If we are to play each note available to us on any Western instrument in an ascending or descending order, then each note will be one half step away from the next. Everything will also be played in open position which refers to the first 3 frets, so it is vital that we have an understanding of our chords and scale in this position.Ī major scale is made up of a pattern of intervals, steps and half steps (also called tones and semitones outside the U.S.). In this course, we are only going to be playing diatonic arrangements, this means that all the notes we will use will be either C, D, E, F, G, A, or B. Some of you may be reading this article as part of our Guitar Solo Style Course. If I were to play a note outside the key, say a G#, it would be called non-diatonic-meaning that the note is not diatonic, or does not belong, to the key of C major.

The intervals between these notes work together to create a key. If all of the your favorite pop songs were played in the key of C major, chances are they only use these 7 notes, whether it is in the melody, the chords, or the bassline. The key of C contains 7 notes: C, D, E, F, G, A, B we can mix up these notes to play melodies. In addition to having no sharps or flats to think about, it also contains all the open notes of a guitar, so we can use this to our advantage. But if we are to approach the guitar in a theoretical way, it really is best to start with C major. In relation to the piano, this scale is played on white keys only, which makes the scale visually more approachable.Ĭ major on the guitar is not always the first scale we learn, some often learn G or D. Each piece of Western music can be transposed into 12 different keys, so it makes sense to learn each key centre thoroughly.Ĭ major is the simplest as it contains no sharps or flats.

First note c has seven sharps