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scale syllabus

So from what melodic resources do all of our American melodies come from? If all of the scales and chords can come from the chromatic scale, do all melodies come from the chromatic scale too? Well, I guess they could, but what scale resources are the most common? Well, that depends on what style of music you dig. Are certain groups of pitches used to create the sounds of a particular musical style? Sounds reasonable enough eh? Here is a chart pairing various American musical styles with the musical resources so often used to create them.

traditional folk, bluegrass and pop players	mainly use the pentatonic scales, the major scale and various minor scales and diatonic chords created from these scales to create the music which personifies the emotional essence of the story being told.
blues, country and rock players	for the most part use the minor and major pentatonic scales with a heavy blues color influence, the chords used to back these lines are created from the major scale and 90 % diatonic.
jazz players	use the major and minor scales, various altered scales, the modes and everything in between, chords are created from whatever melodic resource is chosen and are not diatonically limited.

The key factor in regards to learning the theory is to initially focus in on those aspects that are used to create the music you are playing. Once this theory of what you are already doing musically is understood, it's easy to create new paths of learning by tying into one's existing knowledge. What is your path?

Scale syllabus / intervalic formulas. Here is a chart examining the intervalic formula of whole steps and half steps for our equal tempered scale groups as they are gradually altered from a five note pentatonic group into other popular scales used to create the coolness of the various styles of American music. Example 1.

formula

-3rd

pent. major scale