Lesson 6: Playing The C Scale
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Click on the triangle in the image below to view video lesson 6:
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The names of the notes on the staff: (from bottom to top) See Figures 1 and 2 in Lesson 5 for diagrams:
On the five lines: E G B D F ( Remember Every Good Boy Does Fine)
On the four spaces: F A C E (Remember the word Face)
Select a song in the key of “C” that you want to learn.
Obtain a sheet of music of the song that you selected.
On the sheet of music you selected, write out the string number below each note in the song and the fret number above each note in the song.
You can determine which string and fret number to write on the music for each note by referring to the “C” scale diagram in this online video lesson.
Or determine the string and fret numbers by using the notes that you have made in your study notebook from watching the this online video lesson.
(The numbers should be written below and above the staff as shown in the video).
Hopefully, you have selected a song to learn of which you already know the tune and rythym, so that you will know how long to hold the note or rest between notes.
Refer to Lesson 9 to learn the time value of notes and rests.
The time value of notes and rests represent the length of time that each note is played, and the length of time of silence between the notes.
Practice playing the song by locating the notes on the guitar by using the numbers on the sheet of music.
Keep an eye on the musical note as well while you are practicing the song.
After a week or two of practice, you will begin to remember how to play the note by looking at the note on the music rather than by looking a the string and fret numbers.
Continue practicing until you can play the song without using the numbers.
Select other songs in the key of C and practice playing them without writing the string and fret numbers on the sheet of music.
Keep practicing to permanently learn and be able to remember how to read these musical notes on a sheet of music.
A word about tablature: It is better to learn how to read music than to learn how to read tablature.
It is just as easy for the beginner to learn to read music as it is to learn to read tablature.
And reading music will permit you to attain a higher level of musicianship, whether sight reading, playing by ear, playing alone or playing with a group of musicians.
Learning to read music will also make it easier to learn how to play other instruments and help your sight reading as a singer.
After you learn how to read music, you may decide to learn how to read tab as a short cut to writing down the tunes of songs you are learning.
The major scale is 8 notes in length. The scale begins and ends with the tonic note, also known as the key note.
The name of the scale is the name of the tonic note. For example, the C scale is called a C scale because it begins and ends on the C note, which is the tonic note of the scale.
The interval between the first and last note of the scale is one octave.
The C major scale: learn the names of the notes and be able to identify their position on the staff as shown in Figure 1 below.
Figure 1: The notes of the C major scale in first position: 
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Multi-Octave Major Scales and Other Types of scales:
The C major scale that we learned is a one octave scale, because the scale is eight notes in length, starts and ends on the tonic and eight notes define one octave.
Multi-octaved scales can be played that exceed one octave in range.
The limiting number of octaves that can be played for a multi-octave scale is only limited by the tonal range of the instrument (or if singing, by your voice).
There are many other types of scales in addition to the major scale discussed so far in these lessons.
Other types of scales do not always start and end on the tonic, and do not have an 8 note range of one octave.
Some of these special scales, which will be discussed later, form the major musical patterns that give the different genres of music their distinctive sound.
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