The Major Scale
The Major Scale
The Major Scale
Here we go with some more easy guitar lessons. We are going to focus on something that might sound a little scary, but it really isn't. Take one thing at a time and master it before moving onto the next thing, don't get in a rush and jump into something that is going to be over your head.
That would be some of the best advice I can give anyone. So here we go with our easy guitar lesson today, and it will be about working on scales. They are basically what everything else is built upon. Once you understand the formula behind a scale, you will then be able to construct triads, (or chords) and even more advanced chords that require additional notes in the construction.
As cliche as it is, starting with the C major scale is going to be the easiest place to start, simply because it contains no sharps or flats. If you aren't familiar with those terms, I will explain a little more about them later on.
Not a single note in the key of C major will need to be altered by the use of any flats or sharps when the major scale is applied to it. Meaning if you were to locate a C note anywhere on the neck of the guitar, either going up in pitch or going down in pitch, then apply the major scale formula to it, you will play only these notes: C D E F G A B C (ascending) or C B A G F E D C(descending)
W = Whole step (the distance between two frets)
H = Half step (the distance of only one fret)
The major scale formula is as follows: W W H W W W H
If you happened to catch a problem here, and are wondering why there is only a half step between the notes of B-C and E-F I will clear that up right now.
The reason is because they are called naturally occurring half steps, or the distance of only one fret on the guitar.
If you by chance have a keyboard or piano nearby it might make a little more sense. All of the black keys are either sharps or flats and effectively raise a note by a half step or lower a note by a half step.
Only white keys are used if you play the C major scale on a piano, and it is probably one of the most logical instruments to look at and understand how it works.
Getting back to the guitar though, it will be a bit trickier to memorize the fretboard, but the good news is there are many ways to play a scale and once you learn some of the patterns, many of them can be moved all over the fretboard and played the exact same way.
So let's clarify a little more about sharps and flats. A sharp (#) is an accidental that raises a note by a half-step, while a (b) lowers a note by a half step.
Find a C (let's just say 3rd fret on the 5th string) now move up one fret and sound that note out. You will have just played a C#. Now move up one more fret and play that note. It is now a D note.
This might trip you up a little now, although I hope it doesn't. Start on that same D note and slide your finger down one fret again to play that note. Do you remember what that note was called?
If you said C# you would be correct, but.....
It would be better to call it a Db now that you are descending in pitch. Confusing a little I know, but try to remember that if you are going up in pitch you will do better to use sharps, and if you are going down in pitch you might want to use flats in the naming of the notes.
C# is the same note as Db
D# is the same note as Eb
F# is the same note as Gb
Starting to make a little more sense? If it doesn't yet make too much sense to you don't feel bad about going back and rereading this easy guitar lesson on the major scale. It isn't a race, just learn at what ever pace is good for you.
Here is the Major scale formula again for easy reference:
W = Whole step (the distance between two frets)
H = Half step (the distance of only one fret)
The major scale formula is as follows: W W H W W W H
C major: C D E F G A B C
And here is one more scale to practice with just for kicks:
G major: G A B C D E F# G
The G major scale contains one sharp and that is on the F
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