Learning scales is a something that we all know is common to most instruments. Scale (from the Greek word “ladder”) are used to create melodies or songs. As guitarists, it’s important to get a good grounding and this lesson deals with open string major scales at the bottom of the neck.

LEARNING THE OPEN STRING SCALES IN FIVE KEYS

The good thing about learning these scales is that they all use the same techniques re picking and left hand finger application. If you are a bit flummoxed by this, check out the excellent video from our Beginners Guitar Course by Gary Clinton titled Introduction To Scales. Assuming that you already know the material covered in that lesson, you’re ready to dive in. So, as mentioned at the beginning of this paragraph, if you can play one scale correctly, you can play them all.

One question that you may be asking is “why do I need to learn scales in different keys?”. The reason for this is that there are twelve major and minor keys. If we only new a song in one key, then we would soon run into trouble. For example, a singer will have a certain range that they can sing in. If the key that the song is written in is either to high or low for the singer, the singer won’t be able to sing the song. By changing the key, we can ensure that all the notes within a singers range are there. The same is true of all other instruments.  Although we also to a greater extent need to take the “sweet spot” re the instruments range into account. We will at times need to change key to make sure all notes are playable.