This lesson will teach you about what a scale is, and how to form the major scale, as well as it's applications on the guitar.  Now, let's learn the Major Scales!


In previous lessons, we've learned about the musical alphabet, their location on the fretboard, and how to recognize them in standard notation. Now, we will learn about how these notes combine to create melodies.

The majority of music in the world is tonal, meaning that it is created from scales. These scales are made up of various notes, which are formed by a specific combination of half-steps and whole-steps surrounding a single note. This may seem hard to comprehend at first, but it is really a simple idea:
There are various notes in the musical alphabet.
By applying a specific formula of half-steps and whole-steps around that note, a scale related to that note is formed.
It may seem confusing at first, but you will soon see that it is quite easy.
The most commonly used type of scale in popular music is the Major Scale. The major scale, like any other scale, is made by applying a pattern of steps to a specific note. This pattern never changes!


Now, let's look at the formula for the major scale:

The above image illustrates the pattern of whole steps and half steps that the major scale consists of. The first number is your root note, and so on. We can apply this formula to any root note. As an example, we will apply it to the A root:
A - B - C# - D - E - F# - G# - A

*When applying this formula, it is important to remember that the interval between B-C and E-F is considered a half-step, therefore a whole step away from the note "B" is "C#"


Below are all the examples of the Major Scale Formula. To simplify the learning process, only sharps are used in these examples. Also, notes such as E# and called F here. In reality, E# is usually used.
















*The major scale is dominant in "bright", "happy", or "upbeat" songs. It is important to remember these emotional associations when composing your music. Generally, you would not try to compose a sad song that is based around a major key.

Now that we know how to form the major scales, we need to know how to apply them to our guitar. Fortunately, a simple pattern can be applied to form the major scale. To use this pattern, one must simply start on the root note on the sixth (Low "E") string. For example, if one were playing the G major scale, one would start the pattern on the third fret of the Low "E" string.
Here is the pattern:


*Memorize this pattern well. It is essential for any guitarist to have complete mastery of the major scale.




Now we know what the major scale is, how it is formed, and how it is applied to the guitar. The next stage is practice! Below, in the Supplemental Resources section, I've included links to exercises and lessons that will help you master the major scale.

Supplemental Resources


Major Scale Exercises - This page contains some exercises, in tab format, that will help you easily move through the major scale.

Major Scale Soloing - This page is a lesson on soloing with the major scale. This is a must-read.

Paid Resources


Guitar Total Scales Techniques and Applications - This book not only teaches the major scale, but also every other scale, as well as their application on the guitar fretboard, how to recognize them, and how to use them to create solos.
                There is also a DVD version.

     Learning to read standard notation can be very difficult, and time consuming. In fact, it is not necessary for playing the instrument, or even for learning the theory that you would actually use. Remember that music has been around long before any form of notation, and thus the ability to read is not required to create effective music. Many professional guitarists have thrived without having ever having read a note of standard notation - guitarists including the likes of Jimmy Page, Carlos Santana, Jimi Hendrix etc.

The Musical Staff

The Bass Clef *Don't fret, in standard guitar, the Bass Clef is not (or rarely is) used.

The Notes on the Musical Staff

Supplemental Resources

Treble Clef Note Game - A very simple yet effective flash game, displays a note then you must find it on the treble clef. The game will also give hints if you are having trouble locating the note.

Treble Clef Word Warrior - A very interesting approach to learning the treble clef. This game displays a set of notes on the the treble clef, then gives you 3 choices of what word the notes spell. It's recommended you already have a hang of the treble clef before playing this game.

Below is a useful video found on YouTube, describing even more information about reading standard notation:





Paid Resources


Harmony and Theory: A Comprehensive Source for All Musicians - This workbook is the one I used. It is independent of instrument, meaning it doesn't teach guitar or piano, but instead music theory. Therefore it teaches standard notation, and closely links the music theory with it.

Memorizing the Guitar Fretboard can seem like a daunting task. The trick is to take the task in gradual steps. Just a little practice every day, and you can easily memorize the fretboard. Before we get into Training Exercises/Drills, please look at the following Diagram:

1. Look at the notes on the twelfth fret, they are the same as the open notes. This is because the notes on the twelfth fret are and octave higher than the open notes. The notes on the 24th fret (if your guitar goes that high), would be 2 octaves higher than the open notes.
2. The 2 E strings are identical. That means the lowest string, and the highest string, have the exact same note placement. If you know one of them, you know both of them!

Seeing patterns will help in memorizing the fretboard. Here :

Placement of A's and E's on the Fretboard

Placement of A's and E's on the Fretboard

Using the placements of A's and E's can help by being a placeholder for finding other notes. And if you memorize the note placements of A's and E's, then you will have 2/8 of the notes you need, already memorized!

Now Some Memorization Tips and Exercises

Part 1- Know the Notes

The first lesson! Let's begin, with the basis of all songs, the foundation of all melodies- the musical notes!
We'll start by listing them. Don't be intimidated, I will explain everything after.

A- A#/Bb - B - C - C#/Db - D - D#/Eb - E - F - F#/Gb - G - G#/Ab - A

#= "sharp"        b= "flat"

Now that we have our notes listed, I will colour code them, because I've found things are easier to understand when they're colour-coded!

A- A#/Bb - B - C - C#/Db - D - D#/Eb - E - F - F#/Gb - G - G#/Ab - A

Let`s look at our red notes. They are red because each pair of red notes represents the same note. A# (A Sharp), is the same as Bb (B flat), C#(C Sharp) is the same as Eb (E flat), etc.

Feel free to call them either way.

Now, lets look at our purple notes. They tend to trick most people. There are no notes between B and C, and between E and F. Remember this!

And the blue notes... they're just regular ol' notes!

Now I shall explain half-steps and whole-steps. If you start at a note, and move 2 notes over from it, you've made a whole-step. 1 note over is a half-step.

Because there are no notes between E/F, and B/C, they are a half-step distance between eachother!

A- A#/Bb - B - C - C#/Db - D - D#/Eb - E - F - F#/Gb - G - G#/Ab - A

Using the "A" note as an example, each red note represents a whole step from it.

Now look:

A- A#/Bb - B - C - C#/Db - D - D#/Eb - E - F - F#/Gb - G - G#/Ab - A

Each Blue note represents a half-step. A half step is simply moving one note over, so all the half-steps would be all the notes!

Now, let's use the "C" note as an example of a whole step.

C - C#/Db - D - D#/Eb - E - F - F#/Gb - G - G#/Ab - A- A#/Bb

The whole steps for C are different than the whole steps for A. This is because there are 11 notes in the musical alphabet.

If you keep playing notes up the scale, you will eventually run into the same note, except this note is called an octave higher. If you keep playing notes down the scale, you will eventually hit the same note, which will be an octave lower. Basically, the note vibrates twice as fast (octave higher), and twice as slow (octave lower).

This may all seem a bit too much at first, but at this point it's just a good idea to reread all of this, think about it, and let it all sink in. The bottom of the page will have resources pertaining to this lesson.

Part 2- Notes Applied to the Guitar

     Now that we have the notes down, half-steps, whole-steps, and octaves, let's move onto the note positions on the guitar.

Look at the diagram below:

Notes on the Guitar Fretboard

     The diagram above shows all the note placement on the guitar, in standard tuning. Standard Tuning is, starting from the lowest string, the tuning of (EADGBE). An easy way to remember standard tuning is by using an acronym, for example:

Elephants And Dogs Got Big Ears

Now, looking at the note chart, it`s a lot of notes! But, you have to remember them all, so that your brain automatically knows where they are. Sounds hard? It is! But I will give you tips to memorize all these notes. Firstly, when starting, don't worry about the sharps and the flats, once you know the notes well, you can easily place the sharps and flats.

Use this diagram instead:

Notes on the Fretboard, Excluding Sharps and Flats

     All these notes must be memorized, and I will introduce techniques into helping you do this. Just remember- don't expect to get all the notes down in one day! Knowing the note placements on the fretboard is best learned as a gradual process, and should be worked on everyday. As long as you are working on it everyday, you can continue onto other lessons without mastering note placement.

I've Decided to make Memorization of the Fretboard it's own lesson, as I have many resources and tips for that.

To go to the next lesson, Memorizing the Fretboard, Click here

Supplemental Resources

Here are various resources related to this lesson, to aid in your learning, such as webpages and games.

The Guitar Notes

Discover the Notes - This webpage shows another way of looking at the musical notes.

Know Your Notes - This page offers a very good explanation of the musical notes, diagrams from this lesson were borrowed from this page

Guitar Notation Introduction - If you also want to learn music notation, this page had a good introduction to it that relates to this lesson.

Music Note Shooter- Great, simple, game that doesn't help memorizing the notes, but instead memorizing the sounds of the notes.