G Major Scale Open Position
Open Position G Major Scale We're going to have a look at the open position G major scale. You should already know how to play the open position C major scale, covered in a previous lesson. And, ideally, you will have played a C major up and down a single string, so you understand that major scales proceed in steps: whole, whole, half, whole, whole, whole, half. The only difference between a C major scale and a G major scale is that in G major, we have to take all "F" and turn them into "F#". If you want to go deeper into scale and chord construction, you'll have to refer to the lessons on music theory. Today we're just going to focus on a scale. I'll play the scale now. Starting from the lowest open string I have E, that happens to be in my G scale; then I need F#, on the second fret of the big string, and then G. I'm going to continue up to the 5th string for A, and B and C. Next string is D, E, and instead of F I have to remember to play F#. Next string is G and A. Then I go straight to B, C and D. And finally, E, F#, and G. Because this scale is so similar to C major, many of the chords in the key of G major are also found in the key of C major. So try this scale up and down, make note of the pattern and the shapes, and think about the names of the notes in the scale as you play it.
Learning the G Major Notes in Open Position
Why Learn the G Major Scale Notes?
It is often best to learn to play the guitar by starting with the notes and chords that can be played in the open positionThe guitar fingering position at the first fret, involving open strings, and frets I, II, III and IV.. In open position, you can use a combination of open notes and fretted notes for melodies, and also play chords that take advantage of open strings. Since open strings require much less effort to play, you can get up and running more quickly by starting with this position.
The most common keyThe set of pitches that a piece of music is organized around. A key has two components: a tonal center and some sort of scale, or set of pitches used for creating harmony and melody.s that you are likely to encounter when you begin playing the guitar are C major and G major. And you can explore each of these keys thoroughly by memorizing the scaleA sub-set of notes taken from the larger set of 12. The smaller set (usually 5 or 7) is used to build melodies and chords. in open position that can be used to play the notes of the key.
How to Practice
If you haven’t already, study and memorize the open position notes. Try to see how the notes of G major (below) differ from the notes of C major.
The only difference between G major and C major is that in the key of G major, all “F” notes become “F♯”.
Key Tasks
- Practice the scale ascending and descending.
- Compare the notes of the open G major scale to the notes of the C major scale.
As the creator of Hub Guitar, Grey has compiled hundreds of guitar lessons, written several books, and filmed hundreds of video lessons. He teaches private lessons in his Boston studio, as well as via video chat through TakeLessons.