ONLINE GUITAR BASE
C Major Scale
If music is a tree, the major scale is the tree trunk that everything else grows from in Western styles of music - rock, pop, blues etc. All of our guitar chords, melody and harmony is referenced from the major scale. An easy way to explain what the major scale is to take you back to the famous movie The Sound Of Music and the song Doe a Deer. This is a perfect and simple demonstration of the major scale in action.
Do, Re, Mi, Fa, So, La, Ti , Do is another method of of illustrating the seven notes of the major scale with the 8th being the ocatve.
The image above shows the C Major Scale in TAB format. It is played at three different speeds - you will note that the distance between the numbers on lines indicate that the notes are played faster.
Fingering
Economy of movement is essential when playing guitar and selecting the fingers you use is important for ease of movement around the fretboard. Think of it like going on a car journey and taking a shortcut to get to your destination quicker. We must apply the same approach when playing guitar to ensure that we move to the next chord or note on our scale with as little motion as possible - let's just make our guitar playing life easier on us! Play the C Major scale with the fingers you use to play a C Major Chord.
Play the track to hear the C Major scale played as shown in the above Tab
THE C MAJOR SONG
Here is a simple tune using the notes of the C Major Scale. The spaces in the Tab mean that there is a longer gap in time between the notes. Listen to the track to get a feel for the song. Then play the notes as per the TAB. Your goal is to be able to play along with the track. Playing with the track helps you develop the skill of playing in time and with other musicians. You have to play your part precisely whle listening to your fellow musicians.
I will remind you again (yes you will hear this from me constantly - Repetition is the mother of all learning!) to practice this at at very slow speed to ensure accurate fretting and clear notes. When you have developed the ability to play the scale correctly and smoothly, then attempt to increase the speed.