C Major Scale

Do we need to do string muting like we did for Em pentatonic scale in module 8?

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You should learn the shape first, without worrying about other stuff. After that you can incorporate other elements in you practice, like string muting and alternate picking.

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Based on the diagram how do you know which strings to play open?

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Hey mate,

The open string notes are the ones behind the " nut" at the top of the diagram.

Cheers, Shane

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Yea I know what the open strings are but based on the diagram they are not included. It would be nice if at the top of the string where you should play an open note it was highlighted in some way.
Be less confusing to us noobs just getting started.

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Welcome to the forum Dominick
They are all includes in the diagram on the website. The open strings are all part of the C major scale in open position.

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Right that is what I said, but since this is basically a beginner lesson it seems like they would be indicated them somehow in the diagram.

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The red note is the root and the black notes are the rest of the notes in the scale.
In the video Justin clearly tells you the open strings are part of the scale. What more do you need?

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You play all of them.
EADGBE, as they all belong to the key of C Major.

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They are indicated in the drawing with black circles with the note names inside them, just like all the other positions. I think itā€™s confusing for you that the circles are smaller than the ones over the fretted notes. If they were not included, they would not be labelled.

I THINK that the open string labels use smaller circles to indicate that you donā€™t have to press on the string to get these notes.

Hope this helps.

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Ok, to me that is just naming the strings like almost any other string diagram I have seen, maybe on the ones where you play the open note if the circles were bigger to indicate you play that first then the next note identified on the string, etc.

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Iā€™m not positive about this, but Iā€™d guess there would be nothing above the string (or possibly an X) if it were not played open.

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If the open note was not to be played it would look like this 3NPS G major diagram. I donā€™t know why they made the open string notes a little smaller. It does look a little odd.


If itā€™s a chord diagram you generally see an O if the open string is to be played and an X if the open string needs muting. Like this.

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Dominick,

If I understand rightly what you are asking. it is.

You start on the root note C which is 1, then it follows as below,
2 - D - open string
3 - E
4 - F
5 - G - open string
6 - A
7 - B - open string
8 - C
9 - D
10 - E - open string
11 - F
12 -G
and then you start to do it in reverse but donā€™t play 12 - G twice. Work your way all the way back right up to the low E string and then back up until you hit the C - root note. Then your scale is done.

I hope that makes sense and helps.

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That is exactly what I was asking. The diagram itself doesnā€™t really highlight all the open notes that need to be played in the scale.

Thank you for laying it out.

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@nickm324 Did you watch the video?
Justin talks you through every note of the scale pattern, using the word open for the open strings.

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He also provides another diagram to help you follow the lesson in the learn more section which is also included in an above post

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Yea but in the video when he is playing the open strings you canā€™t really see it because you donā€™t see his picking hand. And listening to him talk and trying to concentrate on his fingers in the video all at the same time can be difficult for beginners.

And really it doesnā€™t help when people post here that have mastered all these lessons to make comments like ā€œdid you even watch the videoā€ is not helpful at all.
Are these not beginner courses and we are supposed to ask questions? I hate it when people talk like you are inferior when trying to learn, makes people less likely to ask questions and make any progress.

Of course I watched the video.

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Hey @nickm324, I suppose you had some trouble understanding the diagrams and perhaps they could be improved, but the information really is given clearly in the video:

Justin goes through the scale note by note, saying aloud each note, the string and the fret, including the open string notes. I think itā€™s pretty straightforward.

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Hi Dominick, @nickm324
I understand your frustration a bit, if for you something that is so logical for most people but you dont ā€œseeā€ it than that can be very frustrating (it has often happened to me and it will happen again) ā€¦ But (there is always a BUT with something like this isn`t it :smile:), Rick had already helped you quite well and he has literally helped 1000+ beginning students very well and for that alone he does not deserve these somewhat harsh words really (he wonā€™t sleep badly because he certainly is a hard one (and hope that he will not give me a kick in the bā€¦ for talking now because I certainly donā€™t want to ā€œspeakā€ for him)ā€¦ What I actually want to say is, try to show less frustration if there is already quite a few people have tried to explain something to you in a very good way and stay ā€œfriendsā€ with Rick because you can benefit a lot from it during your guitar journey,
Keep playing nice and I wish you all the best and a lot of fun here :sunglasses:

I hope you see the good of everybody here :smiley:

Greetings Rogier

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