F major scale on guitar
F G A B♭ C D E (1 2 3 4 5 6 7)
The parent of everything on the wheel: a key's seven chords are built from it. Also called Ionian.
The whole neck
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
E
A
D
G
B
e
E
F
G
A
B♭
C
D
E
F
G
A
A
B♭
C
D
E
F
G
A
B♭
C
D
D
E
F
G
A
B♭
C
D
E
F
G
G
A
B♭
C
D
E
F
G
A
B♭
C
C
D
E
F
G
A
B♭
C
D
E
E
F
G
A
B♭
C
D
E
F
G
A
root scale noteLow E string at the bottom.
Open it on the interactive fretboard
The 5 CAGED positions
Positions: the five CAGED shapes, each built around a pentatonic box with the other two notes slotted in. One finger per fret, with the odd stretch. Each one shares its edge notes with the next. Dots show scale degrees: 1 is the root.
Position 1 (frets 0–3)
1 2 3 4 5
E
A
D
G
B
e
1
2
3
5
6
1
2
3
5
6
1
2
4
7
4
7
7
Position 2 (frets 2–7)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
E
A
D
G
B
e
2
3
5
6
1
2
3
5
6
1
2
3
4
7
4
7
4
Position 3 (frets 5–9)
4 5 6 7 8 9 10
E
A
D
G
B
e
3
5
6
1
2
3
5
6
1
2
3
5
4
7
4
7
4
Position 4 (frets 6–11)
5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
E
A
D
G
B
e
5
6
1
2
3
5
6
1
2
3
5
6
7
4
7
4
4
Position 5 (frets 10–14)
9 10 11 12 13 14 15
E
A
D
G
B
e
6
1
2
3
5
6
1
2
3
5
6
1
7
4
7
4
7
Three-notes-per-string shapes (7 of them) are on the interactive fretboard .