Most common/useful scales to learn after Cmaj?

Hey all I've gotten pretty confident after learning/memorizing the Cmaj scale, as many songs are included in it. What is the logical, 2nd most common scale to learn after the Cmaj? Thanks very much!

G and F are common uke keys.

The more scales you learn the better. D and F are logical and easy on a reentrant-tuned uke. G is logical and easy on a uke with low G. I guess G would be easy on a rentrant uke as well but I haven't bothered to learn it. In high school we had to learn a lot of scales (major and minor), it seemed stupid at the time but once I had learned them I found I was much better at playing by ear.

the 4th and 5th in C, which are F and G.

If you're a jammer, try to learn a pentatonic scale.

In the key of C you have 7 different scales, not including Pentatonic scales:
CMaj: CDEFGAB
D Dorian: DEFGABC
E Phrygian: EFGABCD
F Lydian: FGABCDE
G Mixolydian: GABCDEF
A Aeolian: (Natural Minor) ABCDEFG
B Locrian: BCDEFGA
It's good to practice different chord progressions in the key of C using these scales, for example, in the key of C you could play FMa to Gma and your scale source would be: F Lydian to G Mixolydian because you ar playing a IV-V progression and the Lydian scale is the IV scale and G Mixolydian is the V scale.
Chords in the Key of C are: CMA DMi EMi FMA GMA AMi Bdim This rule goes for every key, exept there are sharps and flats for the rest of the key signatures. Hope this helps.
www.myspace.com/killerukulele

T-Rock said:

In the key of C you have 7 different scales, not including Pentatonic scales:
CMaj: CDEFGAB
D Dorian: DEFGABC
E Phrygian: EFGABCD
F Lydian: FGABCDE
G Mixolydian: GABCDEF
A Aeolian: (Natural Minor) ABCDEFG
B Locrian: BCDEFGA
It's good to practice different chord progressions in the key of C using these scales, for example, in the key of C you could play FMa to Gma and your scale source would be: F Lydian to G Mixolydian because you ar playing a IV-V progression and the Lydian scale is the IV scale and G Mixolydian is the V scale.
Chords in the Key of C are: CMA DMi EMi FMA GMA AMi Bdim This rule goes for every key, exept there are sharps and flats for the rest of the key signatures. Hope this helps.
www.myspace.com/killerukulele

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Don't confuse the guy!!!

Along with the above stated major scales, you could "learn" the minor ones too. A major scale started on the 6th note is the relative minor (aeolian - as stated above). So if you start and end a C scale on A, you get an A minor scale. Major and minor scales will take you the farthest.

Yeah, I'd go with F, then G next. Both are useful, and only have one accidental each (that is, there's only one difference from C major for each of them).

After than, I'd work on moveable scale patterns that can be played the same in various positions on the neck.

JJ

rasputinsghost said:

Hey all I've gotten pretty confident after learning/memorizing the Cmaj scale, as many songs are included in it. What is the logical, 2nd most common scale to learn after the Cmaj? Thanks very much!

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If you don't already have it, I recommend this book. Its not an easy book to work through, and its taking me a long time, but on bang-for-the-buck, you can't beat it for learning some of this stuff. Its very inexpensive.

http://www.amazon.com/Fretboard-Roadmaps-Ukulele-Essential-Patterns/dp/1423400410/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=musical-instruments&qid=1275911458&sr=8-1

I actually have that book already! Thanks to all for their help. I'm working on the F maj scale.

rasputinsghost said:

I actually have that book already! Thanks to all for their help. I'm working on the F maj scale.

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F major is a good choice. I would go with F and then G. Keep it simple for now. There's always room for pentatonic scales, moveable scales, modes and all that jazz later. I think I would recommend this order. Learn a few scales first that use some of the open strings. C,F,G,D,A. Learn one moveable major scale pattern - the C version. Learn one moveable major pentatonic scale. Learn one moveable minor pentatonic scale. With this bit of knowledge, you can jam and learn stuff by ear for most songs already. It's a good basic "tool kit" of scales.

Also, as you're learning scales, build up your knowledge of chords and how they relate to each other (harmony). Relating scales to chords is the key. (pun intended) That's a whole separate thread though.

SweetWaterBlue said:

If you don't already have it, I recommend this book. Its not an easy book to work through, and its taking me a long time, but on bang-for-the-buck, you can't beat it for learning some of this stuff. Its very inexpensive.

http://www.amazon.com/Fretboard-Road...5911458&sr=8-1

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I have this book too. I agree. Difficult but a very thorough book. Extremely useful book but not necessarily a book I would work through in sequential order though.

Thanks so much for all of your help! I will learn G next.

What you will likely figure out at some point isn't the next scale, but the idea, the theory, which governs all scales. Every major scale has the same relationships, but just starts on a different note.

Once you understand how scales work, you don't worry about knowing particular scales because you know them all by knowing how to put scales together.

This won't help right now, but keep this thought in the back of your head. In a year or two, you'll suddenly go, "Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Yeah. Now I get it."