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

C major scale — every note on the neck, frets 0–12 — root notes in green.

Jamistry's interactive 3D fretboard — the scale lit up across the whole neck

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.

C major pentatonic — position 1

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:

Uptown Swing

Jazz · 140 BPM · Key of C · C Major (Ionian)

Jazz swing in C — walking upright bass, ride cymbal, comping piano, lots of chromatic motion.

Jam this track with live chords →

More scales & theory

All guitar scales Minor pentatonic Major pentatonic Blues scale Major scale Minor scales The 7 modes CAGED system Fretboard notes The major scale A minor