Major scale shapes

There are in total twelve notes and all of those are scattered on the fret board. Now if you want to play any scale it will be difficult to figure out the scale notes all over the fret-board instantly. So each scale is represented in shapes, so that you can visualize where the notes of a particular scale lie. There are five major scale shapes. Each shape represents the same scale but starts on a different note. The shapes are made such that they can be connected together like a picture puzzle to get the complete picture on the fret board. Check out these shapes.

The numbers represent the fret numbers and the white notes represent the root note. This is a particular example of G major scale. Because the white notes represent the G note on the guitar fret board. Now suppose you want to play the A major scale, then the fret numbers for starting each shape will be 5, 7, 10, 12 and 14  instead of 3, 5, 8, 10 and 12. 

So just remember these five shapes, and by shifting their positions on the fret board, you can play another major scale. Keep playing.