G or Am, G, F, G sits squarely in A minor, and the natural minor fits over all of it. Land on A, C or E over the Am chord, and on that chord's own notes when it changes.

You'll often hear E major rather than E minor as the fifth chord in minor-key songs. That uses a G♯ instead of G, which belongs to the harmonic minor scale rather than the natural minor. When you hear an E or E7 chord in A minor, play G♯ over it instead of G.

Playing it in other keys

Move the shape so its lowest root sits on the key's note on the low E string: G minor at the 3rd fret, A minor at the 5th, B minor at the 7th, D minor at the 10th, E minor at the 12th. The fingering stays the same, and the minor pentatonic box is always inside it.

Three mistakes to avoid

Ending phrases on the colour notes

The second and flat sixth are what make the natural minor sound richer than the pentatonic, but they're poor places to stop. A phrase that ends on F over an A minor chord sounds unresolved, and one that ends on B sounds vague. Pass through them, then land on A, C or E.

Ignoring the chord underneath

The scale fits the key, but the chord of the moment still matters. Over F, the F is a chord tone rather than a colour note; over G, the B is. Following the chords tells you which of the seven notes are safe at any moment.

Mixing it up with Dorian

Many minor-key songs, especially in funk, rock and folk, use a natural sixth instead of a flat one: F♯ rather than F in A minor. That scale is the Dorian mode, and it sounds brighter. If the natural minor's F clashes with a song, try F♯ instead and listen to whether it fits the chords better.

A ten-minute practice routine

1. Two minutes — from the box. Play the A minor pentatonic box, then add the B and F on each string where they fall.
2. Three minutes — the full position. Play the two-octave shape slowly, naming each degree, up and back.
3. Two minutes — the colour notes. Over an A minor drone, play phrases that pass through F on the way down to E, and through B on the way to C.
4. Three minutes — over chords. Over Am, F and G, improvise in the position and end each phrase on a note of the current chord.

When the shape is comfortable, the minor chord shapes in minor CAGED show where A minor sits elsewhere on the neck, and the scale wraps around each one just as the pentatonic does.