C Natural Minor Scale on guitar
The natural minor scale has a darker, sadder sound compared to major. The pattern is: W-H-W-W-H-W-W.
The notes of C Natural Minor Scale
Built on C, the scale degrees spell out like this. The degree is the number you would call that note relative to C:
RiffRoute writes every accidental as a sharp. A sharp and the flat above it are the same fret, so A♯ is B♭ and so on.
Where it lands on the fretboard
Every fret from the open string up to the 12th that belongs to the C Natural Minor Scale, string by string. Root notes are highlighted.
- Low E: 1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 11
- A: 1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10, 11
- D: 0, 1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12
- G: 0, 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 10, 12
- B: 1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 11
- High E: 1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 11
Your anchor points: C is at fret 8 on the low E string and fret 3 on the A string. Start every pattern from one of those and you always know where home is.
Every major scale has a relative minor. A minor is the relative minor of C major.
Chords that fit
All 1 of these chords from RiffRoute's library use only notes inside the C Natural Minor Scale, so they will not clash with it:
Other C scales
Same starting note, different colour. Switching between these over one C chord is the quickest way to hear what each scale does:
The Natural Minor scale in other keys
Practise it in the app
A list of frets only gets you so far. RiffRoute shows the C Natural Minor Scale lit up on a full fretboard, plays it back and lets you practise it against a backing track.