Major and Minor Scales on the Guitar Fretboard

The four seven-note scales behind Western harmony, each on the whole neck with roots in red. Every chart has its own key menu with the fifteen key signatures, spelled the way the key demands.

Download the Guitar Scales Chart PDF

Pentatonic and blues scales with position boxes, major and minor scales, and all seven modes. Letter size, 1338 KB, free.

Download PDF
RootScale tone

C Major Scale

1 2 3 4 5 6 7  ·  C D E F G A B

C Major Scale scale on the guitar fretboard, roots in red

Do re mi on the fretboard. Every mode, chord, and key signature comes from this seven-note pattern.

A Natural Minor Scale

1 2 b3 4 5 b6 b7  ·  A B C D E F G

A Natural Minor Scale scale on the guitar fretboard, roots in red

The relative minor: the same notes as the major scale three frets up, starting from the sixth degree.

A Harmonic Minor Scale

1 2 b3 4 5 b6 7  ·  A B C D E F G#

A Harmonic Minor Scale scale on the guitar fretboard, roots in red

Natural minor with a raised seventh, which gives minor keys their strong V chord and that classical, flamenco, and neoclassical metal flavor.

A Melodic Minor Scale

1 2 b3 4 5 6 7  ·  A B C D E F# G#

A Melodic Minor Scale scale on the guitar fretboard, roots in red

Natural minor with raised sixth and seventh, shown here in its jazz form (the same notes going up and down).

Practice along: the three-note-per-string major scale sample tab plays the whole neck with audio, and the ear training drills teach you to hear the intervals these scales are built from. Chord shapes for each key are on the printable chord chart.

Questions about these scales

What is the difference between natural, harmonic, and melodic minor?

They share the first five notes. Natural minor has a flat sixth and flat seventh. Harmonic minor raises the seventh, which creates a strong dominant chord and a wide step between the sixth and seventh degrees. Melodic minor raises both the sixth and the seventh; on this chart it is shown in its jazz form, with the same notes going up and down.

How do I find the relative minor of a major key?

Count down three frets from the major root, or take the sixth note of the major scale. C major and A minor share the same notes; G major and E minor do too. The charts here use that relationship, so the minor scales default to A while the major scale defaults to C.

Why does the chart show a double sharp?

Because that is the correct spelling for that key. A# harmonic minor, for example, raises its seventh from G# to G##. Each note keeps the letter its scale degree demands so the scale reads as seven different letters.