Banjo · Chapter 20 of 23

Scales and the Fretboard

Tunes are built from scales. Knowing where the scale’s notes lie on your neck lets you find melodies by ear and work out arrangements for yourself.

A scale is the set of notes a tune draws on, in order. In open G tuning, the G major scale lies close to the nut, with open strings for many of its notes.

G major in first position

The G major scale is G A B C D E F♯ G. On the banjo, from the open 4th string (D) up to the 1st string:

The labels are scale degrees: R is the root (G), 2 is A, 3 is B and so on. Press any dot to hear it.

Here it is up and down, with each finger on its own strings: the thumb on the 4th and 3rd, the index on the 2nd, the middle on the 1st. The open 5th string at the top is the scale’s high G.

The pentatonic scale

Leave out two notes, the 4th (C) and the 7th (F♯), and you have the G major pentatonic scale: G A B D E. Five notes, no awkward half steps. A great many Southern tunes and hymns use it; How Firm a Foundation uses only these five notes. Almost all of them are open strings or the 2nd fret:

D major

Fiddle tunes in D use the D major scale: D E F♯ G A B C♯ D. In open G tuning it starts on the open 4th string. In open D tuning it is even simpler, because the open strings are D, F♯ and A.

Finding a tune by ear. Hum the first notes of a tune you know, and look for them on the 3rd, 2nd and 1st strings in the G scale above. Most simple tunes start on G, B or D. Once you have the melody notes, you can put them into rolls or clawhammer strikes, as in the earlier chapters.

Try it. Play the G scale up and down slowly with the metronome, then from memory. Then play just the pentatonic notes, in any order, over an open G strum: everything you play will sound like a banjo tune.

Remember

G major: G A B C D E F♯ G; in open G it lies near the nut with many open strings.
G major pentatonic: G A B D E, the scale of many Southern tunes.
D major: D E F♯ G A B C♯ D, for fiddle tunes in D.