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Website with the best scale fingerings
As you know, there's a million different fingerings for the CAGED system alone. Some seem better suited for electric guitars because the frets are closer together. Do you have a favorite website with the most practical fingerings for scales? I'm trying to master the major scale, the pentatonics, the major and minor blues scales, the harmonic minor, the modes, etc. It's frustrating when I see so many different fingerings for the exact same scales. I don't know which ones to drill into my muscle memory. Or maybe you could suggest your favorite books of scales.
Last edited by Uncle Clownmeat; 10-11-2017 at 01:55 PM. |
#2
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I'm looking forward to the replies. I've been taking Justin Sandercoe's course on mastering the major scale, and doing his first pattern. Thanks to this forum I've also bought the art of noodling by Rolly Brown which is also great, Rolly bases the first exercises on the C major scale with plenty of open notes so I'm keen to see that one first.
My initial searches haven't found it but I'm a bit lazy. |
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Barry Sad Moments {Marianne Vedral cover}: My SoundCloud page Some steel strings, some nylon. |
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Typically, you would learn just a couple of open-position scales: Em/G pentatonic, C maj, A min. Remember, the major and minor are just the "set" of all notes in that key in the 1st position. No sharps of flats in C or Am, so if you know your notes, you shouldn't even need a fingering chart for them.
Then, you "CAGE" 'em up, so to speak, learn a few closed-position movable patterns, one or two octaves only, and learn how to track them by the root/tonic note. DO NOT waste your time memorizing every note of every scale and mode all up and down the neck. I recommend learning just one or two closed-position patterns for the pentatonics -- the one based on Em/G (aka, Box 1), and the one based on Am/C. Then learn a closed major pattern that starts on the 6th string, and one that starts on the 5th. Remember, these do double duty as natural minor scales, and if you know how it works, you can alter them on the fly to create harmonic and even melodic minor. At this point, were I your teacher, I would ask you: what exactly are you using these scales for? Are you actually applying them to the music you are playing? Are you analyzing the tunes you play to discover how they "plug in" to the scales and keys you already know? Are you trying to compose music using these scales and modes? If not, then putting the scales to work is definitely the next step. Why? Because other than certain highly virtuoso styles, you're rarely going to hear a good guitar player play a straight up-and-down two octave scale. Scales are just the building blocks for melodies, licks and riffs. They change direction, jump around, use ornaments and articulations and bends, etc. Best to think of them as part of the key, and fitting into your chords. This approach applies to the simplest of music as well as the most complex, and is the best way to understand how scales work. Get a few basic scales under your belt, and then start studying/learning solos and riffs to understand how they actually work in music. And I'll let you in on a secret: most of the time, it ain't that complicated. A few basic ones is all you really need. Lots of players know the basic patterns and can play very well, but have no idea what key they're in or what mode they're playing. So, keep noodling, and start listening, analyzing, and stealing as many licks as you can. A note on modes: I guess it depends on what kind of music you're playing. In most roots-based styles, dorian and mixolydian are the most common. Jazz -- you're on your own I'm afraid. But I'd get a solid handle on major, minor and penta first. Tackle dorian when you play your first Santa tune....
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https://www.christophervolak.com/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCen...TNrJcTiGu9aPkw Last edited by Guitar Slim II; 10-11-2017 at 10:29 PM. |
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Quote:
I know that, musically, modes aren't related this way, but as far as learning the shapes/patterns of them, I've found it really helpful to realize that dorian, for example, is the same pattern as the natural minor with a raised 4th (that's probalby not be the right way to say it, so please correct, but it's a fi instead of a fa) but I put this together for myself and found it useful. http://www.dee.email/OPEN/scalesbetter.pdf Again, I know this isn't how these patterns are related musically: Dorian doesn't start on the 6th degree, etc. but the sound of the intervals, the pattern you play with your fingers is the same, and I found that helpful to notice.
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"Militantly left-handed." Lefty Acoustics Martin 00-15M Taylor 320e Baritone Cheap Righty Classical (played upside down ala Elizabeth Cotten) Last edited by SunnyDee; 10-12-2017 at 04:52 PM. |
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Dorian = 1,2 b3, 4 5, 6, b7
Aeolian (natural minor) = 1, 2, b3, 4, 5, b6, b7 The important take away is how application differs depending on harmonic context. hunter |
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Apologies for the classical refs (but this is what they do)
Here is a free download of the 5 major scale shapes using the CAGED system - And here is Eliot Fisk on modes Personally I could never get a handle on modes till I saw him relate them to the major and minor scale patterns. All that trying to figure out which scale degree they start on just left me clueless. He also goes through the minor scales... Just a small typo correction Dorian is natural minor with raised 6th - Julie
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adultguitarjourney.blogspot.com Taylor 712, a couple of nice classicals |
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I'm interested in any links to favourite riffs / solos in the major scale. I've been noodling along to a backing track for several months now and it's working but I need more recipes in my cookbook.
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#9
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I'm overwhelmed by all the fingering variations there are for any given scale. Look at these possibilities for the harmonic minor:
https://www.google.com/search?q=guit...w=1138&bih=549 I need to get a handle on that scale because my jamming pal often plays "House of the Rising Sun." He does it in the key of Am, so I want to play the A harmonic minor over the E major chord. I'm aware of other uses for that scale as well, but my question is about which fingerings YOU think are the most practical -- for all the scales. Suggest a book or a website. I know all of are hands are different, even if our minds are not. Last edited by Uncle Clownmeat; 10-12-2017 at 02:13 PM. |
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sorry to butt in here again, but I keep seeing first-position scales pop up here -- in the OP's original question and in some of the links posted.
1. You don't really need to worry about fingerings in first-position. You just need to know the scale - and the names of the notes in the first position. In the Am harmonic example, all notes are natural except the G (7th), which becomes a G#. In Am and C, all notes are natural, so all you've got to do is play them. Other keys? Learn your key signatures, and they will tell you exactly what notes to make sharp or flat. 2. You can take this same approach -- spell every scale and learn every note by name -- all up and down the fretboard. But most people don't. We learn movable, fixed-position scale patterns (they work just like barre chords). Learn how these work, and learn just a couple of patterns, and you're well on your way. Finally, don't know about websites, but you can find the same, most-common patterns in tons of books. If you like, I can chart out and and try to upload a couple of my favorite patterns. |
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"Militantly left-handed." Lefty Acoustics Martin 00-15M Taylor 320e Baritone Cheap Righty Classical (played upside down ala Elizabeth Cotten) |
#12
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Most of my students do not read staff notation, but I recommend (even insist) that they learn the names of the natural notes in first position. It allows them to understand the theory in a more formal way, without having to memorize the entire fretboard. And it makes understanding movable chords and scales much easier. And, of course, the CAGED perspective is all about the 1st position. So, I guess that's why people do it?
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https://www.christophervolak.com/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCen...TNrJcTiGu9aPkw Last edited by Guitar Slim II; 10-13-2017 at 12:15 PM. |
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Quote:
https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/06692...f4a9f37a3a.pdf |
#14
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Derek Coombs Youtube -> Website -> Music -> Tabs Guitars by Mark Blanchard, Albert&Mueller, Paul Woolson, Collings, Composite Acoustics, and Derek Coombs "Reality is that which when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away." Woods hands pick by eye and ear
Made to one with pride and love To be that we hold so dear A voice from heavens above |
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Quote:
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"Militantly left-handed." Lefty Acoustics Martin 00-15M Taylor 320e Baritone Cheap Righty Classical (played upside down ala Elizabeth Cotten) Last edited by SunnyDee; 10-13-2017 at 04:41 AM. |