Major Scales And Modes

Learn the notes of the major scale on guitar. Learn about the major scale modes. Download free software that shows you all the notes of the major scales and modes on the guitar in every key.

What Is The Major Scale On The Guitar

UPDATE

There’s an updated version of this software here:

Major Scales And Modes For Guitar

The new version now shows two three note per string patterns for each scale and mode. One pattern has the root note on the sixth string, the other one has the root note on the fifth string.

I'm going to try and keep this simple and the music theory to a minimum. These are the twelve notes on the guitar over two octaves:

A A#/Bb B C C#/Db D D#/Eb E F F#/Gb G G#/Ab A A#/Bb B C C#/Db D D#/Eb E F F#/Gb G G#/Ab

The sequence of notes for a major scale is:

whole whole half whole whole whole half

Where whole is a whole tone, or two frets, or two notes, eg from C to D.

Half is a half tone, or one fret, or one note, eg from C to C#/Db.

Using this formula, the notes of the C Major scale are:

C D E F G A B C

The notes of the G Major scale are:

G A B C D E F# G

What Are The Modes Of The Major Scale

Very simply, the different modes of a major scale are the same but starting on a different note of that scale. Following are the modes of the C Major scale:

C Ionian Mode
C D E F G A B C

D Dorian Mode
D E F G A B C D

E Phrygian Mode
E F G A B C D E

F Lydian Mode
F G A B C D E F

G Mixolydian Mode
G A B C D E F G

A Aeolian Mode
A B C D E F G A

B Locrian Mode
B C D E F G A B

We'll now do the same wth the G Major scale to reinforce this:

G Ionian Mode
G A B C D E F# G

A Dorian Mode
A B C D E F# G A

B Phrygian Mode
B C D E F# G A B

C Lydian Mode
C D E F# G A B C

D Mixolydian Mode
D E F# G A B C D

E Aeolian Mode
E F# G A B C D E

F# Locrian Mode
F# G A B C D E F#

Major Scales And Modes Software For Guitar

This software is similar to my other Guitar Scales Software except it shows the major scales and modes instead of the major and minor pentatonic and blues scales. The diagram below shows the opening screen.

 

This alone shows quite a few things. Firstly, you can pick a key in the first column and instantly see the notes of the major scale in that key.

E.g., the notes of the A Major scale are A B C# D E F# and G#.

Secondly, the can instantly see the starting note for any mode in any key.

E.g., B Major scale Lydian mode starts with E so the notes are E F# G# A# B C# and D#.

You can pick any mode and find the notes in that mode.

E.g., A Lydian. Go across the top to Lydian and then go down to A. We can see that this mode is in the key of E and the notes are A B C# D# E F# and G#.

Finally, you can find what scale you can play a chord over. A little theory here, a major chord uses the first, third, and fifth notes of its major scale. The C Major chord would then use the notes C E and G. If you look along each row you can see that the C chord can be used in the key of F (C Mixolydian) and G (C Lydian), apart from the obvious C Major scale.

Double click on the scale you want to look at. The diagram below shows that I've opened up the F Major scale.

 You will find the root note F is highlighted in red. Along the top of the screen are the tabs for the seven modes. Below I've selected Lydian. The notes are the same but this time Bb is highlighted in red as the root note.

Unlike the previous Guitar Scales Software, I've not shown any boxes or patterns. This is because, with seven notes in the scale, there are a number of possible patterns. You can try out different combinations and see what works best for you. Below are two possible combinations of the F Major scale over two octaves.

 

This is a Microsoft Windows software program and requires at least Windows 2000 to work, ie Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7. Click the button below and follow the instructions to download Major Scales And Modes For Guitar to your computer. Unzip and run the file and follow the instructions to install it.