MICRO COURSE · 21-PAGE PDF · $5
The Major Scale.
Any key, anywhere on the neck
Stuck in one box, in one key? This beginner course gets you out. Keep your hand still and play four keys, B, E, A and D, from one position at the 7th fret. Then play the same four keys at the 2nd fret and around the 4th, practise over 12-bar blues backing tracks, and turn each major key into its relative minor.
Who it's for
Beginners who know a scale shape or two but only play in one key, in one place on the neck. If someone calls a different key and your box no longer fits, this course is for you.
Before you start: you should be able to read simple guitar tablature (tab) and play a few notes in time. You don't need to read music or know lots of theory. The 1, 4 and 5, Nashville numbers and relative minors are all explained as you go. It takes regular practice, a little most days, and every page tells you exactly what to practise.
Four keys. One hand position.
Then anywhere on the neck.
Start with the goal and the route out of the box, then the major scale itself and the 1-4-5 geometry that shows you where your target notes sit. Exercise 1 plays B, E, A and D from one hand position at the 7th fret, one key a page, with fingering, roots, targets and tab.
Then the same four keys at the 2nd fret and around the 4th, sliding a fret to reach all 12 keys, and the relative minor of every key you know. Eight 12-bar blues backing tracks are linked in the PDF, each with a bar-by-bar chart in Nashville numbers, so you always know when to land on the 1, the 4 and the 5.
- 02The goal and the route
Why you get stuck in a box, and the clear route out: more keys from where your hand is, and more places to play one key.
- 03The major scale and the 1, 4 and 5
The scale's recipe, and the simple fretboard geometry that tells you where your target notes sit.
- 04Four keys at the 7th fret
B, E, A and D without moving your hand, with fingering, roots, targets and tab for each key.
- 0512-bar blues in numbers
Bar-by-bar charts for each backing track, and Nashville numbers explained from scratch.
- 10The 2nd fret and around the 4th
The same four keys in two more places, using all seven major scale shapes.
- 15Slide a fret
Move the whole position by one fret for 8 keys, then 10, then all 12.
- 16Same notes, new home
Every major key is also a minor key: G♯, C♯, F♯ and B minor from the shapes you already know, with four minor tracks and their charts.
- 19Anywhere on the neck and a practice plan
Find the nearest root, one key across the whole neck, and a checklist to work through, one key or position a session.
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