C Major Scale for Guitar - One Octave

Our First Scale

One of the basic building blocks of music is the scale. The scale is used to create chords, to build melodies, and to create entire compositions. (Most popular music is constructed entirely from notes and chords deriving from a single scale.)

Usually guitar players will play a scale using multiple strings. However, it's easier for new guitar players to visualize scales that climb up and down a single string, as the guitar string is a perfectly linear and logical musical system.

To study this scale, pretend you are playing an instrument with just one string. Use your "B" string to play the scale up and down.

Memorize the C major scale from fret I up to fret XIII of the ‘b’ string.

C Major Scale – One Octave

Key Tasks

1. Play the scale ascending and descending.
2. Play the scale in thirds: C, E, D, F, E, G, F, A, G, B, A, C.
3. Try using the scale to play a melody.