Guitar lessons for beginners and more
Right now, we’re on a journey towards mastering the guitar fretboard. The goal is to learn all twelve major keys in all five scale positions across the fretboard. So far, we’ve covered C major, F major, and G major.
Each of these guitar scale lessons build on the previous week, so if you haven’t checked those out then you want to start with learning your C major scales.
This week we’re going to look at Bb major.
The past couple weeks we learned our C major scale in all five scale positions up and down the fretboard. This enabled us to also learn the F major scale in all five scale positions, because all we had to do was change the “B” notes in the C major scale to “Bb” notes for [...]
For the next several weeks, we will be learning our major scales up and down the fretboard in all five positions and in all twelve major keys. Seem like an impossible task? Don’t worry. It’s not so bad, but in case you missed it, you will most definitely want to take a look at the introduction to the major guitar scales method we’re using to do this, and you might want to read up on the music theory for major scales.
The beauty about learning our major guitar scales with this method is that it not only teaches us the scale patterns but it inevitably teaches us the theory behind each major scale and the individual notes of each scales and how they interact and relate to one another. If we know how the notes interact with one another on the fretboard, we can begin to start crafting some interesting melodies and solos.
This week we are going to learn the F major scale.
When I studied guitar at university, I learned one of the most foundational methods for learning the guitar fretboard and learning a variety of guitar scales up and down the fretboard. You can learn this too. You’ll just need some time and a bit of dedication.
Before we get started, I want to draw attention to our recent post on music theory for major guitar scales, which will be essential for understanding this lesson. Once you’ve read that, come back and continue.
In the previous mentioned lesson on music theory for major scales, we learned that a C major scale has no sharps or flats, and we learned how to construct major scales in other keys by modifying the C major scale. Knowing this basic theory is crucial, and we can use it to learn any scale on the guitar fretboard by starting with the C major scale.
Because of this, we are going to learn the C major scale in all positions over the fretboard to provide a basis for learning every other guitar scale out there. Again, I learned this method my first semester of taking guitar in university and attribute it to giving me a comfortable grasp of the entire fretboard.
I’ve talked before about the music theory behind guitar scales some, but for this guitar lesson, I want to back up just a bit.
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. [...]
Learning guitar scales is one of the best ways to start learning how to solo and improvise over the guitar fretboard. In this guitar lesson, we will not only learn two guitar scales: major and pentatonic, but we’ll also learn when to use these scales and when not to use them.
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. [...]
Are you up for a challenge?
In a recent previous post, “Guitar Lessons: Scales & Learning the Guitar Fretboard,” I mentioned a few things you can put into practice to master the guitar fretboard. One of these suggestions was to learn your triads over the fretboard. Triads can help “connect the dots” for how individual notes across the fretboard interact and relate to one other.
Just a forewarning, this discussion needs some understanding of how guitar scales work. This might make more sense to more intermediate players. If you are just beginning, you will want to check out guitar scales explained.
A triad is a group of three notes played simultaneously. Triads are made up of one note with a major third and a perfect fifth above it. In plain speak, a triad is just a three note chord. There are different types of triads: major, minor, augmented, and diminished.
For now, we just want to talk about and focus on major triads. If we understand major triads, we can understand the other ones better. [...]
It’s true that knowing guitar scales and learning the guitar fretboard is invaluable for taking your playing to the next level. A knowledge and understanding of your instrument opens up a wide variety of creative possibilities (e.g. soloing, improvising, etc.) for how you actually play your instrument.
In the past, we’ve explained the theory behind guitar scales and we’ve also took a more in depth look at how to build a major scale. This information is essential to your growth, but we’ve never really had any guitar lessons that look at the ways you can actually learn guitar scales and learn the guitar fretboard.
In this guitar lesson on scales, let’s look at a three ways you can learn guitar scales and learn the guitar fretboard [...]
Music theory. You know, it’s the way we understand how music functions and operates. If we’re honest, it can be kind of boring. It can be dry and tedious. For some, it can just be plain scary and nonsensical.
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 [...]
My name is Brett and I'm a musician, songwriter, and a bit of a web geek. I love helping others learn and grow as musicians. My hope is that Guitar Friendly would be a website that helps you become a better guitar player.
If you so dare, I also have a ukulele lesson website that helps you learn how to play ukulele.
Click here to learn more about me.
73 comments
