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C Major Scale: Fretboard Diagrams, Chords,

Notes and Charts
January 8, 2020 by Aaron Matthies

The C Major Scale is the first scale you should learn on the
guitar. It’s the starting point for all other scales and the easiest
to learn. Once you learn how to find the notes of the C Major
scale on your fretboard, you can easily learn scales like the G
Major or F Major scale by simply changing one note.

This guide covers everything you might want to know about the
C Major scale including common open chords, note positions on
a fretboard diagram, and more.

These resources are based on having your guitar in standard

tuning. Read this guide on Alternate Guitar Tunings if you want
to try something different.

Note: the resources here are helpful, but they should only be a
starting point for your practice. Once you memorize these
notes on your fretboard, you won’t need to use the resources
found in this guide. Find out how to memorize the notes on the
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fretboard here using effective methods that don’t require

much time or effort.

Table of Contents [ hide ]

1 C Major Scale = A Minor Scale
2 Notes in the C Major Scale
3 C Major Scale Fretboard Diagram
4 C Major Scale in Guitar TAB and Standard Notation
5 C Major Scale Chords
6 Guitar Songs Using the C Major Scale
6.1 Related Guides and Lessons:

C Major Scale = A Minor Scale

For every Major scale in music, there is what we call a ‘relative’

minor. A ‘relative’ scale is one that uses the same notes but is
used in different ways. This means for every Major scale, there
is a minor scale using the same notes.

The C Major scale and the A minor scale both use the exact
same notes. The main difference between the two (to keep
things simple) is the root note of each scale. In the C Major
scale, the root note is ‘C’. In the A minor scale, the root note is
‘A’.

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Once you learn some basic music theory you will understand
how two different scales can use the same notes, but for now,
all you need to do is remember that both C Major and A minor
scales use the same notes.

This means you can use all the diagrams, exercises and chords
covered in this guide for both the C Major scale and the A minor
scale.

Notes in the C Major Scale

The C Major scale is the easiest scale to remember because it

doesn’t have any sharps or flats. The notes are: C D E F G A B

The main reason why the C Major scale is usually the first scale
to learn is that it has no sharps or flats. It makes it easier to read
on sheet music and easier to find the notes on the guitar.

If you’re ever at a piano and want to noodle around, you can

play the C Major scale if you only play the white keys. On a
piano, the black keys are the sharps and flats.

The notes in the A minor scale are: A B C D E F G. As you can

see, it’s the exact same notes as the C Major scale. The A minor
scale starts on ‘A’ (called the root note) and the C Major scale
starts on ‘C’, but both scales contain the same seven notes.
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C Major Scale Fretboard Diagram

Here are the notes of the C Major scale across the entire
fretboard:

Pay extra attention to all the ‘C’ positions as C is the root note
of the scale. If you don’t know how to use the above diagram,
keep reading as we will look at some basic exercises to get you
playing the C Major scale.

How to use the above fretboard diagram:

Improvise over a C Major backing track by playing any of

the above notes
Learn to find chord shapes that fit with the highlighted
notes
Practice scale runs between any two points on the
fretboard
Memorize the notes on the fretboard one string at a
time

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The C Major scale is the most important scale to learn so it’s

worth spending the time to memorize the above notes.

To memorize the above notes, read through this guide on

memorizing the fretboard. The guide will show you how to
break the fretboard down into easy parts to memorize.

C Major Scale in Guitar TAB and Standard Notation

The below Guitar TAB and standard notation show four

examples of the C Major scale:

If you don’t know how to read the above example, find out how
to read Standard Notation in this guide and how to read Guitar
TAB in this guide. Knowing at least one of these methods can
significantly speed up your progress.

Try playing the four examples to get a feel for how C Major
sounds and where the correct notes are on the fretboard.

The first two examples play the exact same notes in different
positions. Learning to find different positions for the same

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notes is a good way to get to know the fretboard. The last two
examples also use the same notes as each other, only these
examples are an octave higher than the first two examples.

Then use the fretboard diagram and try finding different scale
positions. Play the scale runs up and down as an exercise to get
you used to the positions.

C Major Scale Chords

There are certain chords that work with the C Major scale. This
is handy to know if you want to write a song or jam in the ‘key
of C’.

In music theory, we can ‘harmonize’ the scale to figure out what

those chords are. To make things easy for you, here are the
seven main chords of the C Major scale:

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You might already know most of these chords as they are some
of the most common open chords on the guitar.

Try making up some chord progressions using the above chords

and listen to how they sound when played together. A lot of
songs use the above chords so you may find you accidentally
play a progression from a well-known song.

Don’t worry about the last chord (Bdim) as you’re unlikely to

use it. When we harmonize a Major scale, the last chord in the
scale is always a diminished chord. While diminished chords are

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used in music, as a beginner or intermediate guitarist you may

not have much use for them yet.

Note: remember that the A minor scale uses the exact same
notes as the C Major scale. This means the above chords also fit
in the key of A minor.

As mentioned earlier, you shouldn’t rely on these resources.

Learn how to memorize the notes on the fretboard. It might be
easier to use a chart like the ones above to find your way across
the fretboard, but you’ll become a far better guitarist if you
properly memorize the fretboard notes.

Guitar Songs Using the C Major Scale

There are countless songs written on guitar using the C Major

scale. The first chords you learn as a beginner on guitar (or
piano) perfectly fit in the key of C, which is why so many songs
were written using the C Major scale.

Here are some popular guitar songs using the C Major scale:

Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin

While My Guitar Gently Weeps by The Beatles
Hallelujah by Jeff Buckley
Californication by Red Hot Chili Peppers
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The Pretender by Foo Fighters

House of the Rising Sun by The Animals
Smooth by Santana
La Grange by ZZ Top
Hurt by Johnny Cash

Don’t forget that the C Major scale and the A minor scale both
use the same notes, so some of the above songs are in the key
of C and others are in the key of A minor.

Also keep in mind that while a song might be based on a scale,

it doesn’t mean the song will perfectly stick to a scale the whole
way through.

Once you learn the C Major scale, I recommend learning the G

Major scale next. The G Major scale only changes one note, so
you can learn a full new scale really quickly.

Here are some other resources for guitar scales worth learning:

G Major Scale – learn after C Major

D Major Scale – learn after G Major
A Major Scale – learn after D Major

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F Major Scale – learn anytime after C Major

For more resources, check out these guides. You can get
notifications on new resources, guides, lessons, and reviews by
subscribing to email updates here.

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