Ukulele · Chapter 16 of 24
The Major Scale
Do re mi fa sol la ti do. Learn where the major scale lies on the ukulele and the tunes start to fall under your fingers.
A major scale is eight notes, from one note up to the same letter an octave higher, in a fixed pattern of steps: whole, whole, half, whole, whole, whole, half. A whole step is two frets; a half step is one.
C major
C major uses no sharps or flats: C D E F G A B C. In first position it runs across three strings, with the open strings doing much of the work:
G major
Start the same pattern of steps on G and you need one sharp, F♯, to keep the last step a half step. On the ukulele the G major scale fits nicely from the open G string. Here is one octave, G up to G, using the open G, then the A and E strings:
That’s easy to read but has big jumps along one string. A smoother way covers the same notes in two positions: try the board below, which marks every G major note in the first seven frets, and find a path you like.
Scales and chords
A chord is built from every other note of a scale: from C, take C (1), E (3) and G (5) and you have C major. From the 5th note, G, take G, B and D, and add F, and you have G7. That’s why the chords of a key sound right with the tunes in that key: they come from the same seven notes.
Remember
- Major scale: W W H W W W H.
- C major has no sharps; G major has F♯.
- Chords are built from every other note of the scale.