Over the coming weeks I plan on uploading my collection of guitar charts… so you’ve been for warned! I’ll start off with one of my favorites, which is simply the C Major Scale. Everywhere.
This diagram is fairly simple to understand. Each new position is a different degree of mode of the C Major scale. What this means, simply, is that the scale has all notes diatonic to C Major (no sharps or flats) which are sequentially (hence the term scale) stating and ending on different pitches of the scale. So so for instance you may notice that when we start and end on the note D we are playing the “second degree of C Major” or when we start and end on E we are playing the “third degree of C Major.”
Also, I won’t boggle your mind too much, but if you’re really cleaver, you’ll realize what we are doing in actuality is playing all of the “Modes” of C Major.
And while it may seem like a lot of work, by mastering these eight simple fingerings you will have learned not only the major scale from all degrees, but also all 7 modes of the major scale from all degrees.
…not to mention that it’s killer for your chops!
And finally, I always recommend that my students pay extra close attention to the 6th degree. The reason for this is because it is, in my opinion, the absolute best to get comfortable reading notes on the instrument. The main reason for this is because this position covers basically the entire range of the instrument, with the lowest note in this position (A on the 5th fret of the low E string) being 2 ledger lines below the treble clef, and the highest note in this position (C on the 8th fret of the high E string) being 2 ledger lines above the treble clef.
So when you play these scales, what you really should be thinking about is not just the diatonic harmony, but also some bearings for where specific pitches fall on the fretboard.
more articles by Tyler Oakleaf
- Notes of Fretboard Diagram
- Like our lessons? Take a poster!
- The Big Picture
- Chord Soloing & Chordal Embelishment 1
- Good Things…
- “Making It” In Music
- Practice Progression
