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SurfGuitar101 Forums » Gear »

Permalink What is the scale used in most guitar surf music?

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Besides the most widely used scale, I wonder what effects are most used, I know that the reverb is at most the basics.

Sorry if there is already a related topic, because I am Brazilian and I'm using an online translator.

Do not destroy the sea, Destroy the waves. Smile

Tremolo and Reverb are the most used. Some echo units have been used as well.

Pentatonic is probably the most used scale in surf music or any rock/pop music.

The online translator seems to work pretty well! Welcome to the board!

Last edited: Jun 19, 2012 18:43:54

Thank You Jake!

Tremolo and Reverb together or separately?

Do not destroy the sea, Destroy the waves. Smile

leandroafonso85 wrote:

Thank You Jake!

Tremolo and Reverb together or separately?

Reverb always on, and tremolo just to add an extra dimension to certain parts from time to time.

Thank you Jake, helped me a lot.

Do not destroy the sea, Destroy the waves. Smile

I've heard some Surf that seems to employ harmonic minor scales and even, on occasion melodic minor scales.

The artist formerly known as: Synchro

When Surf Guitar is outlawed only outlaws will play Surf Guitar.

synchro

Thank You, exactly what I wanted to know.

Do not destroy the sea, Destroy the waves. Smile

I came across this handy reference site FWIW

http://www.all-guitar-chords.com/guitar_scales.php

Its got fancy names for lots of scales, but nowhere does it mention a 'surf' scale Wink

He who dies with the most tubes... wins

Surf Daddies

Last edited: Jun 24, 2012 19:39:53

Natural minor
Phrygian
Harmonic minor

http://www.reverbnation.com/thedeadranchhands

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZEW74mHjQk

There isn't a dedicated Surf scale but a lot of Surf music seems to be written in harmonic minor keys sometimes winding in and out of the relative Major such as Walk Don't Run. It took me a long time to understand minor keys and the relationship between an harmonic minor and its relative Major. Then one day it hit me that when the seventh degree of a pure minor was raised a half step that made the V chord a dominant 7 and the key now had the same tension/resolution between the V chord and the I chord as a Major key. It also give the harmonic minor a much more exotic sound that some people think of as middle eastern.

The beauty of minor keys is that they can change identities on the fly. An harmonic minor can be interchanged with pure or melodic minors to serve the needs of a melody. Mozart's 40th, which is a great Surf tune, does a bit of this starting in an harmonic minor but visiting the melodic minor in the same key. It's an example of ascending in melodic minor and descending in pure minor, just like the Wm Leavitt book described. Smile

The artist formerly known as: Synchro

When Surf Guitar is outlawed only outlaws will play Surf Guitar.

Last edited: Jun 24, 2012 23:57:43

Thanks for the explanations were very helpful. Despite the online translator does not translate everything has given consistently to pick up some things, I hope to do something useful with these tips.

Thank you all!

Do not destroy the sea, Destroy the waves. Smile

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