A guitar scale diagram is essentially a map of all the notes on your fretboard, which are easily moveable up or down the fretboard according to any key you may need for playing guitar.
Typically, each scale shape can be altered up or down by one octave while still keeping its finger positions the same – the only variable being its root note.
Keys
Scale diagrams represent strings as vertical lines and frets as horizontal ones; frets are metal strips that extend along the neck of your guitar and allow you to easily play individual notes. A scale diagram also contains its key, which consists of notes used to build up from its lowest note to its highest note and allow you to play your chosen scales more efficiently. This concept must be understood thoroughly to play your preferred scales successfully.
Some scale patterns are movable, meaning they can be moved up and down the fretboard to be played in any key. This feature is helpful because you’ll likely want to practice scales in various keys in order to fully comprehend them.
Transposing scales involves simply identifying the root note of your chosen scale and finding that same note on any string; once found, move all other notes up or down by frets to match that of the new key. Most guitar scale charts display root notes with red dot indicators.
A scale diagram also depicts the order in which notes should be played on each string, starting from bass tones on the lowest string (equivalent of left side on piano keyboard), then proceeding up through middle strings and finally to last frets of highest string (right side of piano keyboard).
Some scale charts may include notes that are open, which do not require frets to play them. When this occurs, an O is shown adjacent to each string, signifying this open string note before moving on to any others on that string; failing to do this would result in incorrect scale playing.
Intervals
Interval notation is amongst the most essential components of understanding a guitar scale diagram, serving as the musical relationship between notes. Understanding interval notation will be invaluable in your quest for mastering scales, chords and fretboard positioning – even moving a single note can have dramatic ramifications on sound and feel in phrases or chords; different intervals have distinct musical qualities which manifest themselves either through harmony or dissonance when played together.
To aid in understanding these musical qualities, the intervals in a guitar scale are represented on the fretboard by shapes and symbols in various forms. Many are also moveable patterns which can be applied to any string on the fretboard via transposing. Transposing is a useful technique when learning new scales; simply identify its root note on its diagram by looking for its white circle marker on its diagram.
Once you’ve located the root note, the rest of the scale can be built up around it. While its overall shape will remain the same, its location on the fretboard may shift by several frets – an extremely helpful way of learning new scales since you can practice in any key while maintaining finger positions.
Some scales use symbols to indicate when their scales are either augmented or diminished, helping you identify its sound more easily – this can be especially helpful for beginners struggling with understanding its structure. Augmented scales feature sharp sounds which create tension while diminished scales feature smooth sounds to provide relaxation.
An important function of a guitar scale diagram is providing fingerings for each interval that makes up the scale, which can be especially helpful to beginners who may be having trouble understanding how the scale works and finding good fretboard positions. But be wary – these should only serve as temporary solutions until your guitarist internalises how fretboard positions relate to intervals themselves.
Scale Shapes
A guitar scale chart can be an invaluable aid for learning to navigate the fretboard. Depending on the scale chosen, this may be shown horizontally or vertically and cover two or more octaves. Each line or row of notes (depending on scale chosen) represents one string (bass notes at bottom and treble at top); typically thicker lines indicate where nut should be located compared with frets; some charts also use color coding to show which string is being played though not all do this.
Shapes of a scale can take different forms, with various patterns appearing along its length. These movable forms allow you to alter its key by shifting its position up or down fretboard; for instance, moving all five C-A-G-E-D shapes up one fret would produce a G major scale while moving one up one fret would become a B minor pentatonic scale.
As you learn these shapes, it is helpful to start off by playing them ascending and descending across one octave, before playing them ascending and descending again across an additional octave. This will enable you to get familiar with all the notes within each pattern as they relate to one another and vice versa. Incorporating metronome or drum machine practice sessions may also ensure you stay on beat while not overextending your fingers too far.
Once you’ve learned some basic scale shapes, it’s essential to keep in mind that they can be moved up or down the fretboard to form any of the 12 keys. Furthermore, practicing each scale you have learned with different fingerings will familiarize yourself with its potential applications across the whole fretboard and allow for efficient chord navigation when performing live – for instance when starting off using a 3rd shape with pinky only it is also useful to practice using similar patterns with middle and index fingers for added efficiency.
Fingerings
Some scale diagrams incorporate fingerings, which indicate where each note in a scale pattern should be played on the fretboard. Here, the numbers represent strings while circles represent frets (including the nut which typically has thicker lines than strings). Left-handed guitarists should place numbers on each dot representing fingers on their fretting hand: 1 represents index finger, 2 middle fingers, 3 ring fingers and 4 pinky finger. Each finger should then play one fret at a time to maximize speed and precision of performance.
Fingerings are not meant to be strict rules; rather, they provide an efficient method for beginners to learn a particular scale pattern. When learning the C major scale in open position, for example, use your index finger on notes on the first fret; your middle finger on notes at second fret and third fret respectively; your ring finger plays on third fret; when switching keys simply shift this scale pattern up or down accordingly so it starts on desired root note.
Not only can diagrams demonstrate fingerings for any given scale, they may also depict chord patterns which constitute its structure – known as CAGED system and designed to speed up learning scale patterns more quickly.
Finally, many scale diagrams are movable – meaning they can be moved up or down the fretboard to start on any note. This feature makes transposing scales between keys easier, as it helps maintain consistent finger positions when shifting up or down scale patterns. For instance, a C major scale diagram could map to G but still playable regardless of key as its pattern remains the same.