Practical Principles: Major Chords and Major Scale Fingering

This article will cover all basic major chord shapes and their fingering, the major scale and one possible method of playing it through two octaves, and a song study, Ode to Joy, which should be played by fingers, not by picking.


These are diagrams of your hands. The numbers will be used to signify fingers of the left hand, and the letters P I M A and CH will be used to signify fingers of the right hand.





This chart explains the symbols on the chord diagrams below. The numbers on each diagram indicate the fingers of the left hand that are to be used to press the strings.














All Basic Major Chord Shapes.





The fingers 2, 3, 4 may be used to replace 1, 2, 3 respectively, though each case has its own benefits and detriments in terms of chord switching. Which fingering you use depends on personal preference.











The line signifies a barre, which means that you will have to use your first finger(as indicated) to cover all required strings. Barring is a difficult technique, but it is not impossible.










The optional note on the high e string may be pressed with finger 4 to get a richer, brighter sound by adding a high perfect fifth.
The optional note on the low E string may be pressed with finger 3, while pressing the note on the third fret of the A string with finger 4. This gives the chord a more powerful, thick sound, by adding a low perfect fifth.
It is not possible to press both.









This chord is easy to remember because of its characteristic V shape.












Fingers 1, 2, 3 may be substituted with 2, 3, 4. This once again depends on personal preference and the situation. For example, it would be easier to add another note to this chord with a free finger 4, but having a free finger 1 would make it easier to change from this chord to an F chord for example.











This shape is exactly the same as an E major chord, but with a barre on the first fret, which raises every note in the E major chord by one semitone, making the chord an F major chord, since F is one semitone above E.










The optional note may be pressed with finger 3 to add a perfect fifth to the chord. This optional note is popular in country music and makes the chord sound simpler to the ear.









Below is the C major scale and its fingering.
The numbers in circles denote the string to use.
The numbers not in circles denote the left hand fingers to use.
The tab above is to help if reading is really too difficult.



There are, of course other fingerings, but this is the most practical movable fingering.
It is movable because if we were to shift it upwards by 1 semitone and start at the 4th fret instead of the 3rd fret, we would have the major scale in the key of Db major, and similarly, all other keys may be explored in this manner by ascending the fretboard.

Play this scale ascending and descending, don't worry about tempo yet, and say the name of each note before you play it. Take your time, but try to remember, and each time you do it, try to remember more quickly.

To master the rest of the fretboard, move the scale up to Db major and repeat the process of note naming and playing. After this, move the scale up to D major and so on, and if you cover all keys, you will have memorised the notes of the fretboard.
This is not fun, but it helps alot.

When you get bored of these exercises, you can play this:

This exercise is based on Beethoven's Ode to Joy. It is easy to play and will help with chord transitions from C to G.