The Major Scale

The major scale is the "do re mi" you already know, and almost every melody, chord and mode is measured against it. This chapter turns it into guitar scale shapes you can play cleanly, fast, and in any key.

You start with a one-octave shape rooted on the A string and the pattern behind it: whole, whole, half, whole, whole, whole, half. Then you stretch it across all six strings for two octaves of G major without moving your hand, and learn why the B string shifts everything by a fret. The three-notes-per-string pattern is how most rock and fusion players run scales, with picking that repeats so speed comes naturally. Finally you move the shapes to new keys, using roots on the E and A strings.

Each tab exercise plays in the browser with a click and a tempo ladder, so you can climb from a comfortable speed to the target. Sequences in threes and fours along the way turn the scale from an exercise into music.