Major Scales in all Keys
The following example demonstrates one octave of the major scale, ascending and descending in every key, and moving anticlockwise around the key cycle. The scales are shown here without tablature to help improve your music reading. There is a vast amount of written music which does not contain tablature.
If you can’t read notation, it means a large proportion of the music in the world is unavailable to you. However, if you can read music well, it is easy to learn a new style of music written for any instrument (not just guitar).
You already know all the notes contained in these scales and they can all be played in the open position or first position. Learning scales may not seem as interesting as playing melodies, but a little effort at this stage will pay off later on, regardless of the style of music you are playing. Memorize the notes of each scale and then try playing it with your eyes closed while visualizing how the notation for the scale would look. Once you have learnt all the scales, you will be able to read music better, play melodies confidently in any key and be able to improvise in any key much more easily. Practice these scales with your metronome to make sure you maintain an even tempo through all the fingerings.
