WTF is up with these major scales for guitar?

Question:i just looked at my scale chart and is confusing me a little and I'm pissed off cause i been pissed off all day anyway, lol. the idea I get out of MAJOR scales is that they would play thenotes instead of the sharps or flats of them, right? so why does my major scale thing show all the roots as being sharps!?!? I'm thinkin maybe they messed it up and counted the open strings as the first frets instead but its pissing me off!!! help!?!?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: i just looked at my scale chart and is confusing me a little and I'm pissed off cause i been pissed off all day anyway, lol. the idea I get out of MAJOR scales is that they would play thenotes instead of the sharps or flats of them, right? so why does my major scale thing show all the roots as being sharps!?!? I'm thinkin maybe they messed it up and counted the open strings as the first frets instead but its pissing me off!!! help!?!?

Think of scales as the sequence of whole (W) and half (H) steps in an octave.

Major is defined as W W H W W W H.

Minor is defined as W H W W W W H.

The actual notes you play depends on your starting key.

Consider C Major: C D E F G A B C. C to D is a whole step. D to E is whole step. E to F half step, etc.

C Minor is different: C D Eflat F G A B C. C to D is whole. D to Eflat is half. Eflat to F is whole, etc.

By his same logic of whole & half steps you can figure out any scale. Consider, C# Major is C# D# F F# G# A# C C#.

And C# Minor is C# D# E F# G# A# C C#.

When you talk about other scales (Mixolydian, Phrygian, etc.) the same principle applies, only the whole and half steps are in different orders.

I recommend getting a short primer on music theory to better understand how scales, key signatures, and chords work.

Good luck.

Somebody has lied to you child. Major scales like the sharps and flats just like every other scale. There are 12 major scales, and 7 note names... obviously some of them will have to be F# scales instead of F scales. And some will start on the first fret instead of the open fret.

There's an old saying that guitar is the easiest instrument to learn and the hardest to master. Good luck.