View the full lesson at Intervals On The Guitar Neck | JustinGuitar
this lesson talks about “you learn all the intervals in all 5 of the CAGED Major Scale shapes”. Are the CAGED scale shapes taught eventually in a future lesson? I’m currently on lesson 10 in the beginner 2 course.
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@JakAngelescu Yes, starting in Major Scale Maestro 1 Major Scale Maestro 1 | JustinGuitar.com
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Any specific reason that it goes 5 → #5 instead of 5 → b6 (like 2 for example)?
There’s also b6 in the diagram on the 4th string.
Yes, that’s the part I couldn’t figure out.
2 → b3
b3 → 3
5 → #5
b6 → 6
So I was wondering if this was just a consistency error or not.
#5 and b6 are enharmonic equivalents and the naming depends on the context.
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I’ve watched Justin’s video on Major Scale Position 1. I understand that the black notes are the diatonic intervals, but am puzzled by the red notes. What are they? I’m confused by what b2, b3, b3, b5, #5, b6 and b7 are and what their significance is. Can someone please explain what they mean so I can understand them?
The red notes are simply the ones that are not in the diatonic scale. The “b” means flat and means the note is shifted down 1 fret (or one-half tone). For example, you can see the position of “b5” is one fret lower than “5”. The “#” means sharp or 1 fret higher than the named note. The #5 is one fret higher than the 5.
Thank you so much! I hadn’t thought of that, with the sharp and flat notes. It makes perfect sense now.
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Could anyone help me understand how to interpret this chart? Which is the 1st fret on the chart?
The letters and numbers in black are the intrtvals of the Major scale, with its Root, the R, on 6th string.
The shape is moveable which is why no fret numbers are given.
If you start with the R, root, on the 3rd fret 6th string it would be the G major scale. Move the whole shape up 2 frets and start at the 5th fret its A Major. Start at 7th its B Major, 8th fret C Major.
The red numbers are the accidental intervals ie the intervals are not part of the scale but sit in the frets in between.
In diagrams like this the guitar nut, would be shown as a double or thicker line.That would mean the 1st fet would at the top of the page. As all the lines are the same thickness, this type of diagram shows a moveable scale shape, as described above.
Hope that helps. Welcome to the Community.
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Thank you very much. Greatly appreciated.
This diagram is a gift.
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The chart seems accurate if the root note is C, but if the root note is G or A (for example) it predicts E#/bF and B#/bC (among a few other inconsistencies if the root note is A), which don’t exist. So, if we move the shape do we just change where the sharps and flats are and it works just fine, or does something else also need to change?
I’m still on grade 2 so I haven’t gone through the CAGED system, I’m sorry if that’s already explained in those lessons.
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Angel @bsdsu
First of all welcome to the community.
I don’t want to go into too much detail as Justin covers this in the theory course but to take the diagram apart you need to know how the major scale is constructed with intervals of tones or semitones. Also you can’t repeat letters so you have to use sharps or flats to avoid that. The black numbers are the major scale notes and the red ones other notes in the note circle that are not used.
Here are the G and A major scale notes
Hope I haven’t confused you further.
Michael
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Thanks Michael, I think I understand it now!
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I have finished grade 1 of the beginner guitar course and tried to start the Ear training course. I got through the Introduction to ear training somewhat OK (I have a very bad ear), but when I moved to Grade 1 of Ear Training I felt I was lost. I don’t know what intervals are or what the reference lesson is referring to with regard to different interval names. Should I be taking the music theory course BEFORE I take the ear training course? I am just a musically challenged person who just wants to play the guitar good enough to enjoy it, not impress strangers.
Hi Marcus @msusi, I’m still a beginner myself. As I understand things, in our context an interval is basically the difference in pitch between two (natural, not sharp or flat) notes on a scale. So for example: in the key of C the first two notes of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (twin-kle) are C - the first note of the scale, and the second two notes (the second twin-kle) are G - the fifth note of the scale. I’m sure there’s much more that can be said about this, but (a) I’m doubt that additional detail and complexity helps here, and (b) I’m certainly not the one to be saying those things 
).
I have been working my way through the Practical Music Theory course, but I don’t recall whether that helped my understanding of intervals for ear training. That said, I haven’t regretted a minute I’ve spent studying theory. It’s very easy to do at your own pace.
@msusi @judi An interval is the distance between two notes. I’ll try to explain it without getting to technical. Using The C major scale as an example.
C D E F G A B C or numbered as scale degrees (intervals) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 (1 to 8 is an octave so the same note) so to keep it simple G is the 5th interval of C in the C major scale. There is a lot more to this but see how you just finished grade 1 any more information would just complicate things.