Your Appraoch to Memorizing Scales Across the Neck

ThePizzaGuy

ThePizzaGuy

New member
When you start to learn a new scale how do you approach memorizing them. Say if you learn it in the G position how would you relate that to the E position of the same scale. I'm interested in this process as I find it easy to play a G major scale but if I go to play say a B major scale i have to think about it. Don't know if this will make sense or not.
 
i'm going through the same thing right now....
the way I did it for the pentatonic minor is basically by brute force; I memorized the 5 positions of the scale which allows me to play it all over the neck. I memorized it in A minor pentatonic. Now that I have that pattern in my head, If I want to play, say G minor pentatonic I just shift the whole pattern mentally two frets towards the headstock.

I asked my guitar teacher how he does it, and he basically told me that he started by learning the 7 positions of the major scale, then he was bale to just shift it up and down the neck to play in any key. then he started relating other scales to the major; i.e. say he wanted to play the minor scale, he would just play the major and whenever he would get to the 3rd he would flatten it.....same concept to the rest of the modes.
 
I used to approach it the same way but after a while i got stuck inside overused patterns and boxes.Nowadays i just learn the notes of a scale and try very slowly to play melodies and chords all over the neck.After a point you can move quite freely and 'out of the box'.
 
My teacher said a few things on the first day. Learn every note name on the plank.

Here are the 3 note per string scale patterns. Get a metronome and go slowly till they are smooth.

We started on the F note, major scale. Practiced in F and starting on the F note. Then the F scale going from G to G, etc to get a feel for the modes. I used to name the notes when playing them slowly, that helped learn the notes.

Looked at the traditional scale shapes to see the overlaps with the 3 notes per string shapes. Now looking at the CAGED method and seeing how it overlaps.

I don't know it intuitively, but more practice is helping it just come out when improvising.

Guitar Center has a section with free bracking tracks to practice with.

Someone else posted on how to get better tapping. This has helped a lot in making me see the patterns to know where to tap.
 
Heritage your teachers good.

My friend went to a prestigious school and was told the same thing. They had to learn every note on the neck. He said that helped him tremendously.
 
TelosHedge":r1y1h90j said:
3 notes per string methods are a great way to cover the whole neck in a timely fashion, in a way that is actually useful too.

i've plugged it before, but check out my blog - there is an article about this very subject...

http://whatarethesestringsfor.blogspot. ... tring.html

enjoy!
Click to expand...
Good article. That's basically how I learned it and I don't even really have to think in terms of what key I'm playing in now. Fall into one of the shapes and I know exactly where I am, always. it is easier to see the full patterns on 7 string guitars though, so it makes a lot more sense than it does on a 6 string IMO. Once you're able to "hear" the sound of the modes, it's easy to apply the same idea to all of them without even thinking about what key you're in. Though you DO actually need to know that and the theory behind it to be able to do it.
 
you make a great point. the sound and feel of each mode is just as important as the physical shapes required to play them. once you get your basic scale shapes down, the flavor of each mode is the next thing you should tackle, as all of these shapes can be intertwined and used over a particular progression to get your point across in many different areas on the instrument.

the 7 string thing does not work for me, however lol. to each his own! :)
 
May I add that knowing and being able to play all the notes of the scale isn't nearly as important as knowing what note you are accenting over the chord (and it's degree relative to the chord). Think of it as a way to make that chord more interesting.

For example, if you go and just play the flat 5th of the blues scale it will often sound out of place, even though you're in the proper key. The reason being, the flat 5th degree works in the blues scale as a transitioning note between the 4th and 5th degrees of the scale. Also, generally it helps to come back to one of the prominent degrees of the chord you're soloing over enough to make it sound like your notes fit the progression. And also try to capture some tension as well from less 'chord prominent' degrees, before that resolve...and that's where you can get into the modes some more as well, or get into thinking outside of the box or pattern.
 
Learn every note on the fret board.

Learn all five pentatonic positions.

Learn, for each pentatonic position, which two extra notes complete the major scale.

Learn how THAT pentatonic shape relates to THAT mode of the major scale.

Work with three-note-per-String scales at first because they afford symmetry across the strings and synchronization between the hands, but at some point you have to abandon the three-note-per-String method to start getting at, like se7en says, figuring out what notes sound good over which chords. Learn relative majors and minors. There's also a book called, "Chord Tone Soloing" that helps with identifying tones over chords (3rd, 5th, M7, m7, etc.).

Go forth and shred thy neck with tasty riffs...
 
Heritage Softail":bob0e2xp said:
My teacher said a few things on the first day. Learn every note name on the plank.

Here are the 3 note per string scale patterns. Get a metronome and go slowly till they are smooth.

We started on the F note, major scale. Practiced in F and starting on the F note. Then the F scale going from G to G, etc to get a feel for the modes. I used to name the notes when playing them slowly, that helped learn the notes.

Looked at the traditional scale shapes to see the overlaps with the 3 notes per string shapes. Now looking at the CAGED method and seeing how it overlaps.

I don't know it intuitively, but more practice is helping it just come out when improvising.

Guitar Center has a section with free bracking tracks to practice with.

Someone else posted on how to get better tapping. This has helped a lot in making me see the patterns to know where to tap.
Click to expand...

I have tried reading what you have stated here several times but I keep getting distracted by the damn blonde shimmering up and down, lol. :D
 
ThePizzaGuy":37i0a8eg said:
When you start to learn a new scale how do you approach memorizing them. Say if you learn it in the G position how would you relate that to the E position of the same scale. I'm interested in this process as I find it easy to play a G major scale but if I go to play say a B major scale i have to think about it. Don't know if this will make sense or not.
Click to expand...

The Major Scale is a seven note scale. I would recommend learning patterns that start on each note of the scale with your first finger. Learn both the 3 note per string and the "in position" patterns. This is certainly a bit of work, but it needs to be done!

There is no "one way" to play the major scales across the neck. Learn as many ways as possible, but I would recommend starting by using the method above. Good luck with the practice.
 
Honestly, I adopted a more elementary approach to how I see scales when I started out, but it DID help me in the long run here... It may confuse some (or all.. ha) but maybe it'll help somebody else out.

I didn't concern myself with all the theory mumbo jumbo when I started. I just learned the names of the modes and the shapes of them. I didn't worry about "this is this scale and this degree of blah blah blah" at that point because I was too overwhelmed just learning the damned scales themselves, let alone learning their life story and hearing about their Uncle Bill's famous whiskey in the process... I know how to write it all out when it comes to "the Phrygian is the major w/ a flatted 2nd." blah blah blah when I think about it. Honestly, I never saw a point at the time, but my fascination led me to learn that all in due time...

I play in groups of shapes and "puzzle pieces", as I call them. Specifically, 3 note patterns. The modes are nothing more than pieces to a puzzle. The way I went about memorizing them was ALWAYS minding what the key of the song is and what the scale I'm using is before anything else. So, say I'm in F# Minor, when I started, I'd find F#, then recall the minor "shape" and play it there.

Now here's an error I think too many people make. They learn all the shapes in one specific key. Work it, drill it, damn near MASTER it... then move to the next key and lose all that progress. For me, at least, it wasn't a process of memorizing a ton of patterns everywhere, I picked one CENTRALIZED shape to go from and worked from there.

So eventually, as I learned the rest of the shapes all across the neck, I'd just remember where the minor "puzzle piece" is, then make the relation to where the other shapes were accordingly. For some reason, it helped me remember where all the rest of the shapes were by having a centralized point to branch off and come back to. Since I learned the Aeolian (minor or "natural minor") shape before any of the others, I just used that one...

So, for example, if I'm in A minor, bam, 5th fret on the E and away we go... But say I'm doing something in E Phrygian over that A minor progression and I go in too hot and lose my place, I just find my minor shape and re-find the Phrygian piece. But then I would sit there and drill the shape into my brain going "this is what Phrygian in E sounds like... see where it is compared to the A minor shape??" So I'd eventually see where the scales are all over the place and could recall them easier later using this sortof relation technique. Even if it's not in a minor key, I became so programmed to do it that way that if the song's in, say, B major. I'll go "hmm, okay, G# minor" and go to the "major shape".... Just remember, this is only a "spacial-relation" technique to help you remember the shapes everywhere on the neck, not to make you play one big minor scale up and down the neck. :)

More recently, I don't even have to do that anymore. As I worked on that approach more and more, I just immediately went to whatever key/shape I needed, now instead of finding the "central Aeolian shape" or whatever you wanna call it, I can go right to the shape and see how the pieces fit together on the fly.

Pardon the rant, but I wanna be as clear as I can... So, try it out if it sounds reasonable and PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE :)



aXe
 
My instructor chews on me periodically about learning the notes on the fretboard, because I don't study them regularly. It's a pain, but it really does open many doors to understanding theory. When practicing scales up and down the neck, mentally, or verbally call out the notes you're striking. Also work up and down the neck, playing three note chords with the note you're playing, as the root. It beats the boring rote memorizing notes.
 
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