A Major

A guitar neck has hundreds of individual notes, but you never need to memorize them one by one. Every scale can be played using just a handful of small, repeating hand shapes - usually two or three - that connect to each other in a simple, predictable pattern. This section shows you exactly which shapes this scale needs, and the one rule that connects them, so you can play the whole scale up and down the neck from memory instead of hunting for notes.

The shape diagrams

Each small diagram is one "shape" - a short run of notes on a single string, shown with its own fret spacing. You'll reuse the exact same shape every time it comes up in the pattern, no matter which string you're currently playing it on.

The "Memorize this sequence" chant

This is the actual repeating pattern, written as a short sequence you can say to yourself while you play: which shape comes next, and whether it sits at the same fret, a higher fret ("up"), or a lower fret ("down"). Learn this one short chant and you know how to play the entire scale in any position on the neck - not just the position currently shown on the fretboard below.

The G-to-B string reminder

On a standard-tuned guitar, the gap between the G and B strings is smaller than the gap between every other pair of neighboring strings. That one irregular gap means the shape pattern needs a small, one-time adjustment whenever it crosses those two strings - this section always tells you exactly what that adjustment is for the scale and tuning you've currently selected.

This is the actual, interactive guitar fretboard diagram - the place to see and hear the scale you've picked, one hand position at a time.

Build a scale - tap notes to add or remove them

The row of note buttons above the fretboard lets you customize the scale by hand: tap a note off to remove it from the scale, or tap it back on to add it. The root note is locked on, since every scale needs one. This is a quick way to explore "what if" variations of a scale, or to build an entirely custom one from scratch.

Reading the fretboard

Solid, brightly colored dots are the notes in your current hand position - the gold dot is always the root. Dim, faint dots elsewhere on the neck are "shadow" notes: every other place this same note occurs, shown for context, but not part of the shape you're currently focused on.

Show me how

Click this to watch the position get revealed one string at a time, low string to high, with the fret-shift for each move called out as it happens - a guided, note-by-note walkthrough of exactly how to play this position rather than a static picture to decode on your own. A mute checkbox next to it lets you turn the accompanying sound off if you'd rather watch in silence.

Practice direction

Flips whether "Show me how" walks low string to high or high string to low - useful once you're comfortable ascending and want to practice the same shape coming back down.

Position N of M, and Previous / Next

A scale repeats the same small set of shapes at several different spots up the neck - each one is a "position." Previous and Next step between them; the small numbered dots let you jump straight to a specific fret instead of stepping one at a time.

Entire Fretboard

Switches from one position at a time to showing every occurrence of every scale note across the whole neck at once - useful for seeing the big picture, though Previous/Next and "Show me how" are turned off while it's on, since there's no single position to step through.

Every style below still gives you the same thing: a small handful of repeating hand shapes to memorize, never a huge list of diagrams. They just each make a different tradeoff in how those shapes get built. If one style feels awkward under your fingers, try another - there's no single correct answer, just different priorities. Picking a style resets you back to the first position, since a different style can need a different number of hand positions to cover the whole scale.

2 notes/string

Puts exactly two notes on every string, no more, no fewer. This is the most beginner-friendly, predictable option - because every string always uses the same count, clicking Next moves you to the very next note of the scale, one step at a time, all the way up the neck. Tradeoff: keeping it evenly split at 2 doesn't always find the smallest hand shape, so it can sometimes need more shapes overall than the other styles.

3 notes/string

Puts exactly three notes on every string. A common choice for playing scales fast, since your hand crosses fewer strings to cover the same number of notes. Like 2 notes/string, every string uses the same count, so Next always steps to the very next note of the scale in order. Tradeoff: fitting 3 notes on one string usually needs a wider finger stretch than 2 notes/string does.

Compact

Lets the app freely mix 2, 3, and 4-note groupings, and picks whichever combination keeps your hand in the smallest possible space on the neck - the easiest position to reach without shifting your whole hand. Because the mix of shapes isn't the same size every time, Next usually jumps to a different hand position further up the neck rather than the very next note - it's showing you a new place to play the scale, not walking note by note.

Fewest shapes

Also mixes 2, 3, and 4-note groupings, but with a different goal: find the smallest possible number of distinct shapes to memorize for the whole scale, even if a couple of those shapes need a bit more of a stretch. This is the style built for pure memorization - fewer shapes means less to remember. Like Compact, Next usually jumps between a small handful of positions rather than walking one note at a time.

Fewest moves

Also mixes group sizes, but optimizes for something else again: keeping the jump from one shape to the next as consistent as possible, so there's less to remember about how far your hand travels each time. Depending on the scale, that can land on a short, jumpy set of positions (like Compact or Fewest shapes) or, for some scales, on the same even, note-by-note pattern as 2 or 3 notes/string - both are correct results of the same goal, just shaped by that particular scale's own note spacing.

Why does Next sometimes skip notes?

With 2 notes/string and 3 notes/string, Next always walks to the very next note of the scale. With Compact, Fewest shapes, and Fewest moves, Next usually jumps to a different hand position further up the neck instead - because those three styles are built to minimize how much you have to memorize, not to visit every note in order. Occasionally, for a particular scale, one of those three still lands on the same even, note-by-note pattern as 2 or 3 notes/string - that's not a mistake, it just means the smallest or most consistent solution for that specific scale happened to be a plain, even pattern too.

Unlock optimized fretboard paths with Fewest Shapes and Fewest Moves.

Every scale doesn't just give you single notes to solo with - it also defines a whole family of chords that naturally belong to it, one built on each scale degree. This section shows that full chord family and gives you three different, increasingly detailed ways to actually play each chord on the guitar.

The chord list

Each chord is labeled with a roman numeral (I, ii, iii...) showing which scale degree it's built on, plus its real name (like C, Dm, or G7). Uppercase numerals are major-quality chords, lowercase are minor-quality, and a small ° or + marks a diminished or augmented chord. A chord marked "other" simply means this particular scale degree doesn't stack into one of the standard named chord types - shown honestly rather than forced into a label that wouldn't be accurate.

Triad Shapes

The simplest way to play a chord: just its three defining notes (root, third, fifth), arranged in small, three-string groupings, organized by which note ends up lowest (called the chord's "inversion"). This is the best place to start if you want to understand a chord's structure rather than just strum it.

Full Chord Shapes

Practical, ready-to-strum chord shapes across all six strings, each one checked by the app to make sure a real hand can actually fret it - complete with finger numbers and a difficulty rating (Easy, Moderate, or Advanced). These are the shapes worth actually learning and using in a song.

Explore Chord Tones

An exhaustive, unfiltered map of every place a chord's notes occur across the neck - not curated for playability the way Full Chord Shapes are, so treat it as a reference for studying where notes live rather than a set of shapes to memorize.

Unlock every string set, inversion, and fretboard position for triad shapes with FretPrism Plus.

Explore every playable voicing, every position, and difficulty filtering with FretPrism Plus.

An arpeggio is a chord played one note at a time instead of strummed all at once - the same notes as a chord, but as a melodic run. Practicing arpeggios is one of the best ways to hear how a chord's notes sit on the fretboard, and it's a core building block for improvising and soloing over chord changes.

The chord chip row

Each small chip is one chord from the scale's harmony - click one to load its arpeggio onto the shared fretboard below. Only one chord is shown at a time, so the board stays readable.

Chord-tone tiers: Triads, Sevenths, and Extended

Triads are the simplest 3-note arpeggios; Sevenths add a fourth note for a richer sound. The Extended tier unlocks 9th, 11th, 13th, sus, add, and 6th-chord arpeggios for deeper harmonic exploration - these are marked "PLUS" as a planned future paid feature, though every chord type is fully playable right now.

Arpeggio Runs, Sweep Ideas, and Build Your Own

"Arpeggio Runs" automatically picks the most natural fingering for this particular chord's note spacing. "Sweep Ideas" instead guarantees exactly one note per string, which is a different, equally valid way to practice the same arpeggio across a wider stretch of the neck. "Build Your Own" hands you every occurrence of this chord's notes as dim, clickable dots and lets you tap out your own pattern - the badges above the board light up as you cover each chord tone, a nudge toward hitting all of them, not a rule that forces you to.

Bright vs. dim (shadow) notes

Just like the main fretboard, bright dots are the notes in your current position; dim "shadow" dots show every other place this chord's notes occur across the whole neck, for context.

A chord progression is simply a sequence of chords played in order - the backbone of almost every song. This section shows real, hand-picked progressions that are known to work well with this scale, each one with a genuine example (a real song or style it's drawn from), not a generic filler list.

Curated progressions

Every entry here is built only from chords that genuinely belong to the current scale's own harmony - click one to expand it and see each chord's fretboard diagram in playing order.

Often Played Over This Scale

Some well-known progressions associated with a scale actually borrow a note or two from outside it - this subsection covers those honestly, rather than pretending they're strictly diatonic when they're not.

If nothing appears in either list, it means no progression has been curated for this particular scale yet - the section is skipped rather than shown empty.

This is a full chord-progression builder: pick your own chords, put them in your own order, and shape each one's exact voicing by hand - all on one shared fretboard, so you can see how the whole progression sits on the neck at a glance.

Adding chords

Use the quick-add buttons to grab a chord straight from the current scale's own harmony, the free root-and-quality grid to add absolutely any chord (including ones borrowed from outside the scale), or "+ New chord" to build one entirely from scratch by clicking notes directly on the board.

The chip row and the active chord

Every chord you've added appears as a small colored chip. Click a chip to make it the "active" chord - the one that clicking the fretboard will edit, and the one the Move buttons apply to.

Editing notes directly on the board

With a chord active, click any fret on the board to add or remove that note from it - a great way to turn a plain triad into a richer voicing (an add9, a borrowed extension, or anything else you want to try), with the app checking in real time whether the result is actually playable by a human hand.

Move

Steps the active chord to a different, genuinely alternate way of playing the same notes elsewhere on the neck - not a fixed list, a real search for another valid fingering each time you click it.

Animate progression

Plays through every chord in your progression in order, looping continuously, with the currently-playing chord highlighted on the board - a way to hear and see the progression as a whole rather than one chord at a time.

Browse every suitable voicing, not just one alternate, with FretPrism Plus.

Build and customize your own chord progressions with FretPrism Plus.