The first section of the page shows to how to play a major scale with a number of commonly-used tonic notes in open position. the ‘A’ notes in an A major scale, or the ‘C’ notes in a C major scale. * The tonic note of a scale is the note that the scale is named after, i.e. By the end of the page you’ll be able to play a major scale with any tonic note* all over the fretboard. On this page you’ll find out how to play the major scale on bass guitar. The major scale is used in countless melodies and its sound is so familiar that most non-musicians will be able to sing or whistle it. It is the ‘basic’ scale to which all other scales are compared. The major scale is probably the most important scale in music.

Major scale bass TAB, patterns and notation: play major scales in every key. After that, it's all the same.Discover how to play major scales on your bass guitar. Play the low F♯ with your second finger, play the G♯ with your fourth, and use the open A string. If you want to avoid that shift in the middle, you can have your first finger over the first fret the whole time.

In this position, you can continue up the scale to a high B. Using your fourth finger for the C♯ lets you adjust your hand back one fret, so you can smoothly move up to play D♯ and E on the third string with your first and second fingers. On the third string, play B and C♯ using your first and fourth fingers.

Alternatively, you can play G♯ with your fourth finger, followed by the open A string. Next, play F♯, G♯ and A on the fourth string using your first, third and fourth fingers. It is shown above in this fretboard diagram.įirst, play the open E string, the lowest note your bass can play. This is the lowest position in which you can play a complete E major scale, although it is actually second position in the hand positions of the major scale. Put your first finger over the second fret. Let's begin at the bottom of the fretboard.

E flat major scale bass guitar