the difference between major &minor is that major is happy &minor is sad.
to know what notes are in a scale e.g. d minor, then draw an 'OCA' chart which shows you how many sharps or flats there are. (sharps go one fret or key to the right &flat one fret or key to the left).
no. of # 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
major C G D A E B F# C#
minor A E B F# C# G# D# A#
no. of b 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
major C F Bb Eb Ab Db Gb Cb
minor A D G C F Bb Eb Ab
the trick to filling this out is from the phrase Fat Cats Get Drunk At Easter Break .. taking the first letters of the words give you help on how to fill the table FCGDAEB. When reading from left to right that will be to fill out the sharps table. Right to left fills out the flat table.
Follow the table to see that d minor has 2 flats. to find out what flats use the phrase above and start from the right. The first to letters are the flats found in the d minor scale , (Bb & Eb). When you play on the Dminor scale, remember to flat the 7th, meaning take the 7th note &bring it one fret or key down.
When done, the Dminor scale should look like this: D Eb F G A Bb Cb D.
When you want to do a different one like C minor then remember start with the keys in the scale:
C D E F G A B C
then do your table &find the accidentals (flats or sharps), so it looks like
C D Eb F G Ab Bb C
hope that helps !
nay:nae ♥