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Guitar Scales for Beginners

A scale is a set of notes that sound good together. Two scales cover almost everything a beginner needs: the minor pentatonic (rock, blues, and most solos you have heard) and the major scale (melodies and happy-sounding songs). Learn one shape of each and you can move them anywhere on the neck.

1. The A minor pentatonic scale (5th fret)

"Pentatonic" means five notes. This is the most-played scale shape on guitar. Green dots are the root note (A) - land on those to sound finished.

  1. Start on the 5th fret of the thickest string - that is A.
  2. Play two notes per string, working across to the thinnest string: index finger for the 5th-fret notes, ring or pinky for the 7th- and 8th-fret notes.
  3. Play up and back down slowly, one clean note at a time.
Why learn this one: the same shape works at any fret. Move it down to the open position area (frets 0-3, using the same two-notes-per-string spacing) and you are playing E minor pentatonic.

2. The G major scale (3rd fret)

The major scale is the do-re-mi sound. This shape covers one octave (G to G) plus two extra notes. It starts on G at the 3rd fret of the thickest string.

Play it slowly and sing the notes (do re mi...) if you can - connecting your ear to the pattern is the point of learning it.

Daily 5-minute scale routine

  1. Minute 1-2: minor pentatonic, up and down, as slowly as needed for clean notes.
  2. Minute 3-4: major scale the same way.
  3. Minute 5: mess around - skip strings, play random notes from the pentatonic shape over a chord loop. This is where scales turn into music.

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