In that lesson, we learned that a scale is simply a group of notes (pitches) arranged in ascending and descending order. There are different types of scales: major, pentatonic, melodic minor, harmonic minor, whole tone, etc. We’re not going to get into the differences between each one in this lesson, but we are going to look explicitly at the major scale. Most of the music we hear on the radio is based on the major scale, so if we know the major scale, this will give us a huge foundation from which we’ll learn other things in the future.

Before we talk more about the major scale, we need to know about half steps and whole steps. All of the pitches (C, D, E, F, G, A, B) are separated by whole steps except that E to F and B to C are separated by half steps.

If you start on the 1st fret of the low E string, which is an F note, and move up one fret to the 2nd fret of the low E string, which is an F#, you’ve moved up one half step. If you were to move up two frets, you would have moved up a whole step. A whole step equals two half steps.

The arrangement of these half steps and whole steps in a scale gives the scale a particular quality (e.g. major, minor). Let’s look at a C major scale on the piano for now to see how this works visually.

If we start on the C and go up, there is a whole step from the C to the D, a whole step from the D to the E, a half step from the E to the F, a whole step from the F to the G, a whole step from the G to the A, a whole step from the A to the B, and a half step from the B to the C.

This is a major scale. We can start on any note and ascend in that whole step, half step pattern and we’ll have played a major scale. You also might be familiar with: Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti Do. If you sing this, you have just sung a major scale.

Major Scale Construction

Let’s construct a D major scale. We will lay out our scale like this for now: D, E, F, G, A, B, C, D.

Once we’ve roughly laid our scale, we need to make it a major scale. We do this by keeping the whole step, half step pattern for a major scale in mind (whole, whole, half, whole, whole, whole, half) while examining the whole steps and half steps between each note of the rough D scale we’ve laid out so far.

For example, between D and E, we have a whole step, so there is nothing to change. So far, so good. However, between E and F, there is a half step. If we recall our pattern, we should have a whole step between the 2nd and 3rd scale degree of a major scale. We can make a whole step between the E and the F by raising the F a half step and making it an F#.

So now, our scale looks like so: D, E, F#, G, A, B, C, D. But we’re not done yet.

As we look at the interval between the F# and G, we see that it is a half step. This is correct. As we recall, there is a half step between the 3rd and 4th scale degrees of a major scale. From the G to A, we have a whole step, which is correct. From the A to B, we another whole step which is correct. Now, we are looking for another whole step from B to C, but there is a half step between B to C. Again, we need to raise the C a half step to a C# to create a whole step in between the 6th and 7th scale degrees. By raising the C to a C#, we then have the last half step we need to return back to the root note D.

So our fully constructed D major scale now looks like this: D, E, F#, G, A, B, C#, D.

In other words, from D to E, we have a whole step, from E to F#, we have a whole step, from F# to G, we have a half step, from G to A, we have a whole step, from A to B, we have a whole step, from B to C#, we have a whole step, and from C# to D, we have a half step. And as we recall, this whole step, half step pattern gives us a D major scale.

Does Your Head Hurt?

It might take a couple times of reading this through to fully understand it. The truth is that when you’re actually playing guitar or soloing you’re not going to be thinking explicitly about whole steps and half steps. This is just a way to describe and understand the theory behind a major scale. Chances are that you’ll probably memorize the sharps and flats of the different keys, so you won’t be constructing a major scale on the spot while you’re playing. It’ll be second nature.

In fact, one assignment for you is to try constructing major scales for all 12 keys. We’ve already done C major and D major. Lay out the notes of the scale in a rough format and then go through and check the whole step and half step pattern and add sharps or flats where needed. Once you’ve practiced that some, go to the end of this lesson to see the answers.

How to Use Theory as a Melodic Weapon for Soloing

I like the idea of music theory being used as a weapon for crafting beautiful melodies when you solo and improvise. When you understand how individual notes function and interact with each other, you have enormous power to create something beautiful. Often times the problem is that we only invest in learning scale patterns, when in reality, that won’t take us very far at all.

If you are interested in how to use theory to your advantage for soloing, improvising, or composing, then check out Craig Bassett’s guitar scale course that systematically takes you in a step-by-step process towards mastering the guitar fretboard. His course is the only online course I know of right now that doesn’t just teach you a bunch of information about scales, but rather, he applies the information in a way that makes sense and is tangible for any guitar player. Check it out.

All 12 Major Scales Deconstructed

C major: C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C

F major: F, G, A, Bb, C, D, E, F

G major: G, A, B, C, D, E, F#, G

Bb major: Bb, C, D, Eb, F, G, A, Bb

D major: D, E, F#, G, A, B, C#, D

Eb major: Eb, F, G, Ab, Bb, C, D, Eb

A major: A, B, C#, D, E, F#, G#, A

Ab major: Ab, Bb, C, Db, Eb, F, G, Ab

E major: E, F#, G#, A, B, C#, D#, E

Db major: Db, Eb, F, Gb, Ab, Bb, C, Db

B major: B, C#, D#, E, F#, G#, A#, B

Gb major: Gb, Ab, Bb, Cb, Db, Eb, F, Gb

Major Guitar Scale

In a previous lesson, we learned the theory behind a major scale. We learned exactly what makes a major scale a major scale and how to build a major scale from any starting note. For this lesson, let’s look at the C major scale on the guitar fretboard.

In this diagram, the C major scale starts on the “C” on the low E string on the 8th fret. The green dots represent the root note of the scale “C.”

The notes in a C major scale are: C, D, E, F, G, A, B, and then C again. When you learn this major scale position, start on the low “C” note and as you work your way up the scale say the next note and so on. So after we play the “C” we go up two frets and then play the “D.” You don’t want to just learn the scale pattern but the actual notes you are playing.

The majority of popular music is based on the major scale. If you know what key a song is in, and you know the scale of the key on the guitar fretboard, then you can use this as a starting point for soloing. If you want to craft and improvise really good guitar solos, it’s vital you know every key’s scale position.

Pentatonic Guitar Scale

There are two different types of pentatonic scales: major and minor. For the purposes of this lesson, I want to show you the major pentatonic scale in the key of C major. Let’s check it out.

A pentatonic scale is a five note scale. If you recall from our previous lesson on the theory behind a major scale, a pentatonic scale is a major scale without the 4th and 7th scale degrees. So a C major pentatonic scale would build as: C, D, E, G, A, and then C.

This is most likely not the first time you’ve heard of the pentatonic scale. The pentatonic scale is so popular because when you use the scale to solo over a chord progression it’s very difficult to make it sound “bad,” since you are only using five notes. Learning the pentatonic scale over the fretboard is a great start for soloing.

In case you were curious, C major pentatonic uses the same notes as an A minor pentatonic scale because A minor is relative to C major. If this sounds confusing, don’t worry. However, all to say, you could use the C major pentatonic scale not only over a chord progression in the key of C major (e.g. C, G, F) but also over a chord progression in the key of A major (e.g. A, D, E) and you’ll get a real bluesy type of sound.

This is just a tip of the iceberg and a good starting point. Start learning these guitar scale positions and learning the notes that you are actually playing in these positions. Don’t just learn the scale patterns!

If you want to take guitar scales a bit further, I would really recommend checking out Craig Basset’s Guitar Scale Mastery course. You may have noticed that I’ve recommended his course in other articles on Guitar Friendly about scales, and that is because his course is one the most comprehensive sources for learning guitar scales and knowing how to use them to improvise and create beautiful and melodic solos. Check it out.

What do you do if you find a chord chart of your favorite song, but it’s not in the right key?

The term transpose simply refers to changing the key of a song. You can transpose a piece to either a lower pitch or a higher pitch. So for example, you find a chord chart is in the key of A but you want to play it in the key of G. Surprisingly, this isn’t very difficult to do if you know a small bit of the theory behind it.

Let’s look at this.

Scales and Roman Numerals

Each song is generally based upon a scale. Most popular songs that you play on the guitar are based on the major scale. There are seven notes in a scale. So in the key of C major, you have the notes: C D E F G A B.

The chords of that song are then built off of each note of the scale, which would give you seven chords for that key. However, each of these chords will have a different sound. Based upon a major scale, some chords will be major, others minor, and one chord will be diminished.

We don’t have time to look into how each of these chords are built, but a major scale has this structure, which can be represented by roman numerals:

I   ii   iii   IV   V   vi   vii^o

The uppercase roman numerals represent major chords. The lowercase roman numerals represent minor chords. The lowercase roman numeral with the superscript circle represents a diminished chord.

So let’s take a C major scale and use the above roman numerals. In a C major scale, you will have the following chords:

C   Dm   Em   F   G   Am   Bdim

You can do this with any key.

So what’s this have to do with transposing?

When we identify the chords of a key by roman numerals, it makes it easier to transpose to another key. Here’s how this works. Again, let’s say we are in C major, and we have a chord progression like this:

C  F  Am  G

Let’s transpose this up to D major. First, we must identify each chord with a roman numeral.

C   F   Am   G
I   IV  vi   V

We want to take the progression that is in the key of C major (C – F – Am – G) and move that up to D major. Since we know the progression is I – IV – vi – V progression, all we have to do is figure out what that progression is in D major.

So let’s identify each chord in the key of D major with a roman numeral.

D  Em  F#m  G   A  Bm  C#dim
I  ii  iii  IV  V  vi  vii^o

As we can see, the “I” chord is “D”, the “IV” chord is “G”, the “vi” chord is “Bm”, and the “V” chord is “A.” So our transposed chord progression in the key of D major is D – G – Bm – A.

Key Change Chart

As you become more familiar with the chords in each key, the more transposing will become second nature. However, I’ve put together a chart that will help you transpose into any key using the method shown above.

Key     |  I   ii   iii   IV   V   vi   vii^o
C major |  C   Dm   Em    F    G   Am   Bdim
D major |  D   Em   F#m   G    A   Bm   C#dim
E major |  E   F#m  G#m   A    B   C#m  D#dim
F major |  F   Gm   Am    Bb   C   Dm   Edim
G major |  G   Am   Bm    C    D   Em   F#dim
A major |  A   Bm   C#m   D    E   F#m  G#dim
B major |  B   C#m  D#m   E    F#  G#m  A#dim

Do you have any tips or shortcuts for transposing a key?

Just recently, I received an email from William Wilson, a classical guitarist from San Diego. William has put together a very fun and interactive resource created to help you learn the guitar fretboard, guitar scales, and theory called Guitar Games. I asked William if he would let me try it out and write up a review, and he gave me the okay.

Guitar Games Features

The goal of Guitar Games is to help you learn the guitar fretboard, guitar scales, theory, and how to read music. They’ve created a variety of interactive and fun games to help you learn all of this information that can often times be very boring.

I was pretty skeptical when I first received William’s email. I was honestly expecting the games to be cheesy and not very helpful. How can you possible make theory and learning the fretboard fun? It seems like a paradox.

However, I was pretty surprised once I took a look.

Guitar Games Inside Look

The games are divided up into two different categories. The first category is Note Reading and Fretboard Games. These games are designed to help you learn the notes on the fretboard, scale patterns, chords, and how to read music notation. Games include:

• Birds of Fretopia – Learn the notes on the fretboard while hunting alien birds.
• Super Scale Trainer – Scales and arpeggios quiz.
• Fret Tester – Learn the location of the notes on the neck of the guitar.
• Guitar Flash Cards – Flash card game that teaches you where the notes are on the guitar neck.
• Note Squish – Learn to read music notation by fighting off pests.
• Chord Mines – Learn guitar chords while dodging boulders and spiders.
• Note Fish – Learn the names of notes while under the sea.

Again, at face value, I wonder how much fun I can have shooting alien birds, but I was surprised by how addictive, engaging, and helpful these games were. My favorite out of these had to be the Super Scale Trainer. I had so many options available for what I wanted to focus in on in my learning (see screenshots above). I could specifically choose the type of scales and keys I wanted to work with.

My second favorite guitar game from this category had to be the guitar flash cards. Again, you have options for what you want to be tested on. This game is an invaluable tool for learning the fretboard.

The second category of guitar games is Theory & Ear Training. Games include:

• Woody Says – Ear training, memorization, and visualization.
• Super Scale Trainer – Music theory drill. Identify note name, guitar, and piano modes.
• Music Theory Blocks – So addictive. Identify intervals as notes fall from the sky.
• The Melody Game – Plays a melody and you must transcribe it.
• Ear Tester – Ear training. Identify intervals, triads, and sevenths.
• Key Hunt – Learn key signatures.

Some of you might know that I’m a music student at university. What surprised me most about these guitar games is how similar they were to different software tools that I’d use in my Aural Skills (ear training) and Music Theory classes here at school. The only difference is that these are ten times more fun and addictive!

Final Thoughts

After spending some time reviewing William Wilson’s Guitar Games, I highly recommend it if you want a fun and engaging way to learn the guitar fretboard, learn guitar scales, understand theory, and learn how to play by ear. These games come with a ton of options and settings as well. This gives you the ability to tweak it to your level so it’s not too hard but not too easy either. For example, what type of scales do I want to learn? Do I want to be quizzed over all the notes on the fretboard or just some?

You can try it for free or you can purchase a one year subscription ($19.95) or a two year subscription ($32.95). I’m surprised by how cheap this is. The music theory and ear training software that I mentioned I used for my classes was nowhere near this cheap. The resources that Guitar Games provides will allow you to get a tremendous amount of use. It’s not like you get done playing the game and that is it. Even as a third year music student, I’m finding these games helpful, challenging, and fun for my growth as a guitarist.

So what are you waiting for? Check out Guitar Games!

I love playing music, but I can’t say I fall head over heels for music theory. Maybe you’re like me.

However, understanding a little bit of music theory for guitar can only help us and make us better off as guitarists and those who compose or write songs with the guitar. Here are some reasons why.

1.) You Gain a Better Understanding of the Guitar Fretboard.

Music theory helps us understand how the notes on a guitar fretboard connect into the music we play. When we have a little bit of understanding of theory, the notes on the fretboard aren’t just merely notes, but there is actually a connection between them, and they relate and function together in a particular way. If we understand how the notes connect and relate to one other, how much more easily can we then creatively express ourselves through our guitar playing.

2.) You Gain a Better Understanding For How Chords Function.

Different chords have different characteristics such as major, minor, augmented, or diminished. It’s in a better understanding of music theory that we understand how different chords are characteristic to different scales and how those chords function in those scales. In our understanding of music theory, we also learn how to pull from our understanding of the guitar fretboard and form our own guitar chords.

3.) You Gain a Better Understanding of How to Craft Guitar Solos.

Believe it or not, good guitar solos are not necessarily just a bunch of random notes based on some pentatonic guitar scale. A good guitar solo will be crafted based upon a solid understanding of how those notes in the solo relate to one another and how they relate to the chord progression of the song. It’s hard to create a sick guitar solo if you don’t know how to put the pieces together.

How Important Is It Really?

The things above can only help you as a guitarist. There are many who have never had a lot of musical training but are excellent guitarists. However, learning some of the basics of music theory can be a nice boost to take your guitar playing further.

If you’re looking to dive into a little bit of music theory, a great first stop would be to check out our music theory section on our blog. You may also want to check out an online guitar lesson course that will teach you many guitar techniques while integrating that with an understanding of theory. I can’t say learning music theory is a party, but it’s definitely worth it.

In Part 1 of Guitar Scale Anatomy, we started to look at how guitar scales function, so we can have a better understanding of how these scales relate to the songs we play. We provided a working definition of a scale and looked at how half steps and whole steps between notes contribute to the formation of a scale.

As you can recall, the way the half steps and whole steps are arranged between notes in a scale are one of the ways that give the scale a particular quality such as major or minor.  

For this part, I’m going to reference back to our previous examples in which I gave you two “E” scales. While both were “E” scales, one was an “E” major scale and the other was an “E” minor scale. This was because of the way the half steps and whole steps between notes (or scale degrees) were arranged.  For now, let’s just look at the major scale.

The Major Scale

A major scale is a seven note scale with half steps between the third and fourth and the seventh and eighth scale degrees.  If we look back to our previous “E” major scale, we’ll notice the following pattern of whole steps and half steps: whole step, whole step, half step, whole step, whole step, whole step, half step.  

Let’s take a look.  Here’s our example of an “E” major scale tabbed out.  

e ----0--2--4--5--7--9--11--12-----
b ---------------------------------
g ---------------------------------
d ---------------------------------
a ---------------------------------
e ---------------------------------

Without worrying about names of notes, we can see that between the open “E” and the 2nd fret we have a whole step. Between the 2nd and 4th fret, we have another whole step. Then between the 4th and 5th fret, we have a half step. After that, between the 5th and 7th fret, we have a whole step. Then, between the 7th and 9th fret we have another whole step. Yet again, we have another whole step between the 9th and 11th fret, and then lastly, between the 11th and 12th fret, we have a half step.

You can play this pattern on any string and play a major scale. The particular pattern above of whole steps and half steps is unique only to the major scale and will not fully be seen in any other scales. You can duplicate this major scale pattern on any other pitch.  

What about Sharps and Flats?

When a particular note is raised one half step, we usually say that it is sharp. In music notation (NOT tab), a sharped note will be represented by a ‘#’ symbol.  When a note is dropped one half step, we usually say that it is flat. In music notation, a flatted note will be represented by a ‘b’ symbol. A note that is in its natural state, without a sharp or flat, is called natural. Sharps and flats are referred to as “accidentals.” I have really no idea why they are called that!

The only major scale without any sharps or flats is the C major scale.  The C major scale has the following notes: C  D  E  F  G  A  B  C.

Can you tell me where my half steps and whole steps are? As you might recall, half steps are located between the 3rd and 4th notes, the ‘E’ and the ‘F,’ and between the 7th and 8th notes, the ‘B’ and the ‘C.’  

Because the C major scale is the only scale that matches the whole step and half step pattern for a major scale without sharps or flats, we will have to use sharps and flats to create the proper amount of half steps and whole steps between notes in other keys.  

Let’s Build a Major Scale

Applying what we now know about major scales, we are going to build our own major scale. Let’s build a G major scale. Keep in mind, we’ll have to use accidentals (sharps and flats)!  

First, let’s just write out the letters of the notes of a G major scale without any accidentals:

G  A  B  C  D  E  F  G

As we remember from earlier, for a major scale, we need half steps between the 3rd and 4th and the 7th and 8th scale steps.  First, let’s look at our 3rd and 4th notes–’B’ and ‘C.’  Is there a half step between these notes? As we recall from our C major scale, there is a half step between notes ‘B’ and ‘C,’ so we don’t need to add any accidentals.  

What about the 7th and 8th notes? ‘F’ and ‘G.’ Is there a half step between these notes? Again, as we recall from our C major scale, there is actually a whole step between ‘F’ and ‘G.’ Because of this, we’ll have to raise the ‘F’ up one half step. To do this, we’ll make it sharp into an ‘F#.’  

We’ll now note that there is the correct half step and whole step pattern for a major scale.  So our G major scale is:

G  A  B  C  D  E  F#  G

You might ask, “Why didn’t we turn the ‘F’ note into a ‘Gb’ instead of an ‘F#’? Aren’t they the same thing?”

While an F# and a Gb sound the same in pitch, they are still very different notes. If we substituted a ‘Gb’ for an ‘F#’ in a G major scale, we would get a scale like this: G  A  B  C  D  E  Gb  G

If you count the letter names of the notes (without accidentals), you only get six notes (G, A, B, C, D, E) instead of seven (G, A, B, C, D, E, F). A major scale is only a major scale if it has seven different note letters. Yes, it’s tedious, I know. That’s the exact nature of music theory! (Does your head hurt?)

If you keep in mind the half step and whole step pattern of a major scale, and remember how the half steps naturally fall between ‘E’ and ‘F’ notes and ‘B’ and ‘C’ notes, you can create major scales based off of any pitch!

Wrap-up on Major Scales

Congratulations if you made it this far! You’re a trooper for reading all of this! If you have any questions about any of this, feel free to post a comment and we’ll look at your question together.

I’ll be honest with you. Music theory can get really tedious and just out right boring at times. Again, while still being honest with you, if you can press into this and absorb as much of this cerebral “garbage” as possible, you’ll be much better off than the next guy! I know we’re not playing a lot of guitar while learning this, but this really helps us connect the dots when we do go to put the guitar in our hands.

Further Resources

While we’ll be sure to dig into more music theory in the future (I’m sure you’re enthralled), there is an excellent guitar scale course out their taught by a guy named Craig Basset called Guitar Scale Mastery.  If you are serious about learning guitar scales and the theory behind it, Craig’s program is excellent. I like how he takes all the theory “garbage” and puts into playing. It’s very easy to follow. I wrote a review awhile back on it here. 

I remember it being suggested to me that I learn guitar scales up and down the guitar neck so I could learn the guitar fretboard. I was told, if you know your guitar scales you can master the guitar fretboard. Maybe you too have been suggested or heard such a suggestion. So as a hungry beginner I started practicing different scale patterns.

The Main Problem

I practiced away, but for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out how to apply these scales I was learning into a song. I was learning a ton of patterns, but didn’t know what to do with them! In hindsight, I realize that in my attempt to learn the guitar fretboard, I was only learning guitar scale patterns, and I wasn’t learning how the notes, in those patterns, function together as a cohesive whole.

Perhaps you too have tried approaching learning the guitar fretboard by learning scale patterns, but quickly found that you didn’t have a clue as to how to piece those different patterns together.  Guitar scale patterns are good, but not if you don’t understand how they function and apply!

So before we go into learning talking about any type of scale or scale pattern (pentatonic, major, minor, dorian, etc.), let’s establish an understanding for how the notes that make up a guitar scale function within a scale by looking at the theory behind guitar scales.  Now, I realize music theory can only be so exciting, but it’s extremely beneficial if you’re wanting to have a more complete understanding of the guitar fretboard.

What is a scale?

To put it simply, a scale is a group of notes (pitches) arranged in ascending and descending order. Musicians will use scales as a way to express the types of notes used in a song or use scales as a way to develop the song’s “key.”  Meaning, complete songs are written based on a particular scale.  If you can figure out the scale or “key” that the song uses, then you know the exact notes you can or cannot use to solo your own part over the song.

As you probably know, notes are expressed by letter names. The first seven letters of the alphabet are used to represent note names (A, B, C, D, E, F, G).

How does a scale work?

A scale is made up of whole steps and half steps between notes.  On the guitar, if you placed one finger on the 1st fret of the low ‘E’ string and move your finger to the 2nd fret, you’ve moved up in pitch one half step. Say you were to move your finger from the 1st fret of the low ‘E’ string up two frets to the 3rd fret.  If you did this, you would have moved up in pitch two half steps or one whole step.

If you know where the half steps or whole steps are in a particular scale, you will be able to more easily play that scale up and down the fretboard of the guitar, because you will know how many frets you need to move up or down on the string to hit the right note.

Scales that will sound most familiar to our ears will have a mixed arrangement of half steps and whole steps.  So for example, let’s play the following notes in this guitar tab on the high ‘E’ string.

e ----0--2--4--5--7--9--11--12-----
b ---------------------------------
g ---------------------------------
d ---------------------------------
a ---------------------------------
e ---------------------------------

After you’ve played that, play this:

e ----0--2--3--5--7--8--10--12-----
b ---------------------------------
g ---------------------------------
d ---------------------------------
a ---------------------------------
e ---------------------------------

The first example is an “E” major scale.  The second example is an “E” minor scale.  They are both technically “E” scales, but the arrangement of half steps and whole steps within the scale gives it a “major” or “minor” characteristic.  Do you see how the half steps and whole steps in both scales are arranged?  If not, we will dive into this in our next post.

The Next Step

If this feels a little confusing and you’re not sure how to apply it, don’t worry.  This is just an intro to the fundamentals and theory behind guitar scales.  It’s important to be able to understand the principles and the theory before we try to apply this.

In fact, understanding how the notes on the guitar fretboard relate and interact with one another is one of the most important keys to learning the guitar fretboard. If you are eager to continue to learn the guitar fretboard and learn how to use scales to improvise and craft solos, I would recommend checking out Craig Basset’s Guitar Scale Mastery System. I highly recommend it.

To learn more about it, you can either click here, or I wrote a more in depth review of his method here.

If you’re ready, move on to part 2 of Guitar Scale Anatomy, and learn about the theory behind a major scale!