The minor scale in two patterns

Books offer loads of patterns for each scale. And all of these need to be memorised.

The best memory people simplify things to make them easier to remember, and the C-A-G-E-D system is one approach to doing this with the major scale. But that is still five patterns. And it doesn't translate very well to minor scales.  What if you just needed to memorize two patterns?

Well here it is.

The minor scale is constructed like this: W-H-W-W-W-H-W.
(W = whole step/tone or 2 frets. H = half=step/tone or 1 fret).

On any fretted instrument, this will form a repeatable pattern. This is how a one-octave minor scale looks with the root at any fret on the 6th string of the guitar, the 5th string and the 4th string.

You can see that it is the same pattern. 

With the root note on the 4th string, the reason it looks different is because the 2nd (B) string is tuned differently. To make up for this the last 2 notes of the pattern have to move up the neck by one fret.

Now to prove it, move the root over to the 3rd string and move notes 4, 5 & 6 up by one fret on the 2nd (B) string. Move notes 7 & 8 across to the 1st (E) string.

So that's Pattern 1 of the minor scale.  What about Pattern 2?

Pattern 2 works in exactly the same way. The root note is played with the 4th finger of your fretting hand on the 6th (low E) string.

The pattern is the same whether the root note is on the 6th, 5th or 4th string. When part of the pattern moves on to the 2nd (B) string, those notes move up the neck by one fret (one semitone). You'll know when you've got it because you'll be able to hear the Sugar Plum Fairy of the minor scale.

There is no Pattern 2 starting with a root on the 3rd string.  There are not enough strings.

Try this. Play the minor scale in A using both patterns with roots on all strings.  Once you have got these two patterns under your fingers, you can start to extend these scales across all strings. Two octave and extended major scales across the neck use a combination of these shapes.

If you get stuck go back to Pattern 1 on the 6th string and use the sound of that as a reference to copy elsewhere on the neck.

The major scale in two patterns

Books offer loads of patterns for each scale. And all of these need to be memorised.

The best memory experts simplify things to make them easier to remember, and the C-A-G-E-D system is one approach to doing this. But that is still five patterns. What if you just needed to memorize two patterns?

Well here it is.

The major scale is constructed like this: W-W-H-W-W-W-H.
(W = whole step/tone or 2 frets. H = half=step/tone or 1 fret).

On any fretted instrument, this will form a repeatable pattern. This is how a one-octave major scale looks with the root at any fret on the 6th string of the guitar, and the 5th string.

Root on 6th string  The root note is played with the 2nd finger of your fretting hand.

Root on 5th string.

 Root on 4th string. Now this looks like a different pattern but IT IS THE SAME.  You know this is true by the way it sounds.

The reason it looks different is because the 2nd (B) string is tuned differently. To make up for this the last 3 notes of the pattern have to move up the neck by one fret (one semitone).

Now to prove it, move the root over to the 3rd string and move notes 3, 4 & 5 up by one fret on the 2nd (B) string. Move notes 6, 7 & 8 across to the 1st (E) string.

So that's Pattern 1 of the major scale.  What about Pattern 2.

Pattern 2 works in exactly the same way. The root note is played with the 4th finger of your fretting hand on the 6th (low E) string.
The pattern is the same whether the root note is on the 6th, 5th or 4th string. When part of the pattern moves on to the 2nd (B) string, those notes move up the neck by one fret (one semitone). You'll know when you've got it because you'll be able to hear the Do-Ray-Mi....

There is no Pattern 2 starting with a root on the 3rd string.  There are not enough strings.

Try this. Play the major scale in A using both patterns with roots on all strings.  Once you have got these two patterns under your fingers, you can start to extend these scales across all strings. If you get stuck go back to Pattern 1 on the 6th string and use the sound of that as a reference to copy elsewhere on the neck.

Two octave and extended major scales across the neck use a combination of these shapes. For great information on the CAGED system and the ultimate major scale programme (Master The Major Scale) check www.justinguitar.com.

3 reasons every guitarist should make video lessons

I've been playing guitar for 25 years or so. I'm at the stage where I can pretty much work out a song before it's finished playing on the radio (solo and complicated bits aside) and I play 25+ gigs a year.  I can twiddle a bit but I'm not one of those 'can-play-anything-at-the-drop-of-a-hat' guitar-sauvants.

I've always had a full-time job and a family, so music has always been the third part of an equation, and at times it's pretty low on the to-do list. So this year I decided to celebrate my silver jubilee by studying what I was doing and seeing how far I could take it. 

I've applied myself, drawn on what I do for a living, and become my own teacher. I use a lot of structure and use a lot of ready-made help. I bought the RGT Grade Books and started working through them alongside everything that Justin Sandercoe, Marty Schwarz and Andrew Wasson can throw at me online.  They have improved my guitar life. Check them out on YouTube and at

www.justinguitar.com
www.guitarjamz.com
www.andrewwasson.com

And then today, I stumbled across the most obvious way to improve my playing faster...

One of the covers bands I played with last year have a new guitarist and he is struggling to decide on what to play over the acoustic rhythm guitar on Stuck In The Middle With You by Stealer's Wheel. They asked me to do a quick video to help as "we'd quite like it to be the same as you used to play". So that's what I did.  It took me three attempts to get a loop done, and four takes to video my parts over the top.  Here's what I learned from doing it and watching it back :

- I rely hugely on the vocal for my cues in the song, rather than knowing how it goes
- my strumming is messy and noisier than I thought
- I don't move smoothly between positions in the solo

If this is how it sounds at home with no pressure, how must it sound in a gig with crappy foldback?

So here's three reasons why I'll be videoing my playing regularly from now on and how it can help you too.

1. You will know the song better.  The structure and the chord changes. The key, time signature, scales for the solo etc. Especially, if you write a song chart.

2. You'll get to see and hear exactly how you play in a safe, controlled environment, when you know a song well.  This will help you see if you are playing the way you want to. There's nowhere to hide on this.

3. Thinking about how you explain what you do to someone else, makes you focus. If you can explain it clearly, you'll play it better.

Here's how.....

• Write out a song chart.
• Record a loop to play over.
• Practice explaining the song structure and key etc and what you are playing over each part before you record it. If you can't explain what you are doing are you making it up as you go along?
• Record it and watch it back. The recording doesn't have to be complicated - I used a Bloggie.

The most important thing is to ask yourself the question, "Would I be happy sharing this on youtube?" It is not about being too self-critical. But it's a great way of checking if you are playing to the standard you want to be, and identifying things to improve.