The A Major scale is A B C# D E F# G#. It's shown below across all 24 frets: use the Shape menu to see each of the 5 positions, and press Play to hear it.
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Play bars, then go quiet for . Keep playing through the gap and see if you land back in time.
Stop after minutes.
Your hand keeps moving down and up the whole time. The boxes only show when it touches the strings.
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| Capo | Play these shapes |
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The tuner listens through your microphone, works out which string you're playing and goes green when you're within 3 cents. Nothing is recorded or sent anywhere. The tuner is also in the menu at the top of every page.
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See Mentorship PlansThe A Major scale has 7 notes: A B C# D E F# G#. Its formula is 1 2 3 4 5 6 7, and the gaps between the notes go W W H W W W H (W is a whole step of two frets, H is a half step of one fret). A Major has exactly the same notes as F# minor, its relative minor, but it starts and resolves on A, which is what gives it its own sound.
| Degree | Interval | Name | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Root | A |
| 2 | 2 | 2nd | B |
| 3 | 3 | Major 3rd | C♯ |
| 4 | 4 | 4th | D |
| 5 | 5 | 5th | E |
| 6 | 6 | Major 6th | F♯ |
| 7 | 7 | Major 7th | G♯ |
The fretboard above shows A Major across all 24 frets. Its root, A, is on the low E string at the 5th fret, and Position 1 starts there. Use the Shape menu to see the 5 positions one at a time (plus the seven 3-notes-per-string shapes, great for speed and legato), press Play to hear the one you're looking at, and switch the labels to intervals to see where the root, 3rd and 5th sit in each shape.
Learn one position until you can play it up and down without looking, then learn the next one along and practise moving between the two. Before long the whole neck joins up.
These are the chords you get by stacking every other note of the scale on each degree. They're the chords that sound "at home" with A Major.
| Degree | Triad | 7th chord |
|---|---|---|
| I | A | Amaj7 |
| ii | Bm | Bm7 |
| iii | C#m | C#m7 |
| IV | D | Dmaj7 |
| V | E | E7 |
| vi | F#m | F#m7 |
| vii° | G#dim | G#m7b5 |
The major scale is the bright, settled sound most melodies are built on, and the scale every other scale and mode gets compared to. You'll hear it everywhere from pop and rock to country and worship music.
Use it over major chords and over any progression in the key of A major. If you already know the A major pentatonic, the major scale is the same five notes plus the 4th and the 7th, so start there and add the two extra notes.
A Minor A Minor Pentatonic A Major Pentatonic A Blues A Dorian A Phrygian A Lydian A Mixolydian A Locrian A Harmonic Minor A Melodic Minor
See every scale in every key →
The A Major scale is A, B, C#, D, E, F#, G#.
The major scale formula is 1 2 3 4 5 6 7, which is a step pattern of W W H W W W H.
There are 5 positions, plus seven 3-notes-per-string (3NPS) shapes, one starting on each note of the scale. Use the Shape menu on this page to see each one on its own.