Guitar Lesson 2

Lesson 2

In this lesson we will learn how to build a major scale, a pentatonic scale and how to play C major and C major pentatonic in 1st position (also called open position).

Be sure to review Lesson 1. Constant review is essential to learn anything well.

Reading Lesson 2

Start with the reading exercises before scrolling down this page.

Fretboard

In lesson 1 we introduced half steps and whole steps. Remember a whole step is 2 half steps. We learned that on the piano there is no black key in between E and F or between B and C. So now let's translate that to a couple of our guitar strings.

Start with your high E string. Remember Bert and Ernie. Every time you land on E, F is the very next fret. So in this case F is the very first fret.

G would be a whole step higher on the 3rd fret. The fret between F and G would be the black key on the piano (F# or Gb).

A would also be a whole step higher on the 5th fret and another whole step to B on the 7th.

Once on B, a half step will take you to C. Remember Bert. Every time you land on B, C is the next fret.

From C, D would be a whole step higher on the 10th fret and another whole step to E on the 12th fret. Note that the 12th fret has the same letter names as the open strings. The E on the 12th fret is one octave higher than the open E. We will learn more about octaves later.

If we were to continue, F would than be a half step on the 13th fret.

So the thing to remember is Bert and Ernie. Every time you land on Ernie (E), F is the very next fret. Every time you land on Bert (B), C is the next fret. All other alphabet letters have a whole step between them.

You can see on the fretboard above how it looks on the D string. For this week, let's just worry about the notes on the high E string. The video below shows a great way to practice playing the natural notes on the high E string. The notes will also be the same on your low E.

E Phyrgian - when you play from E to E like above, you are playing E Phyrgian. This is a mode starting from the 3rd degree of a major scale. Don't worry about that for now. We will discuss it further in a later lesson. At this point we are just trying to make sense of the 12 tones and how the notes are arranged on the fretboard.

The Major Scale

In Lesson 1 we learned that there are 12 notes that make up tonal music. Now we will look at 7 of these notes put in a specific order that will make up the sound of the major scale. The 7 notes are determined by starting on any note of the 12 and following a specific series of whole and half steps.

The formula is: W W H W W W H (whole, whole, half, whole, whole, whole, half)

If we start on a C we will end up with the C major scale:

This also tells us that the key of C Major has no sharps or flats (doesn't use any black keys on the piano).

Let's build a C major scale on both the B string and the A string:

1. Start on a C
2. Whole step higher to D
3. Whole step to E
4. Half step to F (remember Ernie- we were on E so F is the very next fret)
5. Whole step to G
6. Whole step to A
7. Whole step to B
8. Half step to C (remember Bert - C is a half step away because there is no black key between B and C or E and F)

60 bpm = 60 beats per minute. This is the tempo marking and will be put at the start of a piece of music:

= 60

1st Position C Major Scale

Playing scales on one string is a great way to learn the fretboard but we are also going to want to be able to play in positions. The scale on the staff could be played in a number of positions on the guitar but for now we will play it in 1st position. Also commonly called open position. The video below shows C major scale being played in 1st position.

Index finger looks after 1st fret
Middle finger looks after 2nd fret
Ring finger looks after 3rd fret
Little finger would look after 4th fret but in this case it is not needed.

Alternate picking is shown above the staff. Starting with a down.

Start by playing the low C with your 3rd finger on the 3rd fret of your A string. Then a whole step higher could take us to 5th fret D but we will play our open D instead. They are the same note. So when we look at music and see that D, we could play either. But because we are trying to stay in 1st position, we will use open D. From D we go a whole step to E on the 2nd fret of our D string. Continue up the alphabet until you get to the C on the 1st fret of your high E string.

No matter which of the 12 tones you start on, if you follow the formula they will sound the same except in a different key. The first part of Joy to the World is a major scale played back down.

Click Here to build a G major scale on the G string.

C Major Pentatonic Scale

The pentatonic scale is a 5 note scale.

We went from learning the 12 tones used in music to the 7 tones used to make up the major scale and now we will look at just 5.

We will build a major pentatonic scale by taking out the 4th and 7th degrees (notes) of the major scale. The 4th degree of the C major scale was F and the 7th was B. Play your C major scale but skip those two notes and you will hear the sound of the C major pentatonic scale.

Listen - midi file (right click to open in new window)
= 30
A quarter note equals 30 means that there will be 30 beats per minute (bpm) because the quarter note is worth 1 beat.

Listen - 60bpm is like the second hand on a clock
= 60

My Girl

Let's Play. Using an ascending (low note to high) major pentatonic scale with a specific rhythm and it sounds like My Girl.

C major Pentatonic My Girl

For a complete beat by beat breakdown:

Click Here

Most of the lessons in the members section have a fun riff or song that has been broken down to let us really get inside certain techniques and topics.

Work to play along with the half speed midi files 5 times in a row without a mistake before moving to the next page.

As far as the full speed midi files go, concentrate on getting through the whole breakdown at half speed first. Once you can play the whole riff 5 times in a row with no mistake at half speed, then begin working on the full speed the same way.

Developing strong healthy practice habits is the key to progressing on any musical instrument. You should now be practicing:

Finger gymnastics
Alternate picking on open strings (be sure to say string names)
C major scale up and back down
C major pentatonic up and back down
My Girl riff

You do not have to master the above topics before moving on. This is important. Constant review will eventually let us master the topics in each lesson. In some cases it will be months or years to master certain lessons. So for now, it is important to keep moving forward and learning new things. Most people fairly new to the instrument should plan to spend 10-30 minutes a day for a week on this lesson before moving to Lesson 3.