Fingerings of the Major Scales, page 1

Major Scales in the 1st position

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In the series of exercises that follow, we will learn and memorize the fingerings of the major scales in the first position.
The term position indicates the fret on which the index finger presses using the four fret rule, a technique that requires the use of the fingers of the left hand within a section of four adjacent frets. For example, if we play a string with the index finger on the fifth fret, the middle finger will play the sixth fret, the ring finger the seventh and the little finger the 8th, independent of the string. Therefore we are playing in the fifth position.
The main purpose of this section is to memorize the position of the notes for the first four frets, as well as having some technical exercises for the picking of the right hand and the fingerings of the left hand. Follow closely the explanation of how to preform the examples in the scale of C major and repeat them, if necessary, so that you can gain confidence using this system. The energy that will be spent in these pages will be rewarded when you move on to the development of successive advanced studies of the scales.
The graphical notations used here are analyzed in the tables of the scales section. For the traditional notation you can return to the stave or the tablature sections, which are more specific for the guitar.
The fingerings of the scales are written in Italian. The notes can be translated using the chart seen below.

Italian	DO	RE	MI	FA	SOL	LA	SI
English	C	D	E	F	G	A	B

Scale of C major in the 1st position

We begin the analysis for the fingering of the C major scale using the system already analyzed. In the first position the numbers of the fingers of the left hand, 1 (index), 2 (middle), 3 (ring finger) and 4 (little finger), also correspond to the numbers of the first four frets on the guitar.
Every scale will always have the root of that scale, as the starting note. The term root indicates the note that names the scale.
Therefore the first note will always be the root of that scale.

		The first note that we will play, the C, is found by pressing with the 3rd finger (ring) on the 3rd fret of the fifth string.
		Here is the position of the C note on the stave. Play it a few times to verify that the resulting sound is clear and without humming, which can be caused by the incorrect pressure of the fingers on the string.

Now play the D note, which is the fourth open string. Pay attention to the ring finger, which is still pressing the fifth string: it is important that you don't touch the lower part of the string below. The correct position of the left hand will avoid this problem.
As you can see, the D note has been added to the C. First play one then the other in succession, remembering that they are single notes and their sounds should not overlap.

		The new note is E, that results from the pressure of the middle finger on the 2nd fret of the fourth string. Use the same pressure of the fingers on the strings as before.
		Here is the position of the note E on the stave. Play the three notes just seen one after the other, in ascending and descending succession: C D E D C D E D etc. Remember not to overlap the sounds.

With the ring finger pressing the fourth string at the 3rd fret, we get the F note. If the note comes in sequence after a previous note, E for instance, the finger that plays this last note must be left pressed.
The stave now also shows the F note. Memorize the four notes just seen, both on the fretboard and on the stave, so that you can perform the next exercises.

Let's practice on the notes we have seen up to this point. The score below develops a sequence with the C, D and E notes. Play it very slowly, trying to memorize the position of the notes on the fretboard and on the stave. The purpose of this exercise is to know how to quickly visualize the position of the notes and their relative names.

In the second exercise we also find the F note, and the suggestions from the previous exercise also apply here. Remember that when you play on a same string, the fingers pressing in ascending order must be kept on the string. For example, on the third movement of the first bar, the middle finger that presses the E note is left on the string because then the ring finger presses the third fret (note F). In this way you avoid wasted movements of the left hand. Moving to the next bar, you will see that you only need to lift the ring finger, because the middle finger is ready on the E note.

Before moving onto the third exercise, be sure that you can quickly recognize the notes. In fact, in this case the reading is a bit more complicated. Don't memorize the exercise itself, but practice it for a few days, maybe even once or twice a day. The lesson will be more useful this way.

Even more complicated. Also try to use alternate picking while playing very slowly.

		Next we come to the G note, on the third open string. Even if the sketch shows all the notes together in their global context, remember to always perform them one by one.
		Here is the position of the G note on the stave. To memorize the notes start from the root, climbing up to the actual note, then coming back down to the root.

The A is found on the third string by pressing the 2nd fret with the middle finger. Repeat the notes as above, adding the A.
The position of the A note on the stave.

		On the second open string we find the B note. We put all the notes just seen in ascending and descending order, starting from the root.
		The position of the B note on the stave.

The sequence of seven notes of a scale in the exercises usually finishes with the octave, which is one octave above the root.
And finally here is the C note on the stave that is one octave above. Try to practice with these notes.

Now you can make a series of exercises where you will also learn the G, A, B and C notes. I suggest that you play slowly.

If you want to study this some more, you can go to the exercises page of the C major scale in the first position.
We will now continue the development of the C scale by inserting all the notes of the root that we find in the first position.

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