Uptown Swing
Jazz swing in C — walking upright bass, ride cymbal, comping piano, lots of chromatic motion.
Jam this track with live chords →The C Major Scale
The notes of C major are C, D, E, F, G, A, B — formula 1 2 3 4 5 6 7. Key signature: no sharps or flats. Its relative minor is A minor, which uses the same notes from a different home. Below: the full neck, the chords in the key, and the pentatonic that lives inside it.
C major on the fretboard
Practice C major position by position — interactive fretboard →
Chords in the key of C major
Harmonising the scale gives the seven chords songs in C major are built from:
| Degree | I | ii | iii | IV | V | vi | vii° |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chord | C | Dm | Em | F | G | Am | Bdim |
The workhorses are I, IV and V (C, F, G) plus the vi (Am) — the four chords of several thousand songs.
The C major pentatonic shortcut
For soloing in C major, most players reach first for the major pentatonic — the same scale minus the two most clash-prone notes. C major pentatonic: C, D, E, G, A.
Backing tracks in C major
Scales stick when you use them. These free tracks are recorded in C major — play them right here, or open them in JamLab to see the scale on a live fretboard while the chords change: