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Major scales on the Fretboard
Musical Scales are used in the music of most cultures. A scale is a series of notes arranged in a specific interval pattern. One of the most common scales is called the Major Scale.
The Major Scale consists of a series of 7 notes whose interval pattern is:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 (1 in the next octave)
W W H W W W H
W = Whole Step H = Half Step
Major scales are usually written as 8 notes, however the last note is the same letter name as the first and is in fact the first note of the next octave of that scale.
i.e. C major = C D E F G A B C (next octave)
Half step intervals occur between scale degrees 3-4 and 7-8 of the major scale.
The interval of a Whole step occurs between all other scale degrees.
Each fret on the fretboard of a guitar is equal to one half step in pitch change. That means that each half step interval in the scale (3-4 and 7-8) will be played on adjacent fret positions. All of the whole step intervals will be two frets apart. The Major scale in the key of E can be played entirely on the first string by playing the following positions on the fretboard:
Notice the fretboard spacing used throughout the scale reflects the intervals of whole steps and half steps.
| Open | 2nd | 4th | 5th | 7th | 9th | 11th | 12th | |
| W | W | H | W | W | W | H | ||
| E | F# | G# | A | B | C# | D# | E |
The same positions on the other strings will create the following major scales.
B major scale on string two,
| Open | 2nd | 4th | 5th | 7th | 9th | 11th | 12th | |
| W | W | H | W | W | W | H | ||
| B | C# | D# | E | F# | G# | A# | B |
G major scale on string 3,
| Open | 2nd | 4th | 5th | 7th | 9th | 11th | 12th | |
| W | W | H | W | W | W | H | ||
| G | A | B | C | D | E | F# | G |
D major scale on string 4,
| Open | 2nd | 4th | 5th | 7th | 9th | 11th | 12th | |
| W | W | H | W | W | W | H | ||
| D | E | F# | G | A | B | C# | D |
A major scale on string 5,
| Open | 2nd | 4th | 5th | 7th | 9th | 11th | 12th | |
| W | W | H | W | W | W | H | ||
| A | B | C# | D | E | F# | G# | A |
E major scale on string 6 (two octaves lower than string 1).
| Open | 2nd | 4th | 5th | 7th | 9th | 11th | 12th | |
| W | W | H | W | W | W | H | ||
| E | F# | G# | A | B | C# | D# | E |
After all of those major scales have been demonstrated, the truth is the major on guitar is not played on a single string in most circumstances. Instead the scale is played across several strings using different fingering combinations on each string. When you play some of the notes on different strings you can stay in one position for the entire scale. This type of position playing is very common on the guitar. Compare the version of the E major scale shown below with the one entirerly on the first string shown earlier.
The multi-string version is the more common approach to scale playing, however you shouldn't overlook the unique tone quality achieved by playing a scale or melodic passage entirely on a single string.
Major Scales can be created beginning on any note. A very useful set of scales is shown in the [next] file. These scales are easily transposable because they don't contain any open strings so you can move them up and down the neck as needed.
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