C Major Scale

72 scales in every key on a map of the whole neck: positions, patterns, and every note played as it lights up.

The C major scale has 7 notes: C – D – E – F – G – A – B. The major scale is the yardstick of Western music: every other scale is described by how it differs from it, chords are built from it, and do re mi fa so la ti is its sound. On guitar it is the scale to learn second, after the minor pentatonic.

It is the yardstick the other scales are measured against. It has exactly the same notes as A minor, started from a different root.

The explorer above is set to C major: the whole neck is mapped, and you can zoom into any of its 7 positions, change the labels to degrees or fingers, and hear it up, down and in patterns.

C major scale notes

Degree	Note	Interval from C	Frets above the root	Sargam
1	C	R	0	S
2	D	M2	2	R
3	E	M3	4	G
4	F	P4	5	M
5	G	P5	7	P
6	A	M6	9	D
7	B	M7	11	N

Steps between the notes: W W H W W W H (W = two frets, H = one fret). Start on any C and follow those steps up one string to play the scale.

C major scale positions on the guitar

With three notes on every string, C major has seven patterns that climb the neck. Position 1 starts on C on the low E string at fret 8; each next position starts on the next note of the scale. In standard tuning, high string first:

Position	E (1st)	B	G	D	A	E (6th)
Position 1 frets 8–13	10 12 13	10 12 13	9 10 12	9 10 12	8 10 12	8 10 12
Position 2 frets 10–15	12 13 15	12 13 15	10 12 14	10 12 14	10 12 14	10 12 13
Position 3 frets 12–17	13 15 17	13 15 17	12 14 16	12 14 15	12 14 15	12 13 15
Position 4 frets 13–19	15 17 19	15 17 18	14 16 17	14 15 17	14 15 17	13 15 17
Position 5 frets 15–20	17 19 20	17 18 20	16 17 19	15 17 19	15 17 19	15 17 19
Position 6 frets 17–22	19 20 22	18 20 22	17 19 21	17 19 21	17 19 20	17 19 20
Position 7 frets 7–12	8 10 12	8 10 12	7 9 10	7 9 10	7 8 10	7 8 10

Chords in the C major scale

Stacking every other note of the scale on each degree gives these chords. They are the chords a song in C major is made from, and the chords this scale fits over.

	I	ii	iii	IV	V	vi	vii°
Triad	C	Dm	Em	F	G	Am	Bdim
7th chord	Cmaj7	Dm7	Em7	Fmaj7	G7	Am7	Bm7♭5

Where you hear it

C major is used in pop, folk, country, film songs and melodies of every kind. It sounds best over major chords and major 7th chords on the root, and the I, IV and V chords of the key.

Backing tracks to practise C major

C blues shuffle C slow blues C major pop C major ballad C jazz ii – V – I C Mixolydian rock

How to practise it

Play position 1 (frets 8–13) slowly, up and down, saying the note names.
Play it with the pattern set to In 3s, then In 4s, at a tempo where every note is clean.
Learn position 2 and how it joins position 1: the notes they share are where your hand moves.
Switch the labels to degrees and find every C (1) in each position.
Improvise over a backing track, ending your phrases on C.