A Major Scale To Climb [Intermediate] [Theory]

Have we got all of those major scales figured out yet? "Yeh Mike, now let's get back to playing something!" Ok, ok. We'll jump back into playing today and learn how to play the major scale in any key. That's right, in one lesson we will learn how to play the major scale in any key. Grab your guitar and let's go.


If you noticed in the last lesson, if you follow the 2-2-1-2-2-2-1 pattern through any key, you end up back at your octave and then the scale just repeats over and over. So by that logic we have the same 7 notes repeating over and over just at higher/lower ocatves in a given key. Once we have those notes figured for the key we want to play in, we begin to apply them to the fretboard and they are used for many different functions. These 7 notes are the notes used to build the chords, create the melody, and determine where on the fretboard you are playing. This is the very basic model of how music is formed and music does not always follow these "rules" (ex. using extra chromatic tones), but we're still laying the foundation for all of that.

We have heard the major scale hundreds of times in our life, we just didn't know that was what we were hearing. Anyone ever have to sing "Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti Do"? You may not have realized but that is what the major scale sounds like.

Before we go any further I would like to show you how we will be referring to the notes of a scale from now on. This, once again, holds true accross all keys and is vital to upcoming lessons. In the last lesson we referred to the first note of the scale as the root or tonic, so that is how we will refer to it's place on the scale. (We will be using the G major scale for the example)

G   - 1st (Root/Tonic)
A   - 2nd
B   - 3rd
C   - 4th
D   - 5th
E   - 6th
F# - 7th 
G  - 8th (Octave/Root/Tonic) 

Since we have our note names and numbers in place, let's figure this out on the freboard and look at our first scale shape.

|---x---|---x---|--------|-------|
|--------|---x---|-------|---x---|
|---x---|--------|---x--|---x---|
|---x---|--------|---x--|---x---|
|---x---|---x---|-------|---x---|
|--------|---x---|------|----x---|

Let's look at this with our singing line "Do Re Mi etc..."

|---Ti---|---Do---|--------|---------|
|---------|---So---|--------|---La---|
|---Re--|---------|--Mi--|---Fa---|
|---La--|---------|---Ti--|---Do---|
|---Mi-|---Fa---|--------|---So----|
|--------|---Do---|-------|----Re---|

So if we were to start on a G note on the low E string and go up the scale, we would be able to sing along with the scale. That way, if you hit a note and it doesn't correspond with the note you're playing then you will know that it is wrong. Or it means that you are like me and can't sing or hold a tune in a bucket.

Let's look at the scale in G.

|---2---|---3---|--------|-------|
|--------|---3---|-------|---5---|
|---2---|--------|---4--|---5---|
|---2---|--------|---4--|---5---|
|---2---|---3---|-------|---5---|
|--------|---3---|------|----5---|

Something to pay attention to here is that this is just a collapsed view of the scale. When viewing it this way, it almost looks like a weird (and very complex) chord. But this is just a shortened way of showing all the notes within the scale. If the scale were to be written out uncollapsed, it would look like so:

------------------------------------------------2--3---
-----------------------------------------3--5----------
------------------------------2--4--5------------------
-------------------2--4--5-----------------------------
---------2--3--5---------------------------------------
--3--5-------------------------------------------------


This is the most common major scale shape that we will learn and the one that we will focus on for this lesson. When playing the scale we should focus on left-hand econonomy (or right, depending on dexterity). What I mean by this is that we need to remove any wasteful hand motion that is going to slow us down and removing that uneeded motion reduces hand fatigue when your throwing down some Stevie Ray Vaughun or something like that. With that being said, let's look at the hand position most commonly associated with this scale by using our finger codes.

|---i----|---m---|------|---------|
|--------|---m---|------|----p---|
|---i----|--------|---r--|----p---|
|---i----|--------|---r--|----p---|
|---i----|---m---|------|----p---|
|--------|---m---|------|----p---|

As you have probably noticed, we dedicate a finger to each fret since there are 4 frets being used and we have 4 fingers available for play. When the scale is played this way your fingers stay relatively in one position and just move accross strings instead of accross strings -and- frets. When I co-instructed a guitar class in high school with the band director we got to the point where we were focusing on scales and how to play them, and we had this one guy who was learning on the bass. He learned the scale patterns correctly but could not nail down the concept of using more than his index finger. So he went up and down the scales, one note at a time, with just one finger and it sounded both correct and horrible (haha). I thought it was funny but after typing it, this was definitely one of those "you had to be there" kind of stories....

But I do tell that story to emphasize fluidity and the control of the notes are what we are going for here, as well as memorization of the pattern. Speed is not an object at this point, we are just shooting for correct notes. So if you need to take 10 seconds on each note, take 10 seconds. Just aim to learn the pattern correctly. Once we have memorized the pattern, the scale is just like barre chords and can be moved up and down the fretboard. Say we wanted to play in the key of F major up at the 13th fret....easy, just move the pattern up. It would look like so:

|---12---|---13---|--------|---------|
|---------|---13---|--------|---15---|
|---2-----|--------|---14--|---15---|
|---12---|---------|--14--|---15----|
|---12---|---13---|-------|---15----|
|---------|----13--|-------|---15----|

Pretty cool, huh? (I think I have said that line everytime we learn that something is movable on the guitar, oh well...)

So, using any key you would like, go up and down the scale pattern until you learn it backwards and forwards. Remember to focus on fluidity, control and memorization and not on speed. The speed will come in time with building up chops and familiarity.