Courses

The major scale

The pattern behind melodies and keys: build the major scale from whole and half steps, play it in one position, then move it anywhere on the neck.

The major scale

Most of the melodies on this planet — lullabies, anthems, choruses you can’t shake — are drawn from one seven-note pattern. This course builds that pattern from scratch so you can hear why it works, puts it under your fingers in one position, expands it across the neck three notes per string, and then shows you the trick that makes it portable: move the shape, change the key.

Four exercises: the step pattern, one position, three notes per string, and keys.

Exercises

  1. Exercise 00InterviewTell your tutor what you already know about this course's topic and what you want to get out of it.
  2. Exercise 01Whole steps and half stepsBuild the major scale from its recipe of whole and half steps on a single string, and meet the scale degrees 1 through 7.
  3. Exercise 02One positionPlay a full G major scale across all six strings in second position, with a metronome, saying the note names aloud.
  4. Exercise 03Three notes per stringReorganize the major scale into three-notes-per-string patterns, learn the first two, and see how seven of them ladder up the whole neck.
  5. Exercise 04KeysMove your scale patterns to new roots to change key, find any key from the low E and A strings, and play the same melody in two keys.