The major scale, also called the Ionian mode, is the seven-note scale behind most of the music you know: bright, stable and happy, with a clear sense of home. Every other scale and mode in this library is described as a change to it, so it pays to learn it well.
Formula
The reference key is G major, and it's the key the diagrams use.
| Degree | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Note | G | A | B | C | D | E | F# |
Steps: W W H W W W H (W = whole step, 2 frets; H = half step, 1 fret). The two half steps sit between 3 and 4 and between 7 and 1, and that's where the scale's pull comes from.
Sound and character
Major sounds settled and open. The 3 (B) makes it major, and the 7 (F#), a half step under the root, pulls hard back to G, so lines feel like they resolve. The 4 (C) rubs against the 3 over a G chord: pass through it rather than resting on it.
Where it's used
Pop, rock, country, folk, gospel and classical music all lean on it. Use it when the chord is the I of the key: G, G6, Gadd9 or Gmaj7. Its diatonic chords are G, Am, Bm, C, D, Em and F#dim (as 7ths: Gmaj7, Am7, Bm7, Cmaj7, D7, Em7, F#m7b5). Progressions like G-C-D or G-Em-C-D make the key sound.
How to move it
The root is the amber dot. Slide the whole pattern so the amber dots land on the new key's note: up 2 frets for A major (Position 1 then sits at frets 4-7), or down 2 frets for F major. The degrees and fingerings don't change, only the fret numbers.
The exercises
- Play Position 1 up and down in 8ths, two octaves from the G on the low E string. One finger per fret: index on 2, middle on 3, ring on 4, pinky on 5.
- Strum G, then play a short line that climbs to G and resolves F# to G. Listen for that pull.
The modes are this scale started from other notes: A Dorian, B Phrygian, C Lydian, D Mixolydian, E Aeolian (natural minor) and F# Locrian all share the notes of G major.