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Lead Guitar Cheat-sheet: Key & Scale-FinderRead our full guide ‘How To Play Lead Guitar’ d-guitar
How to use this cheat-sheet in 2 steps:1) Identify the key of the song.99% of the time, this will be the first or last chord of the song. Usually those twochords will be the same. If they’re not, try step 2 for both options. (One will clearlysound better than the other.)2) In the first column below, find the key that matches the first/last chord of yoursong. Play any of the scales listed in the second column. Easy!WHAT’S THE KEY?SCALES YOU CAN USE TO PLAY LEAD GUITAR IN THIS KEYUse the first and/or last chord ina song to identify this.All of the notes in these scales will sound ‘ok’. (Some will sound betterthan others, but none will sound ‘bad’.) This means you can experiment! J A majorA minorA# major(AKA: “Bb major”)Remember these two things areone & the same!Guitarists generally prefer “Bb”.A# minor(AKA: “Bb minor)Remember these two things areone & the same!Guitarists generally prefer “Bb”.B majorB minorC major A majorA major pentatonicF# minorF# minor pentatonic (Best option for beginners)A minorA minor pentatonicA minorA minor pentatonic (Best option for beginners)C majorC major pentatonicBb majorBb major pentatonicG# minorG# minor pentatonic (Best option for beginners)Bb minorBb minor pentatonicBb minorBb minor pentatonic (Best option for beginners)C# majorC# major pentatonic B majorB major pentatonicG# minorG# minor pentatonic (Best option for beginners)B minorB minor pentatonicB minorB minor pentatonic (Best option for beginners)D majorD major pentatonicC majorC major pentatonicA minorA minor pentatonic (Best option for beginners)C minorC minor pentatonic
C minorC# major(AKA: “Db major”)Remember these two things areone & the same!Guitarists generally prefer “C#”.C# minor(AKA: “Db minor”)Remember these two things areone & the same!Guitarists generally prefer “C#”.D majorD minorD# major(AKA: “Eb major”)Remember these two things areone & the same!Guitarists generally prefer “Eb”.D# minor(AKA: “Eb minor”)Remember these two things areone & the same!Guitarists generally prefer “Eb”.E majorE minor C minorC minor pentatonic (Best option for beginners)Eb majorEb major pentatonicC# majorC# major pentatonicBb minorBb minor pentatonic (Best option for beginners)C# minorC# minor pentatonicC# minorC# minor pentatonic (Best option for beginners)E majorE major pentatonic D majorD major pentatonicB minorB minor pentatonic (Best option for beginners)D minorD minor pentatonicD minorD minor pentatonic (Best option for beginners)F majorF major pentatonicEb majorEb major pentatonicC minorC minor pentatonic (Best option for beginners)Eb minorEb minor pentatonicEb minorEb minor pentatonic (Best option for beginners)F# majorF# major pentatonic E majorE major pentatonicC# minorC# minor pentatonic (Best option for beginners)E minorE minor pentatonicE minorE minor pentatonic (Best option for beginners)G majorG major pentatonic
F majorF minorF# major(AKA: “Gb major”)Remember these two things areone & the same!Guitarists generally prefer “F#”.F# minor(AKA: “Gb minor”)Remember these two things areone & the same!Guitarists generally prefer “F#”.G majorG minorG# major(AKA: “Ab major”)Remember these two things areone & the same!Guitarists generally prefer “G#”.G# minor(AKA: “Ab minor”)Remember these two things areone & the same!Guitarists generally prefer “G#”. F majorF major pentatonicD minorD minor pentatonic (Best option for beginners)F minorF minor pentatonicF minorF minor pentatonic (Best option for beginners)G# majorG# major pentatonicF# majorF# major pentatonicEb minorEb minor pentatonicF# minorF# minor pentatonic (Best option for beginners)F# minorF# minor pentatonic (Best option for beginners)A majorA major pentatonic G majorG major pentatonicE minorE minor pentatonic (Best option for beginners)G minorG minor pentatonicG minorG minor pentatonic (Best option for beginners)Bb majorBb major pentatonicG# majorG# major pentatonicF minorF minor pentatonic (Best option for beginners)G# minorG# minor pentatonicG# minorG# minor pentatonic (Best option for beginners)B majorB major pentatonic
Major ScaleMajor Pentatonic ScaleRemember, this is just an abridged form of themajor scale. It’s not a ‘separate’, distinct scale.It’s just the major scale, in a simpler form.Can you see that this has just a few notes less?Minor ScaleMinor Pentatonic ScaleRemember, this is just an abridged form of theminor scale. It’s not a ‘separate’, distinct scale.This is just the minor scale, in a simpler form.Can you see that this has just a few notes less?
Remember that scale patterns are MOVEABLE.You can play them anywhere on the fretboard.What decides the tonality of the scale is WHERE youstart playing it.Play the first root note (the farthest left root note onthe scales shown above) to choose.The notes of the 6th string (low E string) are:Fret 1Note F2F#3G4G#5A6Bb7B8C9C#10D11Eb12ESo if you start playing the major scale pattern on the7th fret you will be playing the B Major Scale.If you start playing the minor scale pattern on the 10thfret you will be playing the D Minor Scale.If you start playing the minor pentatonic scale on the3rd fret you will be playing the G Minor PentatonicScale.Have fun! J
If you found this cheat-sheet useful, check out someof our other stuff Our website:www.nationalguitaracademy.comFind us on ademy/Check out our Thanks, speak soon! J Mike Kennedy - National Guitar Academy Director
Lead Guitar Cheat-sheet: Key & Scale-Finder. Read our full guide ‘How To Play Lead Guitar’ here: tar. How to use this cheat-sheet in 2 steps: 1) File Size: 1MBPage Count: 7
