A scale or scale is an "instrumental" part of any musician's repertoire. Scale provides the essential building blocks for composition and improvisation across all styles and genres of music. Taking the time to master the fundamental scales can make the difference between an average guitar player and an advanced guitar player. Fortunately, when it comes to guitar, learning to scale is usually just a matter of remembering simple patterns through practice.
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Part 1 of 4: Basic Concepts and Terms
Have you mastered the basics of music theory? If so, you can skip directly to the scale section by clicking here.”
Step 1. Learn to read the guitar fretboard
The long, thin front of the guitar where you place your fingers is called the fretboard. Protruding metal rods are useful for dividing guitar frets. The scale is formed by playing notes at different fret patterns. So, it is very important to know about the frets. Look at the illustration below:
- The frets are numbered from the neck of the guitar to the body of the guitar. For example, the fret at the end of the guitar neck is the “first fret” (or “1st fret”), the next fret is called the “second fret”, and so on.
- Pressing a string at a specific fret and plucking a string on the body of the guitar will play a note. The closer the frets are to the body, the higher the notes are played.
- The points on the frets are for reference only - they make it easy for you to know where to place your finger on the fret without having to count the frets on the neck of the guitar.
Step 2. Learn the names of the notes on the fretboard
Each fret on the guitar has its own note. Luckily, there are only 12 tones - the names just repeat themselves. The tunes you can play are below. Note that some notes have two different names:
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A, A#/Bb, B, C, C#/Db, D, D#/Eb, E, F, F#/ Gb, G, G#/Ab.
After this the tone returns starting from A again and repeats.
- Learning the position of each note is not difficult, but it will make this article too long. If you need help, read our article on the subject.
Step 3. Learn the names of the strings
You "could" talk about different strings with things like "thickest, second thickest," and so on, but it's easier to discuss scales if you know the correct names for each string. It will also help you because the strings named after the note played when the frets are not pressed. On a six-string guitar in standard tuning, the notes on the strings are:
- E (bold)
- A
- D
- G
- B
- E (thinnest) - note that this string is the same pitch as the thickest string, so people call it “low” and “high” to distinguish these two E notes. You'll also sometimes see a lowercase "e" used to indicate the thinnest string.
Step 4. Learn the concept of one and a half steps on a scale
In simpler terms, a scale is a series of notes that sound good when you play them in the right order. When we study the scale below, we will see that the scale is built from a “one-step” and “half-step” pattern. This sounds difficult, but it's just a way of describing the distance between the frets on the fretboard:
- A “half step” is the distance one fret up or down. For example, if you play a C note (A string, third fret), advancing one fret makes a C# note (A string, fourth fret). So we can say that C and C# are half a step away.
- One step it's the same except it's "two frets" apart. For example if we start at C and go two frets forward, we will play a D note (A string, fifth fret). So, C and D are a full step apart.
Step 5. Degree scale
We are almost ready to learn to scale. The final concept we need to understand is that, because a scale is a series of notes that must be played in sequence, a scale has a number called "degrees" to help you identify it. The degrees are sorted in the following list. Learning the note names for each degree is very important - other names are not used too often.
- The first note you start is called base or first. Sometimes also called tonic.
- The second tone is called second or supertonic.
- The third tone is called third or median.
- The fourth note is called fourth or subdominant.
- The fifth note is called fifth or dominant.
- The sixth note is called sixth or submedian.
- The seventh note is called seventh - there are other names for this note that change depending on the scale, so we'll ignore them for this article.
- The eighth note is called octave. Sometimes also called tonic because it's the same as the first note, only higher.
- After the octave you can start over from the second or continue your way to the ninth note. For example, if the note after the octave could be called “ninth” or “second,” but the ninth and second notes are the same note.
Part 2 of 4: Major Scale
Step 1. Choose a starting (basic) note for your scale
The type of scale we will study in this section is the "major" scale. This is a good choice to learn first, because there are many other scales that are based on the major scale. One nice thing about scales is that you can start with any note. To start, pick any note below the 12th fret on the low E or A string. Starting on a low note gives you plenty of room to move up or down the scale.
For example, let's start with the tone G (low E string, third fret). In this section you'll learn how to play the G major scale - the scales are named after their base note.
Step 2. Learn the pattern of the steps for the major scale
All scales can be written as patterns of one or half steps. The step pattern for the major scale is very important to learn because many other scale patterns are derivatives. Take a look below:
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Start with a basic note, then follow these steps:
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- One, one, half, one, one, one, half.
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- For example, if we start on a G note, we move up to an A note. Then we move up again to a B note. Then we go up another half step to a C note. Following this pattern we will continue up the scale, playing D, E, F#, and ends again at G.
Step 3. Learn the finger patterns for the major scale
You could play the entire scale on one string, but it would be really weird &madsh; rarely seen guitarists do this. It's a common practice to go up and down the pitch by a few strings as you play the scale. This will minimize the amount of movement your hand makes.
- For the G major scale we just learned, we can start at the third fret on the low E string. We're going to play the notes A and B on the fifth and seventh frets on the E string.
- Then we will press C on the third fret A. string. We're going to hit D and E on the fifth and seventh frets of the A string.
- Then we'll hit the F# note on the fourth fret in D string. We'll end by hitting the G note on the fifth fret on the D string. Note that we don't have to move our hands to the left or right of the guitar neck to play this - we just need to change the position of our fingers on the other strings.
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Taken together, the G Major scale would look like this:
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Low E string:
G (fret 3), A (fret 5), B (fret 7)
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A string:
C (fret 3), D (fret 5), E (fret 7)
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D string:
F# (fret 4), G (fret 5)
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Step 4. Try sliding this pattern up and down the neck of the guitar
As long as you start on a low E or A string, fingering on the major scale can be played anywhere on the neck of the guitar. In other words, simply move all the notes up or down by the same number of frets/steps to play the major scale.
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For example, if we want to play a B major scale, we only have to move our finger to the seventh fret on the neck of the guitar on the low E string. Then, we can use the same fingering pattern to play a scale like this:
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Low E string:
B (fret 7), C# (fret 9), D# (fret 11)
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A string:
E (fret 7), F# (fret 9), G# (fret 11)
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D string:
A# (fret 8), B (fret 9)
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- Notice that we place our fingers in the same fret pattern as before. Just move the pattern up or down to play different major scales.
Step 5. Learn to scale up and down
Usually, the scale doesn't just play in one direction. Once you've mastered the ascending major scale, try playing it downhill when you get to the octave. All you have to do is play the same note in reverse - no changes needed.
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For example, if we want to play the B major scale up and down, we have to play the following notes:
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Ride:
B, C#, D#, E, F#, G#, A#, B
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Down:
B, A#, G#, F#, E, D#, C#, B
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- If you want to match the scale to a 4/4 beat, take each note as a quarter or an eighth note. Press octave twice or up to the ninth note (one step above the octave), then back down. This will give you the correct number of notes for the scale to "inline" with its size.
Part 3 of 4: Minor Scale
Step 1. Learn to distinguish between a minor scale and a major scale
The minor scale has much in common with the major scale. Like the major scale, the minor scale is also so named because the basic notes (eg, E minor, A minor, etc.) are mostly the same notes. There are only a few changes you have to make:
- Minor scale has third degree mole.
- Minor scale has sixth degree mole.
- Minor scale has sixth degree mole.
- To make the pitch a mole, simply lower the pitch by half a step. This means that the third and seventh notes on the scale will be one fret lower than on the major scale.
Step 2. Learn the steps for the minor scale
The moles in the third, sixth and seventh notes in the minor scale change the step pattern on the major scale. Memorizing this new pattern can help you get used to the minor scale.
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The steps for the minor scale starting from the basic note are:
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One, half, one, one, half, one, one.
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For example, if we want to play a “minor” G scale, we start with the G major scale and move the third, sixth, and seventh degrees down half a step. A G major scale is:
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- G, A, B, C, D, E, F#, G
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…So the G minor scale is:
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- G, A, Bb, C, D, Eb, F G
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Step 3. Learn fingering for the minor scale
Like the major scale, the notes on the minor scale are played in a specific pattern of frets that you can slide up and down the neck of the guitar to play different minor scales. As long as you start on the low E string or the A string, the minor pattern will be the same.
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For example, let's play the Eb minor scale. To do this, we'll use the Eb Minor scale and shift the third, sixth and seventh degrees down one fret, like this:
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A string:
Eb (fret 6), F (fret 8), F# (fret 9)
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D string:
Ab (fret 6), Bb (fret 8), B (fret 9)
- G string: Db (fret 6), Eb (fret 8)
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Step 4. Practice playing the scale up and down
As with the major scale, usually the minor scale is also played up and down. Again, you're just playing the same set of notes in reverse with no changes.
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For example, if we wanted to play the Eb minor scale up and down, we would play it as follows:
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Ride:
Eb, F, F#, Ab, Bb, B, Db, Eb
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Down:
Eb, Db, B, Bb, Ab, F#, F, Eb
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- As with the major scale, you can add a ninth note (in this case the F note above the octave) or play the octave twice to get a beat that is directly proportional to the 4/4 beat.
Part 4 of 4: Other Useful Scales
Step 1. Practice on the chromatic scale to perfect form and speed
One type of scale that is useful for practice is the chromatic scale. In this scale, all degrees are half a step away. This means that the chromatic scale can be used up and down one fret.
- Try this chromatic scale exercise: First, strum one of the guitar strings (it doesn't matter which). Start counting steadily 4/4 beats. Play the strings open (unstressed at the frets) as quarter notes, then the first, second, third and fourth frets. Keep the beat steady and play the second, third, fourth, and fifth frets. Continue this pattern until you get to the twelfth fret then come back down!
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For example, if you played on the E string, your chromatic exercise would look like this:
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size one:
E (open), F (fret 1), F# (fret 2), G (fret 3)
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Size two:
F (fret 1), F# (fret 2), G (fret 3), G# (fret 4)
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- …and so on until the 12th fret (then back down).
Step 2. Learn the pentatonic scale
The pentatonic scale has only 5 notes and sounds very good when played together, so it is usually used for solo playing. Specifically, minor pentatonic is very popular in rock, jazz, and blues music. It is played so often that most people call it "pentatonic" for short. This is the scale we will study below.
- The minor pentatonic scale contains the following degrees: Basic, third mole, fourth, fifth, and seventh mole (plus octave). It's basically a minor scale with no second or sixth notes.
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For example, if we started on a low E string, the A minor pentatonic scale would be:
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Low E string:
A (fret 5), C (fret 8)
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A string:
D (fret 5), E (fret 7)
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D string:
G (fret 5), A (fret 7)
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From here, if we want, we can keep going, playing the same note to the higher strings:
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G string:
C (fret 5), D (fret 7)
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B string:
E (fret 5), G (fret 8)
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E string:
A (fret 5), C (fret 8)
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Step 3. Learn the blues scale
Once you know the pentatonic scale, it's very easy to play the scale associated with it, the "blues scale." What you need is adding the fifth degree scale mol to minor pentatonic. You'll get a scale with five notes - the rest is still the same.
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For example, if we wanted to convert the A minor pentatonic scale to the A blues scale, we would play:
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Low E string:
A (fret 5), C (fret 8)
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A string:
D (fret 5), Eb (fret 6), E (fret 7)
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D string:
G (fret 5), A (fret 7)
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G string:
C (fret 5), D (fret 7), Eb (fret 8)
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B string:
E (fret 5), G (fret 8)
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E string:
A (fret 5), C (fret 8)
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- The fifth mole is also known as the "blue tone." Even though the fifth mole is on the scale, the sound is a little weird and breaks on its own. So if you're playing solo, try to use it as a "directing sound" - That is, play the note "to go to" another note. Don't hang on to blue notes too long!
Step 4. Study the two-octave versions of all scales
When you've reached the octave of a scale, you don't always have to go back down. Treat the octave as a new basic note and use the same step pattern for the second octave. We'll touch on this briefly with the upper minor pentatonic scale but it's something you can learn on almost any scale. Starting on one of the bottom two strings generally makes it easier to fit two full octaves in the same guitar neck area. Note that the second octave usually has a different fingering pattern even though the steps are the same.
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Let's learn a two-octave major scale - once you know how it's easy to figure out the two-octave version of the minor scale. We're going to try G major (the first scale we studied at the beginning of the article. Now, we know this:
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Low E string:
G (fret 3), A (fret 5), B (fret 7)
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A string:
C (fret 3), D (fret 5), E (fret 7)
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D string:
F# (fret 4), G (fret 5)
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Continue using the same pattern of steps: one, one, half and so on…
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D string:
G (fret 5), A (fret 7)
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G string:
B (fret 4), C (fret 5), D (fret 7)
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B string:
E (fret 5), F# (fret 7), G (fret 8)
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- …then come back!
Tips
- Looking for an easy way to play finger patterns for a wide variety of scales? Give this site a try, which will let you browse the scales based on your base and type.
- In the instructions above, we've started our scale on the low E strings and the A strings. You can also start on the higher strings - this is especially useful for solos. Take a look at the different variations to the scale on the above site to see how many ways the same string of notes can be arranged around the neck of a guitar!
