GGUITAR
FIELD NOTESPractice

REFERENCE / MUSIC THEORY

Chords are the places.
Scales are the roads.

Music theory in pictures, for guitar. Start with the smallest step between two notes, build the major and minor scales, number the chords in any key, then use it all to link chords with walking bass notes so your playing moves instead of jumping.

The chord-linking lessons are based on the idea taught in JustinGuitar's How to Link Guitar Chords using Scales (BG-1504). Watch the video for Justin's own demonstration.

C → G: the bass walks C – B – A – G down the C major scale.

01 / HALF STEPS & WHOLE STEPS

Twelve notes, then they repeat.

All of Western music uses just 12 notes. The distance from one to the next is a semitone (half step, S). Two semitones make a tone (whole step, T). Every scale is a pattern of T and S.

A piano makes it visible: every key, white or black, is one semitone from the next. Red: C → D is a tone (a black key sits between). Green: E → F and B → C are semitones (no black key between).
On guitar, one fret = one semitone. Here is the A string, open to fret 12.

Seven letters

A B C D E F G, then A again. These are the "natural" notes: the white keys.

Two gaps are missing

There is a sharp/flat between every pair of letters except B–C and E–F. Those pairs are only a semitone apart. This one fact explains every scale shape.

Sharps and flats

The note between A and B is A# (A raised) or B♭ (B lowered): same sound, two names. Use whichever keeps each letter once in the scale.

02 / THE MAJOR SCALE

T – T – S – T – T – T – S

Start on any note and take these seven steps and you get that note's major scale. From C it uses only white keys: C D E F G A B C. The semitones fall on 3→4 and 7→8.

The staircase: tall risers are tones, short risers are semitones.
C major on the keyboard, with each step labelled.

Change the key: the pattern stays the same and only the note names change.

Root Scale note Bass zone: strings E, A, D, frets 0–5, where most chord links happen

03 / THE NATURAL MINOR SCALE

T – S – T – T – S – T – T

The minor scale moves the semitones: 2→3 and 5→6. A minor uses the same notes as C major (its relative major), starting from A: A B C D E F G A.

A natural minor. Notice the short riser right after the first step.
A minor: all white keys again, just starting on A.

Why this matters for linking chords

Major: G → C walks G–A–B, tone, tone, then a semitone into C.
Minor: Am → C walks A–B–C, a tone, then a semitone.

Walks between major chords often step in whole tones. Walks that start on a minor chord often go tone then semitone, because in the minor scale the half step comes straight after the root. You don't need to memorise this: follow the scale and the steps come out right.

04 / THE CHORD NUMBERING SYSTEM

Every key has the same seven chords.

Build a chord on each note of the scale and you get seven chords. Name them with Roman numerals (UPPER = major, lower = minor, ° = diminished) and a progression becomes a pattern you can move to any key. Country and bluegrass players call chords by number all the time.

The pattern for every major key (top) and every natural minor key (bottom).
Where the chords come from: stack every other scale note (1–3–5) on each degree.

Click a key row to hear its progression. Click a chord name to open it in the chord library.

Example (key of G)

G major is G A B C D E F#. So the IV chord is C major, the vi chord is E minor and the ii chord is A minor.

Relative keys share chords

A minor's chords (Am Bdim C Dm Em F G) are C major's chords starting from vi. The vi of a major key is the i of its relative minor.

Numbers make walks easy

I → V, IV → I, vi → IV… once you know the key, you know which scale to walk: the key's scale. Every chord in the table is built from it.

The circle of fifths. Click a key: its I, IV and V (and the relative minor) light up. Neighbouring keys share six of seven notes.

05 / BASS NOTES

Every chord stands on its root.

The lowest note you strum is the bass note. In open chords it is normally the root, the note that names the chord. Linking chords means joining these bass notes, so you need to know exactly where each one sits.

Root (bass note of the chord) · × = don't play the string · ○ = open string

The bass notes of the open chords above, all within the first five frets of the E, A and D strings.

Low E string (6th)

E (open) – E, Em · G (3rd fret) – G · F (1st fret) – full F barre

A string (5th)

A (open) – A, Am, A7 · B (2nd fret) – B7 · C (3rd fret) – C

D string (4th)

D (open) – D, Dm, D7 · F (3rd fret) – small F

06 / THE LINKING METHOD

Join the dots with scale notes.

A bass walk is a tiny melody in the low strings that leads the ear from one chord's root to the next. You play one or two notes of the scale between the chords, so the change sounds planned instead of abrupt.

  1. 1

    Find both bass notes

    Where does the chord you're on start, and where does the next one start? C → G means C (A string, 3rd fret) to G (low E, 3rd fret).

  2. 2

    List the scale notes between

    Use the key's scale. Between C and G going down in C major: B, A. Those are your linking notes, usually two of them.

  3. 3

    Pick the shorter direction

    Down from C to G is 2 notes; up is 4 (D E F G). Take the short road, which usually means the lower G the chord uses anyway.

  4. 4

    Play in time, land on beat 1

    Strum the first chord, play the linking notes on the last beats of the bar, and hit the new chord exactly on beat 1. The walk leads there; don't be late.

The decision in one picture.
Down: C – B – A – G. Two linking notes. ✓
Up: C – D – E – F – G. Four notes, and it ends on the wrong G. ✗

07 / WALK LIBRARY

The links worth learning first.

Each card shows both chord shapes, the path on the neck, the notes with their steps, and the tab. Press play: first chord → walk → new chord on beat 1.

Start bass note Scale linking note Chromatic note New chord's bass note

08 / CHROMATIC LINKS

When the scale has nothing in between.

Some chords are too close together: G to A is a single tone and the scale has no note between them. Then you walk chromatically, fret by fret, even through a note that isn't in the key. It works because the passing note is short and leads straight to a strong note.

Scale walk vs chromatic walk from C to A: the chromatic version adds B♭, a note outside C major, as a stepping stone.

Rule of thumb: chromatic notes go on weak beats and never stay. A passing B♭ lasting one beat sounds bluesy and intentional; the same note held for a bar sounds like a mistake.

09 / RHYTHM & TIMING

Count it, then walk it.

The notes are the easy part. The skill is keeping time: the strumming and the walk share one bar, and the new chord must arrive on beat 1 of the next bar. Here are four ways to fit a walk into a bar of 4/4.

Practise it apart first

Many students find it hard to keep the strum going while fretting single notes. Loop just the walk notes with a metronome, then add the chords.

Pick, don't strum

Play the linking notes with a single down-stroke each (or alternate down–up for eighth notes). Aim the pick at one string only.

Swing or straight?

If the song swings, the walk swings too. Practise a swing feel on muted strings before combining it with links.

10 / IN A SONG

I – vi – IV – V, fully linked.

The classic progression in G (G – Em – C – D) with a link into every chord. Each link uses a different tool: a one-note scale step, a shortened walk, a chromatic step and a three-note walk.

11 / WALK BUILDER

Find the link between any two chords.

Choose a key and two open chords from it. The builder finds both bass notes, lists the scale notes between them, and falls back to a chromatic walk (or a shortened walk) when needed.

12 / PRACTICE

Make it automatic.

A week-long plan, the mistakes to watch for, and how to make links part of your normal playing.

7

ONE WEEK · 10 MINUTES A DAY

Practice plan

  1. Day 1 · Say the notes of C major and G major out loud while playing them on the A and low E strings.
  2. Day 2 · C → G and G → C only. Slow, with a metronome at 60–66 BPM.
  3. Day 3 · Add A → D and D → A. Notice C# (a note outside C major) now belongs.
  4. Day 4 · Minor walks: Am → C, Em → G. Feel the tone–semitone.
  5. Day 5 · Chromatic links: G → Am, C → D, D → E.
  6. Day 6 · Play section 10 (G–Em–C–D) all the way through without stopping.
  7. Day 7 · Pick a song you know. Add one link per verse, at the most important chord change.
!

WATCH FOR THESE

Common mistakes

  • Landing late. The walk exists to lead the ear to beat 1. If the new chord comes late, drop to a single linking note.
  • Too many links. A walk into every chord gets busy. Save them for the ends of phrases and section changes.
  • Wrong direction. Walking up C–D–E–F–G ends on a G that is too high and takes too long. Choose the short road.
  • Notes ringing together. Lift the previous finger as you play the next note, so the walk sounds like a line, not a smear.
  • Losing the strum. Keep your strumming hand moving through the walk (miss the strings on the up-strokes) so you don't lose the beat.
Going further
  • Alternate bass chords like C/G (C with G in the bass) give you new starting points: from C/G the bass steps straight down G → F into an F barre chord.
  • Approach notes: a single note one fret below the target root (B → C, F# → G, G# → A) is the smallest possible link.
  • Learn the neck: every walk you work out teaches you note names on the bass strings. Experimenting is the point.
  • Explore the scales further on the Scales & harmony page, and the chord shapes in the Chord library.

Sources: JustinGuitar, How to Link Guitar Chords using Scales, and the community discussion. The tabs and diagrams on this page follow standard theory; the lesson's own examples may differ.