Scales Quick Startguitarsharedresources.s3.amazonaws.com/GSP/Play... · At the time, I was just starting to learn my first guitar scales. I wasn’t very good with them, so I played

A Quick Start Guide To Guitar Scale Patterns:

The Key To Your Fretboard!

ByJonathanBoettcherPlayGuitar.comThis guide may not be copied in any form. It is for personal use only.

Copyright©2017PlayGuitar.com 2

Disclaimer And Copyright Information Copyright©2017JonathanBoettcherPlayGuitar.comYoudoNOThavepermissiontore-sellorre-packagethisguideinanyway,shapeorformwithoutmywrittenconsent.YouDOhavepermissiontofreelysharethisguideviaprintorelectronicallywithfriends,family,orothermusicianswhomyoubelievemaybenefitfromit,aslongasitremainsunaltered.DisclaimerIndividualresultsfromtheGuitarScalePatternscoursevarydependingontheplayer’sskilllevelandcommitmenttolearningthematerial.Anytestimonialsorsuccessstoriesreflecttheactualresultsrealizedbythoseindividualplayers,andwillnotnecessarilyreflectyourownexperiencewiththecourse.Non-legaldisclaimer:Thisisjustcommonsensefolks!Ifyouapplyyourselfandmakeanefforttolearnthematerial,thenyou’lldowell.Ifyoudon’t,well…Neithermenoranyoneelseisgoingtobeabletohelpyouthere.I’vegotyourbackHowever,allmyguitarlessonscomewithacomplete“NoWeaselClauses”moneybackguarantee.Ifforanyreasonyou’renotfullysatisfiedwiththecourse,I’llgiveyouafullrefund(within60days)sothereisnoriskonyourpart.ThisQuickStartGuideisintendedasaprimertogetyouquicklyworkingwiththefretboardinwaysyouhaven’tdonebefore.ItisnotthecompleteGuitarScalePatternscourse.FormoreinformationontheGuitarScalePatternscourse,pleasevisitmywebsite:http://playguitar.com/gsp


Scales: The Key To Your Fretboard AroundthetimewhenIwasfirstlearningtoplayguitar,Ihadafriendwhowasalsolearning.Atthetime,hecouldsolobetterthanIcould.Hissoloswererawandaggressive;he’ddiverightinthereandplaylikehereallymeantit.Buttherewasoneproblem…heoftenhadbadsoundingnotesinhissolos(notesthatdidn’tbelonginthekey).Atthetime,Iwasjuststartingtolearnmyfirstguitarscales.Iwasn’tverygoodwiththem,soIplayedabittimidlyandawkwardly,andfairlyslow.But-mysolosdidn’thavethosesamebadsounding,out-of-keynotesinthem…Icanvividlyrememberhavingaconversationwithhimaboutitoneday.Iaskedhimwhyhedidn’tusescales,andwouldhelikemetoteachhimone?Hisanswerwasthatscaleswouldjustslowhimdown.Isupposehetookmyplayingatthetimeasproof.Hisapproachwasjusttofiddlearoundthefretboard(quickly,mindyou)untilhefoundaspotheliked,andthenstarttryingdifferentnotes.He’dfiguredoutafewpatternsthatworkedsomeofthetime,insomepositions,andsohe’dtrythose.Hisearwasfairlygoodtoo,andthathelpedhimoutquiteabit.Allthesame,hedidn’tknowthereasonswhyonethingheplayedfitwithanother,orevenhowtheywererelatedtothekeyweplayedin.IfyoutoldhimasongwasinAminor,therewasabouta80%chancehisfirstfewnoteswouldsoundokay.Soundlikedecentodds?Thatalsomeansthere’sagood20%chancethefirstfewnoteswouldsoundhorrible!Fastforwardafewmonths…onceagainwe’rejammingtogether.Thistime,thescales(punintended)areturned–nowmysolosaretheoneswiththespeed,andhisappearedslowerandmoreawkwardbycomparison.Additionally,hissolosstillhadthosebadsoundingnotesinthem,andminestillhadallgoodsoundingnotes.HeaskedmehowIhadmanagedtoimprovesomuchinjustafewmonths,butwhenItoldhimIhaddonesobypracticingscales,hekindoflaughedandbrusheditoff.“Whateverdude,ifthatworksforya.”Ineverdidhaveachancetojamwithhimagainafterthat,andtothisdayIdon’tknowifheeverdidfinallylearnsomescales,ornot.


ThereasonItoldyouthatstoryistodemonstratethattheinformationI’mgoingtosharewithyoutodayreallydoeshavethepowertopropellyoualongthepathoffretboardfreedomfasterthanthe“average”playerwhochoosesnottolearnscales.Thisfirstsectionmaybereviewforyou,oritmaybefresh.Eitherway,itunlocksthemysteryofhowtofindanythingyouwantonyourfretboard.

Frets & The Fretboard Ontheguitarneck,wehavesixstrings(7stringguitarsworkthesameway!),andanumberofsteelfretssetinaspecificspacingpattern.Playanystringopen(withouttouchingit),andthenplaythesamestringatthefirstfret,andyou’vegoneuponesemitoneinpitch.Ifyouplaythesamestringatthethirdfret,you’venowgoneupbythreesemitones.Everytimeyougouponefret,you’regoinguponesemitone.Ifyougodownafret,yougodownasemitone.Thefretboardisbeautifullysimpleandlogicalthatway.Let’sdealwiththistermIjustdroppedonyou:semitone.Asemitoneisthesmallestdistancewehavebetweentwonotes(atleastinwesternmusic).Twosemitonesequalsawholetone,orjustsimply,atone.Semimeanshalf,sothatshouldbeeasytoremember.Musicalnoteshaveletternames…let’sstartwithA.Thefifthstringonyourguitar(countingupfromthinnesttothickest)isanopenA.Playatthefirstfret,andyou’vegoneupasemitone…nowyou’reatA♯(Asharp).Goupagain,andyou’reatB.Here’sthefullsequence:

A–A♯/B♭–B–C–C♯/D♭–D–D♯/E♭–E–F–F♯/G♭–G–G♯/A♭-AIwanttopointoutafewveryimportantthingstorecognizehere.First,noticethattherearesevennaturalnotesthatdonothaveflatorsharpsymbols.ThosearethelettersAthroughG.Inbetweenmostofthose,youfindsharpsandflats…withtheexceptionofbetweentheBandC,andbetweentheEandF.I’mnotgoingtogetintothereasonsforthattoday,butitisreallyimportanttoknowthatfromBtoCisanaturalsemitone.Alltherestofthelettershaveasemitoneinbetweenthem.


Soforinstance,inbetweenDandE,wefindD♯, whichcanalsobewrittenasE♭.

♯=sharp=raisinganotebyonesemitone♭ =flat=loweringanotebyonesemitone

♮ =natural=thenoteisneitherflatnorsharpIfyouraiseaBbyonesemitone,yougetaC,becausethatdistanceisanaturalsemitone.Dependingonthescaleyou’reworkingwith,anotemightbeeithersharporflat.Forinstance,inthekeyofGmajorwehaveanF♯butinthekeyofG♭major,theexactsamenoteorpitchiscalledaG♭.Therearesevennaturalnotesandfiveaccidentalnotesinourcompletemusicalscale(alsocalledthechromaticscale),foratotalof12notesaltogether.That’swhythe12thfretontheguitaristherepeat,oroctave.Eachstringascendsthrough12notes,fretbyfret,andendsupanoctavehigheronthe12thfret.Tryit! è Thereasonwe’vegonethroughallthisterminologyisthatnowyou

havethekeytofindinganynotenameonyourfretboard.Let’sdoaquickexample.IfyouwanttofindanAonyourfreboard,wherewouldyoulook?AgoodstartingpointmightbetheopenAonthefifthstring.Well,youcouldalsogoup12fretsfromthere,andyou’vegotanotherA.Butwhataboutotherstrings?TaketheopenE(6thstring).WhatdoweneedtomovefromEtoA?Lookbackatthelastpage,andyouwillseeweneed5semitonestogetfromEtoA.Count‘em!E,F,F♯,G,G♯,A.Thatmeansthatthe6thstring,5thfret,isalsoanA.Now,goup12fretsfromthere…you’reatthe17thfret,andyouhaveanotherA!Youcanapplythistoeachstring,andfindthatthereareA’soneachstring.Now,thereallycoolpartisthatbecausethefretboardworksthewayitdoes,thereareplentyofpatternsthatrepeatthemselves.Bylearningthem,wecanmakeourplayingFARmoreefficientthanmyfriendinthestoryIstartedwith.

I have been playing for a long time and could always get by. Now you have given me a lot more tools and knowledge to bring me to a higher level that seemed to have not been obtainable before. I am playing more and seem to be getting better. As well as not so frustrated.

~ Bob Lutzkow


The Power of Patterns Ashumans,we’redesignedtorecognizepatterns.Whileyoureadthisguide,yourbrainisrecognizingwordsaspatternsandassociatingthemwithmeaning,sofastthatyoudon’tevenconsciouslythinkaboutit.Infact,patternrecognitionissopowerful,youmayhaveseenthosethingspassedaroundontheinternetwheretheyremoveallthevowelsfromaparagraph…andmostpeoplecanstillreaditfullspeed,simplybecauseofpatternrecognition!Ontheguitar,wecanquicklyandreadilyengagewithpatternstoo.Apatterngivesusatooltoworkwith–notsomethingtobeusedinpreciselythesamewayeverytime,butratherastrongstartingpointthatcanproducereliableresults.Justlikelearningalanguagedoesn’tmeanyouspeakthesamesentenceseverytime,butinstead,you’vegotwordsyoucanarrangeintoanyordertocommunicateeffectively.Anothermajorbenefitofpatternsisspeed.Asyoulearnandpracticeascalepattern,you’retrainingyourfingerswherethegoodsoundingnotesare…andatthesametime,howtoskipthebadsoundingones.Whenitcomestimetosolo,musclememorytakesoveranddoesmuchoftheheavylifting–fingersonbothhandsworkingtogethertoaccuratelychoosethenotesyouwantfromthescale.Themoreyoupracticeyourscales,thefasterandmoreaccuratelyyouwillbeabletoplay–guaranteed.

Finding Scales On The Fretboard Sowiththatsaid,let’sdivestraightintoourfirstscale.There’salotmorefoundationthatcouldbelaid,includinghowtofindallthenotesineachkey,andI’vecoveredallthatthoroughlyinmyGuitarScalePatternscourse.Forrightnowthough,mygoalistogetyouusingallofyourfretboardasquickaspossible,sothat’swhatwe’llfocuson.We’regoingtolookatthekeyofGmajor,whichhasthefollowingnotesinit:

G–A–B–C–D–E–F♯-GAllthechordsyouuseinthekeyofGarebuiltusingcombinationsofthesesevennotes…andthatmeansthatifyouusethesesamenotesinyourguitarsolos,overtopofchordsthatarealsousingthem,thenitwillsoundgood.Oratleast,itwon’tclash!SoundinggoodmaytakesomemorepracticeJ.


SothesesevennotesarethekeytosoloinginthekeyofGmajor.Allwehavetodonowisfindwherethosenotesareonthefretboard,andthenfindsomeconvenientwayswecanplaythem.Atthebottomofthispage,you’llseethreediagrams.ThesethreearewhatIconsiderthemostimportantscalepatternstolearnfirst.Aretheremore?Ofcourse.Butwiththesethree,asyou’llsee,youcanplayanywhereonthefretboard.Thefirstpattern,ontheleft,iscalledtheRoot6“E”DiatonicMinorscalepattern.Let’sdealwithafewofthoseterms.“Root6”referstothefactthattherootnote-theanchornote–forthisscalepattern,isfoundonthe6thstring.Diatonicmeansitisasevennoteorseventonescale(dia=seven,tonic=tone)Minormeansthescaleisaminorscale.Therearetwomainflavorsinmusic,majorandminor.Majorisbrighter,happiersounding.Minorissadder,moremelancholy.Theyaretwosidesofthesamecoin,andeverykeyhasbothmajorandminorscales,aswellasmajorandminorchords.

Atthispoint,there’salotmoretheorythatwouldbehelpfultoreallyunderstandhowallthisfitstogether,butfornow,I’mgoingtogiveyouthequickexplanation.Ifyou’reinterestedtoknowmore,IencourageyoutocheckouttheGuitarScalePatternscourse.


Thescalewe’retalkingaboutisanEdiatonicminorscale,becauseitsrootnoteisanE(therednotesindicaterootnotes).ThesimpleexplanationforwhyEdiatonicminorsoundsgoodinthekeyofGmajoristhateverysinglenoteinthescalecomesstraightfromtheGmajorscale.Checkitout–youcancomparethisagainstwhat’sinthediagramstoo:

GMajor:G–A–B–C–D–E–F♯-G

EMinor:E–F♯-G–A–B–C–D–EThisissoimportanttograsp!Peopleaskmeallthetimeaboutthesevenmodes,buthere’sthesimpletruth:allsevenaresimplydifferentstartingpointsforthesamescale.Whenyouuseallseven,there’stonsofoverlaponeachone.Whenyoureduceitdowntothreepatterns,yougetverylittleoverlap,andyetstillcoverthewholefretboard.Whichequallyeffectivestartingpointwouldyouratherchoose?Learningsevenpatterns?Orthree?That’sallwe’redoingwiththethreepatternswe’relookingathere,startingthesameseriesofnotesfromadifferentplaceonthefretboard.Whenyouboilitdownrighttothebasics,it’sprettysimple,isn’tit?

Root 6 Diatonic Minor

Okay,here’sthatdiagramagain–thistime,noticethefingerpositions.Generalbest-practiceistoassignonefingerperfretasyouplaythesescales,soyou’renottwistingupyourfingerslikespaghettinoodles.Thiswayeverythingstaysclearandquick.Yourfirstfingerisyourindexfinger,andyourfourthfingerisyourpinky.I’msureyoucanfigureouttherest!Toplaythroughthescale,startattheEonthetopleft,thengothrougheachstringplayingtherestofthenotesinthepattern.Whenyougettotheendofthosenotes(inthiscase,G)moveuptothenextstring–inthiscase,theAon


the5thstring.WhenyougettotheGattheverytop(1ststring,3rdfret),gobackdowninthesamemanner.Noticethatsomeofthenotesaresolidcolors,andsomearehollow.Whenyouplayeverysinglenoteyouareplayingthediatonicversionofthescale,andwhenyouplayjustthesolidnotes,youareplayingthepentatonicversionofthescale.Justlikewelearnedthatdiatonicisasevennotescale,pentatonicisafivenotescale.I’mnotgoingtogomuchdeeperintothattopictoday,butifyou’veheardthetermpentatonicbefore,it’shelpfultoatleastseetherelationship.Beforewemoveonfromthispattern,Iwanttopointoutthatthewayyouseeithereisanopenformat.Inotherwords,itisusingopennotes(whereyourfingerdoesn’ttouchthestring).Theexactsamepatterncanbemovedtodifferentplacesonyourfretboard,butobviouslythenitwillnolongeruseopennotes,andwewouldcallitaclosedpattern.Whenyouplayitthisway,thefingeringchangesjustalittle,andyourwholehandpositionshiftsdownafretrelativetothepattern.Infact,thisexactsamescalecanbeplayedatthe12thfret–rememberhowwesawthateverythingrepeatsevery12frets?Ontheright,weseewhatthatsamescalelookslike,playedatthe12thfret.Themaingotchaonthisisalittlepinkystretchtocatchthatlastnoteonthe4thstring.That’swhyfinger#4islistedtwice.YoucouldoptionallyplaythatF♯onthe3rdstring,11thfretifyouprefer.


Root 6 Diatonic Major Okay,nowwemoveontothenextpattern,thisoneiscalledtheRoot6“G”DiatonicMajor.Youcanthinkofthisasthe“home”scaleforthekeyofGmajor,becauseeverythingelseisbasedoffit.Butjustbecausethat’sthecasedoesn’tmeanyouhavetouseitinasolo–youcanuseanyofthesepatternsandexcludetheothers,ifyouchoose.Thechoiceisyours!

NoticethattherootnotehereisaG,butthefirstnoteonthe6thstringisanF♯. Somescalepatternsarelikethis,andyoushouldstartplayingfromtherootnoteinsteadofthefirstnoteonthestring.Youcantryplayingitbothways,butyourearwillquicklytellyouitsoundsfarbetterstartingontheG.ThereasonisthatGisthetonic,andsothespacingofalltheothernotescomplementsthatG…nottheF♯. Alsonoticethatthereissomeoverlapbetweenthisandthefirstpatternwelearned.Becausethesescalesbothusethesamenotes,inthesamespacingandorder,onlyfromdifferentstartingpoints,itmakestotalsensethattheywouldmeshtogetheronthefretboardlikethegearsoftwowheels.

Onceagain,usetheone-finger-per-fretrulehereandyou’llbejustfine,startingofcoursewithyoursecondfinger.Sofarwe’vecoveredabouthalfthefretboard.Keepinmindofcoursethatevery12frets,allthepatternsrepeatthemselves,sointhatsense,the“complete”fretboardisamere12frets.

EADGBE

Just wanted to thank you for a few “new” ideas I picked up from your scale course and one earthshaking discovery that linked together stuff I’ve been doing for over 40 years playing around on the guitar.

~Mark Hintz, Florida


Root 5 Diatonic Minor Thelastpatternwe’regoingtolookatherewilltakeustherestofthewayupthefretboard.It’scalledtheRoot5“E”DiatonicMinorScale.Thefactthattherootnoteforthisscaleisonthe5thstringmakesitabitdifferentfromtheotherpatternswe’velookedat.Thereareanumberofgoodreasonsforthat,butI’mnotgoingtogetintoittoday.Fornow,simplystudythepatternstartingfromtheErootnoteandgoinguptothenextErootnote,andcompareittothefirstoctaveofthefirstpatternwelearned.Youwillfindtheyareidentical,justindifferentpositions.That’swhybothoftheseareminor.Thispatternstartsonthe7thfret,andendsonthe10thfret.Atthe12thfret,thepatternsallstartoveragain,sonowwe’veeffectivelycoveredtheentirefretboardusingthreepatterns.

I’ve come farther in two months now that I understand the patterns than I did in many years of trying, getting frustrated, and quitting. You broke down the mysterious fretboard and made learning easy. At fifty five, a great regret was never learning to play the guitar. Because of you and your program I am on the way to erasing that regret from my life. This may sound overstated, but I assure you, it is not.

~ Thomas Hill, Salt Lake City, Utah


Cheatsheet: Scale Patterns For The Key of G

Tip:Printthischeatsheetandkeepithandyforquickreferenceinyourguitarcase.YoucanuseanyofthesepatternstosolooveranysonginthekeyofGmajor,orEminor.Youcanchangepatternsifyouwish,orstayputinjustone–thechoiceisyours!Whenyou’rereadytotrulyunderstandyourfretboard,andtakeyourplayingtothenextlevel,checkouttheGuitarScalePatternscoursehere:http://playguitar.com/gsp


Learn By Patterns – Not Memorization OvertheyearsI’vecomeacrossmanyguitarplayerstryingtolearnthenotesontheirfretboardbysheermemorization.Unfortunatelyforthem,that’samuchslower,moreinefficientwaytolearnthefretboardthantakingapatternsapproach.Whenyoutrulygraspthepowerofhowpatternsworkonyourfretboard,everythingchanges.ThepatternsI’veshownyoutodaycanbeappliedtoeverysinglekey,youjustneedtomovetherootnotesaround.WhenIwasinhighschool,Itooktrumpetinband,andIwasrequiredtoplaythemajorscaleineverykeywithoutmistakes.Thattookpracticingeverysinglescaleseparately,onit’sown,becausetheywerealldifferent.ThenonedayIswitchedtoguitar,learnedasinglescalepattern,andwhenthesametestcamearoundthatyear,IlaughedmybunsoffbecauseIplayedthatonesinglepattern12differenttimesatdifferentplacesonthefretboard,andacedthetestinaboutaminuteflat.Itwassoeasybycomparison!Thatmyfriend,isthetruebeautyoflearningpatternsontheguitar.Ifyoulearnjustonescalepattern,it’slikeyou’velearned12,becausethatpatterncanbeusedforeverykey.Brilliant!Ifyou’rereadytofullyunlockyourfretboard,IhighlyrecommendcheckingoutmyGuitarScalePatternscourse.


About The Author JonathanBoettcherhashelpedthousandsofguitarplayersunderstandandplaytheirinstrumentsbetter.YoucansignupforfreeweeklyvideoguitartipsfromJonathanathttp://www.playguitar.com,aswellascheckouthisotherlessonsatthelinksbelow.

UnlockingIIVVUnderstandhowandwhychordsworktogether!Learnthesimplerulesthatgovernwhichchordsbelongineachkey,andwaysthatyoucanquicklythemall.We’llalsotakealookathowyoucanbuildyourownchords,soyou’llneverhavetorelyonchordchartsagain!GrabthefreeFoundationCoursehere

GuitarScalePatternsThisguitarlessonbuildsontheconceptstaughtinUnlockingIIVV,andtakesthemmuchfurtherintoadeeperunderstandingofscalesandhowtheyrelatetothefretboard.Youwilllearnhowsoloscomedirectlyfromthescales,andhowyoucanplayascaleorsoloinanypositionyouwantonthefretboard.Specificscalepatternsaredemonstratedinclose-updetailandtaughtinawaythatwilltrulymakeyourfretboardcomealiveinyourhands.LearnmoreaboutGuitarScalePatternshere

DynamicRhythmGuitarIfyouwanttotakeyourrhythmplayingseriously,andlearntomakeplayingrhythmsomuchfunyoudon’tevenneedasolo,thenthisisthecourseforyou.It’sindepth,andcoverseverythingyouneedtotrulyestablishyourrhythmskills,frompickingandstrummingtotheoryandslippingriffsinbetweenyourrhythms,it’sallhere.LearnmoreaboutDynamicRhythmGuitarhere

SecretsofTastyRiffs&SolosDiscoverthesecretsofcreatingguitarriffsandsolosthatarelaser-targetedtoharmonizeperfectlywiththechordprogression.Learnacompletelynewapproachtoworkingwiththefretboardthatdoesn’trelyuponscalepatterns!Thiscourseisaniceblendoftheorywithaheavydoseofpracticalapplicationwhereyou’lllearnnotonlynumerouswrittensolosdevelopedspecificallyforfourcustomjamtracks,butyou’llalsolearnimprovisingtechniquesaswell.Learnasweetfretboard-climbingrunhere


30BluesJamTracks&30RockJamTracksThesetwocollectionsof30backingtrackseachwillseriouslyspiceupyourpracticetime!Playingoverjamtracksisanexcellentwaytodevelopyourearasyoulearntolistentothemusicandfityourownplayingintoit.Timing,fluidityandspeedallimproveasaresult.Thisisagreatwaytoworkovernewriffsyou’relearning,orsimplytopracticeyourscales!Bonusvideoguitarlessonincludedwitheachpack.GrabaFREEbluesjamtrackhereGrabaFREErockjamtrackhere

BarChordsMadeSimpleBarchordsgotyoudown?Theapproachyou’llfindinBarChordsMadeSimplehashelpedmanyguitarplayersbreakthroughthebarchordbarrierandfinallybeginusingtherestoftheirfretboard.LearnmoreaboutBarChordsMadeSimplehere

DecodingTheBassGuitarBassplayers–preparetoplaylikeneverbefore!DecodingtheBassGuitartakestheconceptsthatarecoveredinUnlockingIIVVandGuitarScalePatterns,andappliesthemspecificallytothebassguitar.Youwilllearnhowyoucantrulycovertheentirefretboardusingonlytwoscalepatterns,andfurthermoreyouwilllearnhowyoucanusetheintervalsinthescaletocreateriffsandfillslikeneverbefore!LearnaboutDecodingTheBassGuitarhere

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Scales Quick Startguitarsharedresources.s3.amazonaws.com/GSP/Play... · At the time, I was just starting to learn my first guitar scales. I wasn’t very good with them, so I played