The open G scale that you should know

Create lush sounds with this beautiful open scale using open strings and close intervals.

Today’s lesson is on one of my favorite scales! I enjoy it so much that I wanted to share it and make a roadmap for players to follow to be able to master this fun and beautiful scale quickly and effectively.

This is what I call an “open G major scale” which probably doesn’t mean the same thing to everyone, since there is at least one other scale which has that same name.

You could maybe call it a “ringing” open scale because of the way that notes naturally ring out a little more, giving it a very different sound. Here is why this sounds different than a normal scale:

A “normal” scale will play multiple notes on the same string. In this scale and other “ringing” scales, every single note is played on a different string. This allows for notes to ring out for longer and overlap each other, sustaining while the next note or two are played. My guess is that it allows more harmonics to ring out from each of the note, which adds textural depth to the sound of the scale.

This might be why I love it so much! I find myself using pieces of this scale when I’m playing solo, whether acoustic or electric. It is magic for playing fingerstyle chord melodies. Pure magic. And this concept can be applied to many other keys to find interesting sounds using the open guitar strings.

Please dive in and enjoy! The PDF is free to download and there is a full practice along section in the second half of the video. Cheers!