Major Scale (Ionian)

The major scale, also called the Ionian mode, is the sound of "do re mi": seven notes that feel bright, stable and finished. Most pop, rock, country and folk melodies live in it, and every other scale in this library is described as a change to it. A flat 3 here, a sharp 4 there: you can only hear those colors once the major scale is in your ears and under your fingers.

This chapter uses G major. The first lesson, free for everyone, gives you the formula, the five positions plus a three-notes-per-string pattern, the chords that come from the scale and how to move it to any key. The second lesson turns the shapes into technique: full-position runs, groups of four, diatonic 3rds and a line that shifts between positions. The third lesson puts it to work over a G-C-D vamp with two original licks that target chord tones and use the pull of the 7 back to the root.

Every exercise plays in the browser, so you can hear it before you play it.