Scales are a key piece of information that is fundamental to your learning to play the guitar. While you may or may not be familiar with the term “major scale”, you would undoubtedly have heard it at some point, as most music being practiced uses some version of this scale. A scale is a fixed set of note distances or intervals. What this gives you is a formula for deriving a consistent sound from the scale.

Notes of the C Major Scale

The notes of this scale are -C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C-

For those who’ve watched the move “The Sound of Music”, what you just learnt is essentially Do-Re-Mi-Fa-So-La-Ti-Do. The major scale remains at the core of much of the technique in western music. The specific name given to this major scale (C Major) arises from the fact that we played the C note first. Depending on which note you start with, the name of the major scale would also vary.

Fingering for the C Major Scale

4th string: Index finger (2nd fret)--Ring finger (4th fret)--Little finger (5th fret)

3rd string: Index finger (2nd fret)--Middle finger (3rd fret)--Little finger (5th fret)

2nd string: Middle finger (3rd fret)--Little finger (5th fret)

Once you hit the higher C note in the ascending direction, you can play it backwards as well to reach the lower C. With respect to your picking, you can either use all downstrokes or practise alternate picking, depending on your comfort level.

The most important thing is to familiarise yourself with the sound of the notes and the fingering pattern, which will only happen gradually, through a lot of practice. This is a great exercise to incorporate into your picking (right hand) and fingering (left hand) routines.

Use the metronome/app to gradually increase the tempo and gauge how well you can execute at faster speeds. In the next blog post, we will focus on the metronome once again, and how you can use it to build speed and fluency into your picking patterns. Keep reading and improving your guitar skills and technique.