Free Online Guitar Lessons
Here's the chart for the Major Scale. Whenever you're using this pattern on different parts of the fretboard, you're playing the major scale for that note.
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Major Scale
Ready for your next scale?
Proceed to the next lesson - Minor Pentatonic Scale
Return from Major Scale to Guitar Scales
Proceed to the next lesson - Minor Pentatonic Scale
Return from Major Scale to Guitar Scales
e|---------------------------4-5-4---------------------------|
B|-----------------------5-7-------7-5-----------------------|
G|-----------------4-6-7---------------7-6-4-----------------|
D|-----------4-6-7---------------------------7-6-4-----------|
A|-----4-5-7---------------------------------------7-5-4-----|
E|-5-7---------------------------------------------------7-5-|
B|-----------------------5-7-------7-5-----------------------|
G|-----------------4-6-7---------------7-6-4-----------------|
D|-----------4-6-7---------------------------7-6-4-----------|
A|-----4-5-7---------------------------------------7-5-4-----|
E|-5-7---------------------------------------------------7-5-|
This is what it should look and sound like:
Practice it slowly at first making sure you get all the notes to resonate clearly. Do it slow enough so that you're able to transition between the notes smoothly and crisply.
REMEMBER: There's no use playing scales at lightning fast speed if your technique sucks! Do it slow, get it right and then speed it up bit by bit.
Alternate Picking
Scales are the best way to practice your alternate picking technique. Alternate picking simply means your plucking the strings (with your pick) from two directions instead of down.
Instead of plucking down every time on every string, you'll want to pluck down, then up, then down, then up and so forth. This is important to remember when playing scales and will get your hand used to alternate picking. This is what I'm talking about:
REMEMBER: There's no use playing scales at lightning fast speed if your technique sucks! Do it slow, get it right and then speed it up bit by bit.
Alternate Picking
Scales are the best way to practice your alternate picking technique. Alternate picking simply means your plucking the strings (with your pick) from two directions instead of down.
Instead of plucking down every time on every string, you'll want to pluck down, then up, then down, then up and so forth. This is important to remember when playing scales and will get your hand used to alternate picking. This is what I'm talking about:
Here's the tab for the A major scale being played up and down:
This is what it should look and sound like:
Alternate Picking
Use this method when playing scales
Use this method when playing scales
Downstroke Picking
Do not use this method when playing scales
Do not use this method when playing scales
We're going to play it so that the root note (the first red note on bottom horizontal line) falls on the 5th fret. We are therefore playing the A Major Scale. Remember that you start playing from the bottom of the chart to the top (the bottom line represents the thickest string).