As we have seen, in theory there are many note patterns that could form a musical scale. However a few special patterns have come to predominate. The major scale is the most important and commonly used pattern in all Western music. So in the rest of this lesson we will learn the basics of this scale pattern.
Start by playing these notes on string 1. Play them often enough so that you can hear the sound of the scale as a whole. At this stage don’t worry about your fingering. Fingering is important, but we will look at that issue separately.
1 E |--0--2--4--5--7--9--11--12--|
Now play these notes on string 2...
2 B |--0--2--4--5--7--9--11--12--|
As before, you will see that it doesn’t matter which string you choose. The overall sound of those 8 notes remains the same, because they are in the same proportions to each other. Try the same pattern on the other strings.
Now play these notes...
1 E |--1--3--5--6--8--10--12--13--|
Again, you should hear the same scale sound as before. We didn’t start with an open string, but the first and last notes are 12 frets apart, and the proportions between each note in the scale are once again the same.
Finally, play this set of notes. It is a different scale, created by two small changes in the pattern. By now, you should be able to hear the change in the sound of this pattern and hence know that this is not a major scale.
1 E |--0--2--3--5--7--8--10--12--|
(If you’re curious, you’ve just played an E minor scale!)
What is it that makes a major (or any other) scale? The answer - intervals. The interval between each note in the scale has a certain pattern. Change the pattern, and you change the kind of scale you are playing.
Let’s look at our major scale again. This time we will also record the interval (the number of frets) between each note in the scale.
1 E |--0---2---4---5---7---9---11---12--|
interval 2 2 1 2 2 2 1
or more generally,
note 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
interval 2 2 1 2 2 2 1
So all you need to do to produce a major scale anywhere on the guitar is to find your starting note and then play an 8 note scale with this 2-2-1-2-2-2-1 pattern.
In this lesson we have learned what a major scale is. We have defined it in terms of the intervals between each of the notes in the scale. But in fact there is more than 1 major scale, so in the next lesson we will study how the various scales are named (and in the process learn the names of each note along our fretboard).
(Need help interpreting the guitar tab symbols used throughout this site? Click here)