Major Scale Pattern 1 Lesson on JustinGuitar

If you started the pattern with your 1st finger on the root, fret 3 for G major, you would then need to drop your hand back and shift position to play any of the notes on fret 2.
These patterns, by happy design, span four frets which matches the four fingers you have available to play them - one finger per fret.

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Thanks Richard. That is actually what I thought, but it was that pesky black circle below the red one on the 6th string that confused me. Iā€™ll read through your other posts and hopefully it will all make sense.

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Errrā€¦ nope. Still doesnā€™t make any sense. If I finger an e-shaped barre chord across the 3rd fret (i.e. g-major) it doesnā€™t really represent the scale or interval pattern at all if I have the root note in the 3rd fret of the 6th string (g).

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Again, thanks Richard. This does make sense. Much appreciated.

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My wording may not have been the best. Hereā€™s what I meant:

G major barre chord at the 3rd fret with note names

image

Pattern 1 of the G major scale with note names, notes in the G major chord highlighted

image

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Thanks Jozsef. Many thanks. It does make more sense when you show it like that - but based on the previous lessons, that isnā€™t a necessarily a leap of understanding I think I would have made without asking.

Hopefully all will become clearer as I progress further, and Iā€™ll try to stop overthinking it.

My actual practice of the pattern in different positions up and down the neck is actually coming along nicely however.

Thanks again.

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Now I am on the G Major scale and this is without open strings. Also on the Major Scale Worksheet G is the next after C, so make sense somehow.

So I learn C Major scale first, because it uses open strings and are fixed to the first frets?

Then I learn the G Major, which are a certain pattern, that then can be used to do the D Major also? However, if I look at the D Major scale and should be using this pattern we use for the G Major, the shape 1, I will have to start on the 6th string 10th fret. Is that correct? But using the Major scale pattern 1, I can also find the C Major starting on 6th string 8th fret, but then this C Major is different from the C Major where open strings is included. Confused here, as both are called C Major or maybe not???

PS. Edit, deleted some questions and this added - Richard posted this one: See here: When NOT To Learn Scalesā€¦ | JustinGuitar.com
I guess there is a chart or something that explain what scales are used for what, maybe most of my answers would be there, if there is such a list, what scales are used for what? That would be awesome. I want to compose/write music, so I want to learn the scales and also easy to make melodies when knowing what notes go together, so no doubt I want to learn at least some scales. From that video it also seem I was right, that some scales are used for certain things. - Maybe if I can be directed to a somewhat detailed chart or explanation on that, I think I can figure out the rest of my questions on my own.

Hope itā€™s easy to understand my questions. Cheers

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Justin teaches the CAGED system for scales. This is the 5 scale patterns for the Major scale in every key. Pattern 1 is the E shape major scale which he is teaching kn the key of G in the lesson. This is a movable scale as you have already discovered. The key of the scale is determined by the root note under your index finger on the E string.

The C major scale you already learnt is a C shaped C Major scale(Pattern 3) of the CAGED system. It is also a movable scale. If you move it up 2 frets and barre at the second 2 fret you would be playing the D Major scale using the C shape scale pattern.
The root note is under your ring finger A string.
The good new is once you understand the 5 pattern of the CAGED system you will know all the Majorscales, minor scales and Modes in every key all over the guitar.

But donā€™t go down this Rabbit Hole this early in your journey it wonā€™t help you get to where you want to be without understanding barre chords and chords in each key.

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Thnx a lot @stitch . Happy I got corrected about the first C Major scale I learned, as I thought it was fixed to the first frets and not moveable. :+1: :pray:

Start to make sense now. In the G Major on 6th string, it is fret 0, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 10, 12, 14, 15 ---- so from that I can already compose some melodic tunes, just using the 6th string. - That can then be transferred to using all 6 strings and then again into different chordsā€¦

That G Major scale, ( G, A, B, C, D, E, F#, G ) I can do so many places, like on 2nd, 3rd and 4th string, starting with G on 4th string 5th fret. Things are expanding while getting more easy. cool!

Is there a Video by Justin or some text, a sheet or something that explain or at least give some direction, what the different scale modes are used for? Justin mention that one is very specific for one thing, but he didnā€™t mention. - There are all those modes, Dorian, Mixolydian, Pentatonic, Aeolian etc etc. - Really would like to get an overview on all the mode names and what each are used for or what direction it takes one, as one is for blues an so on. All those snippets here and there without really telling, actually makes it more confusing for me. - Really would appreciate to get an overview on that.

Thnx

Edit added: Ok, found something. - https://www.justinguitar.com/guitar-lessons/introduction-to-modes-mt-721

Think I will be fine for a while :sunglasses: :heart: :pray:

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When I play this pattern on the first few frets of the neckā€”say up to the fifth fretā€”everything sounds fine and I can sing ā€œsolfegeā€ along with the scale. However, when I go higher up the neckā€”especially after the ninth fretā€”my low E string sounds really out of tune. I then check the tuning (using an app) and the guitar appears to be in tune. Does anybody know whatā€™s happening? I wonder if itā€™s my ears or my guitar. (Iā€™m playing an old Seagull acoustic guitar; strings are in good shape, just changed them a week or so ago)

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Check if the action on your guitar is good (the manufacturer specs might be available online). If the action is too high, youā€™re likely to press harder on the strings making them sound sharp.

Another option is the intonation, but thatā€™s a bit of a hassle to fix on an acoustic and may require a luthier.

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Check the tuning of the 6 string on the 12th fret. Also the harmonic. Is it in tune? If not, intonation is out.

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Jozsef and rorystrat: thank you both for your responses!

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Everything derives from and references back to the major scale.

Concentrate on the major scale pattern 1 and avoid the endless rabbit holes as @stitch suggests.

Pattern 1.
Learn it in your fingers and ears.
Use it to make music.
That can take you weeks and months.
Donā€™t go anywhere near other patterns or scales yet.

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Massive lightbulb moment. Just realised how the major scale pattern and the worksheet we had to do tie in to each other along with the pattern of tones and semitones. :slight_smile: Mind blown. I knew doing the theory would have its benefits

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Just a personal view on what might help with teaching, thatā€™s been touched on above.

Weā€™ve come to this lesson from learning t-t-s-t-t-t-s and now we have an apparently random allocation of notes across the fretboard to make a major scale. I think it would help some people just to draw attention to the fact that this pattern 1 is conforming to the major scale template. Doesnā€™t have to be overdone.

I also have a great printout from another lesson that shows the root on the sixth string and the relative position of the degrees on the same and adjacent string.

Just relating these to each other in this lesson would help to pull it all together and give some context and reasoning. In his introduction to the theory lessons Justin talks about how it all fits together, and this is an opportunity to show that.

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Thanks for your input and observations.
Does this graphic from my post #60 above help?

That information could also be given on a set of neck diagrams, one using the scale pattern and one using a linear, single string pattern.

But, using of these two diagrams proves problematic , the first in that it is not a scale pattern and the second in trying to show the tone / semitone jump when moving to an adjacent string.

There are some concepts that canā€™t be meshed together in a visual format so easily.

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For anyone who made it 77 replies into a thread on major scalesā€¦thinking about the scale degrees will also be helpful in your guitar future. Knowing where the 4th, 5th, flat 7th etc will be something you will need to know. In keeping with the examples with a G root on the 6th string, hereā€™s that same major scale pattern with the scale degrees labeled:

If you start to build some familiarity with this the concepts like a 7th chord (which is how a flat 7th is referred to - itā€™s just a chord with a note a whole tone lower than the root), or playing a flat 5 (a note one semi tone below the 5) will make more sense. Thereā€™s a ton of ways scale degrees are useful for finding your way around the fretboard.

(Edited to correct my mis-use of the terms ā€œintervalsā€ and scale degrees - thank you Richard!)

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Thanks for sharing a useful diagram @jsgreen ā€¦

Thereā€™s just one subtle yet important detail that needs amending. The numbers shown are scale degrees, not intervals.

Cheers :smiley:
| Richard | JustinGuitar Approved Teacher, Official Guide & Moderator

Yes, you are right - thanks for pointing that out, Iā€™ve edited to make my post more accurate.

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