Scale diagrams demonstrate fingerings for different notes on specific strings, along with roots notes markers that help quickly pinpoint which fret to play them on.
Moving scale patterns on the fretboard make it possible to play in any key. In this article, you will learn how to utilize scale diagrams for practicing various scales on guitar.
Scales
Scales are essential building blocks in learning guitar, and can be utilized for various purposes. From improvising to chord building or simply finger exercises that help improve dexterity and strength. There are multiple ways of playing any scale on the fretboard so it is essential that you learn different patterns or positions that will allow you to access any scale anywhere on the fretboard – if one pattern doesn’t feel comfortable enough try another, which only takes minutes more of effort but could expand your range as a player.
Scales are composed of intervals that determine their tone. Common intervals include tones and semitones – one tone equals two frets while half-tones require only half an fret of separation from fret one to fret two – these concepts make working with scales easy to understand.
Once you have learned a scale pattern (also referred to as position or shape), it can be moved anywhere on the fretboard in order to play any key. Simply move its root note up or down one fret – this will change both its tonality as well as which fingers you use while playing it.
Take the G Major Scale as an example; let’s move it up an octave on the left hand side of the fretboard to reach fifth position and play five different shapes that all lead back to G Major’s root note.
Scales can be an extremely useful learning tool. Their flexibility means they can be applied anywhere on the fretboard and provide an opportunity to practice finger dexterity and become familiar with all of the notes on it. There are also more advanced uses of scales such as using different patterns over minor chord progressions to alter sound of phrases, or moving it up or down one fret to play outside its usual pattern while still using its notes – we will discuss these techniques more extensively later in our lessons.
Scale Patterns
Scale patterns are methods for playing scales more efficiently (with minimal space between notes) from any position on the guitar neck. Scale patterns may be applied to major, minor and modal scales as well as any sequence (group-of-three, tritone etc). A common pentatonic minor pattern often used in blues and rock music is one example.
A guitar scale pattern typically includes fret numbers to instruct guitarists at which fretboard position to place their hand for correct scale playback. This information can help them better understand how the fretboard works; some scale patterns do not contain fret numbers so players must use their knowledge of fretboard layout to locate correct positions themselves.
Scale patterns typically begin on the root note of their scale of origin before moving up or down an octave, enabling guitarists to build chord progressions useful for improvisation. Furthermore, these patterns often display which notes can be played when expanding a scale to cover more fretboard area.
Scale patterns can be used in any musical genre, though they’re particularly helpful for rock, metal, and blues music. Scale patterns can also be combined with chords to create more complex rhythmic and melodic structures. To begin using scale patterns effectively in your playing, first familiarize yourself with some basic ones before practicing them over chords; when comfortable doing this step-by-step you can move them around on the fretboard or play them in different keys.
Most guitarists begin by learning one or two scale patterns that allow them to play their favorite songs, but quickly realize this is limited and require learning more patterns to accommodate different genres of music. Learning even a few more will open up more sounds for riffs and melody lines on the fretboard, giving guitarists greater scope when crafting melodies and riffs.
Intervals
Understanding intervals is an integral component of music theory education, whether you are learning scales or improvising. Intervals refer to the distance between two notes and come in various types; some types are major, minor, augmented or diminished depending on the size and relation to key signatures. Intervals also feature in chord progressions and transposition; this involves shifting pieces up or down in pitch by specific intervals.
Unisons, thirds, fourths and fifths are some of the more frequent intervals found in modern society; these are often known as big intervals (major intervals). Smaller intervals include seconds, sixths and sevenths; these can all be altered according to how many flats or sharps are added onto them.
An augmented interval refers to an interval that contains more steps than its ideal counterpart, while diminished intervals have less steps. A fifth with three whole steps would be an augmented fifth; its sound can differ considerably from standard fifths. Intervals larger than an octave are known as compound intervals – they consist of multiple octaves plus any remaining interval, for instance the major seventeenth contains both simple and compound interval structures in its construction – for instance it features two octaves plus a fifth; thus it combines elements from both types.
Learning the different intervals and their relationships to one another is essential to successful improvising. Being able to recognize an interval when heard or read about will allow you to better remember melodies, harmonies, chords and just about everything else related to music!
Scale diagrams are a useful way to learn intervals. By visualizing how each note connects with its neighbors, a scale diagram helps illustrate how intervals are built up. A circle of fifths chart can also help visualize these relationships and help determine the relationships among different intervals as well as count how many half steps there are in an interval – useful when trying to calculate chord structures!
Tabs
Scale diagrams are an effective way of visually understanding how notes and patterns appear on the fretboard, but don’t provide details about how to play those notes or which fingers to use when playing them. Therefore, it is also crucial that students learn tabs alongside scale diagrams as this will enable them to become familiar with shapes of scales as well as different ways of playing them across the fretboard.
Tabs are a form of musical notation which gives instructions about which strings to play at once and which frets to press down on, usually via letters representing strings and circles with numbers in them indicating which finger should play each note (typically your index finger, middle finger, ring finger and pinky).
Most guitar scale diagrams feature an indication of which string to play first, represented by an “O” with a number written next to it. This indicates which open string should be played prior to any other notes on that string being played. Some diagrams also display this information with circled letters showing which note has the lowest pitch value.
Below you can read a scale diagram to help you learn to play the minor pentatonic scale in one octave. When learning any scale it is recommended that you practice its shapes for at least a full octave before moving onto another scale shape – this will ensure that you become acquainted with its overall structure as well as all its individual notes.
Remember that scales can be played either ascending or descending – indicated by an arrow that either points up or down. To ascend, begin at the lowest note in the scale and play up until reaching its highest note; similarly for descent begin on its highest note and play backwards to its lowest note.