A question on scales

[Riverwolf]

On a recent Jamplay lesson they introduced the D Major scale for practice.
I wanted a larger version for my notebooks so searched the web and found most every site shows a similar but different version.
The notes will be the same but the start and stop points are different.
Why? And which is the best to practice?
I have also been using justinguitar scales DVD lessons on the G scale and he starts and stops on the G note.
Right now I am mainly doing this for flatpicking accuracy.
Here is two examples.
The jamplay example uses only eight notes.

[mr. beaumont]

Scales have multiple positions and fingerings...if you want to organize them so you can use them to improvise, read up on CAGED or Leavitt's fingerings. The scale is always 7 notes, then it repeats...some folks will just show you from D to D, others will keep going to fill in a whole "position" box shape.

If you are just using them as a picking exercise, look for positions that address your weak areas...

[stanron]

The scale of D major contains the notes

D E F# G A B C# D

your first example goes to the A above that and your second example goes one note higher.

These notes can all be found in more than one place on the fretboard.

The first example plays these notes 'below' the first or root note.

The second example, with two exceptions, plays 'above' the first or root note.

The same scale could also be played starting at the tenth fret of the sixth string 'below' and 'above' the root note.

Mr B's suggestion regarding CAGED gets a +1 from me.

[KCharlesD]

When you see all these slightly different versions, I'd advise just go from D to D and stick with that for a while - just one octave - at first. Go up and then down. Is that what the Justin G scale did?

Hope this helps.

[Riverwolf]

Originally Posted by mr. beaumont

Leavitt's fingerings.

What is Leavitt's fingerings?

Originally Posted by stanron

The scale of D major contains the notes

D E F# G A B C# D

So it is still the same scale regardless of where it starts or stops as long as those notes appear in sequence in the same octave?
Like it could be E-F#-G-A-B-C#-D, or F#-G-A-B-C#-D-E?

Originally Posted by KCharlesD

Is that what the Justin G scale did?

I don't want to misquote Justin as I have not gotten too far in his scales lessons.
I make myself memorize each step before going on.
His G scale goes from the low E string to the High E string and back=33 notes.

I have found that spending time each day flatpicking these and calling out the notes to be useful for allot of things.
I am <2 years playing and more concerned with technique than theory.
Thanks for all answers.

[Shimmy]

Hi,

So the two scale positions you've shown are based on the CAGED system. Best first step would be to go learn what that means in depth, but in a nutshell it is a system of learning the fret board based around 5 open chord positions, the chords C,A,G,E,D.

Each if these 5 positions have their own fingering pattern for the major (or minor) scale.

Shape 1 in your example is a D major scale derived from the C position, shape 2 is derived from the A position. If you learned the other 3 positions (G,E,D) you would be able to play a D major scale anywhere on the fretboard.

Now there are 2 ways to practice these positions. First is to play the scale from the lowest possible root note found in that position. In this case and these 2 positions that would be the D found on the A string. That would then follow the sequence of D, E, F#... A typical major scale, root to root.

The second way is to start from the lowest possible diatonic (in key) note in that position. So in shape 1 that would be the F# found on the low E string. You could use the open E as per your D major example but stick to the F# and you've got a movable pattern.

Hope this helps a little and makes some sense, I'm writing this real quick as I need to go to work!lol

[JonPR]

Originally Posted by Riverwolf

So it is still the same scale regardless of where it starts or stops as long as those notes appear in sequence in the same octave?
Like it could be E-F#-G-A-B-C#-D, or F#-G-A-B-C#-D-E?

Yes.
The "scale" is essentially just that collection of 7 notes. You can make patterns from them wherever they occur on the fretboard. (some people call it "modes" when the scale starts and ends on a different note, but don't attach too much importance to that term just yet... )

The guitar is designed to be able to play scales across the neck, without moving the fret hand - so you get 3 notes on each string (often just 2 on one string). The idea with most scale patterns is each finger has its own fret - although sometimes the index will need to stretch back a fret, or the pinky up a fret.
Any scale pattern will give you over two octaves of the scale, spread across 6 strings within a 4- or 5-fret "box".
The patterns themselves are arbitrary (just whatever is comfortable), but they all link up into a big 12-fret pattern. (After 12 frets the pattern repeats.)

Playing the scale from keynote to keynote upwards (D to D in this case) is important for hearing the "do re mi..." sound, and that can be done in any pattern of the scale. Beyond that, it's worth practising the scale in any order, up or down, missing notes, making up melodic patterns.

Also look for familiar chord shapes in the scale pattern... (all the chords in the key of D major can be made from any of the scale patterns.)

BTW, it's also worth playing the D major scale up the D string alone; not for any practical playing use, but so you can see the scale structure - wwhwwwh, or 2-2-1-2-2-2-1 in frets.

[footbeat]

The Leavitt fingerings are the ones used in the Berklee Modern Method For Guitar books.

[Riverwolf]

Thanks for all the answers!
815C - thanks, I downloaded and printed it.

[815C]

Check out the video and PDF file HERE for several ways to play a two octave major scale.