Given limited practice time, in your opinion is it better to practice:
Assuming there’s not enough time to do both.
I imagine the first would train better fretboard knowledge, but the latter would train your ear for intervals better. Which is more important in your opinion?
Good question JK. My approach has been to learn the major scale on one string at a time, then two strings… then positions. When practicing I say out loud the note names, intervals and practice in a musical environment. As for practicing in all keys I focus on the keys that I would play in to conserve time.
JK, I’ve been thinking along similar lines albeit from a different angle.
Rather than learning 5 patterns for every scale (5 Major +5M pentatonic, 5 minor +5m pentatonic. Then 5 more for each of the other modes !!) it may be better to learn all the root notes for a key and then all the intervals in relation to the root.
The root notes form triangular patterns along the fretboard. They are the same triangles for every root but starting in a different place.
Knowing all the intervals, not just major intervals, allows any scale to be played around the root.
To answer your question directly-
I’d go for the second option, especially with limited time to practice.
Learn one position thoroughly and find the music in it.
I think it’s better to know the intervals rather than the notes. The intervals stay the same whatever the key where as the notes are different.
Fretboard knowledge or developing your ear?
Well both but I put ears first! 
Practicing scales in every key is a waste of time and sanity, if you break the mojor scale down and take in the B string there is only 1 pattern that repeats all over the fret board. Learn the intervals of that pattern and you know all the scales and modes.
As for learning with limited time.
That would depend on what do you want to get out of your playing.
With limited practice time you’re not going to get good at anything if you practice everything.
So pick the style of music you listen to or play the most and break it down to what are the skills I need to be great at to play this style.
You’ll find that micro managing what you practice other things will make more sense.
Learn the CAGED System and the arppegios that go with the patterns and you’ll know the triads and chords that hide inside each shape if you know the intervals.
Don’t make learning harder than it needs to be and use your ears to guide you.
Intervals. Ears. Develop and expand use of scales in keys with which you like to make music.
Intervals and their positional relationships to each other. Then you can play Martini scales wherever you want. Anytime anyplace anywhere that’s Martini. Simples.
I use this as well, but this means you will have to know root notes across fretboard, so fretboard knowledge is a requirement to move intervals across different positions. Justin has a great exercise to learn fretboard, I used that one - 5 mins a day.
I understand the first bit but not the bit in brackets - linearly & backwards. What does that mean?
What does this mean? Is that the spaces between the notes of the scale?
I found this in the web, but it doesn’t mean a lot? Should I know this as I’m up to Grade 4?
Yeah, I agree, you need fretboard knowledge.
My meaning is to learn octave shapes of the root notes and then build the intervals from there.
My thinking is that by knowing where all the roots are in relation to each other along the fretboard replaces the need to learn “5 patterns”.
I don’t know if this works because I haven’t got there yet.
I’m not sure I entirely agree. I have spent a lot of time learning and using intervals and I’m pretty comfortable improvising with them. However it takes too much processing power to be thinking that way all the time when improvising, especially at higher tempos - I certainly need some patterns too - some scale patterns and some triads and some licks that fall under the fingers. When I’m improvising with the major scale I probably spend most of my time knowing which intervals I’m playing, but sometimes I’m just using a pattern. Being able to visualise that pattern on the fretboard also helps when I’m planning ahead to make sure I hit a chord tone on the next chord change for example.
Okay. It’s early days for me so I’ll see how it goes.
Hey JK,
Lots of good stuff here already.
In my experience so far, 2 will progressively give you 1 anyway, over time. The intervals, along with rhythm, ARE the music.
The patterns are simply incidental; and the 5 vertical CAGED ones are simply frameworks, built on top of octave shapes. There are also important horizontal and diagonal patterns/frameworks that intertwine with these vertical patterns; and ones that have become more prominent over time in my experience.
Justin et als sage advice of really learning one pattern first, I think gives you the opportunity to get the scale in your ‘body’, as you learn the initial pattern in your mind.
I think alot of people miss this crucial mindset. They go wide instead of deep, thinking it will get them there faster.
I dont think this is a good strategy; with guitar, or with any other endeavour.
Then, as @stich said, you can start building further into the main game of triads, chords, and arpeggios…
Cheers, Shane
It is better to play than it is to practice. The best use of the major scale (IMHO) is in conjunction with ear training. That means playing melodies to progressions or the notes to songs (in different keys for extra credit).
Some interesting replies and perspectives - thank you.
I forgot to write in my initial post that what sparked the question was that for a long time, I’ve only done songs and not done any technique practice. I found that not doing specific technique practice makes my fingers a bit rusty.
I bought a warmup practice routine (from a facebook ads of all places) and just started using it, it’s basically a series of scales, arpeggios and intervals. It’s in every key, but only in one position. So the idea is that you just run through each key once. Rather than do repeats on the same key.
it became clear to my pretty quickly that even though it’s the same pattern, my fingers find the common scales I’ve practiced (G, C, A, etc) pretty quickly but are they’re a bit stupid for others, even though I should know the patterns.
And the only interval I’ve practiced before is 3rds.
Ultimately we all have limited time, given how much there is to know and practice about guitar.
If you have 5 minutes learn wwhwwwh. In what ever key you feel like. Once you understand this on 1 string or all the strings a new world will open up. If you don’t understand it the fret board will always be a mystery.
It is really that simple.
That’s theory 101. Personally I’m beyond that, and there’s a difference between knowing the basics vs going up and down the fretboard.
I hear what you’re saying. Interesting subject and some great replies, and whilst I seem to be across a lot of it I seem to be lacking the ability to really piece it all together, hopefully further along the journey will help.
I’ll follow this 
JK
I have emboldened two words. That is the sort of thing a gigging musician might do backstage for a few minutes as part of a finger warm up pre-gig.
It is not furthering your musical development, it is simply flexing your muscles.
I haven’t fully back tracked through this topic and others so please forgive my poor memory … I can’t remember if you have spent much time learning and musically using pattern 1 of the G major scale (the first movable major scale shape that Justin teaches).
Do you have any context to use the scale in?
That would determine what part and how I would develop it.
a real musical context could be
In most cases I won’t learn a full scale shape all over the neck if I’m not using it. It will expand when enriching from another context on a later moment. When figuring out lick and I wonder why some work and some don’t, figuring out the interval jumps can be an interesting deep-dive of the musical mechanics. Perhaps you will see patterns in what becomes your style of licks and decorations and you can even back it with a certain logic in intervals etc.
Approaching it as a whole, just from those 2 angles without any context to actually USE them IMMEDIATLELY seems sub-optimal to me.
As I explained inthe “memorizing songs” Live Club, linking things to more and different nodes in your knowledge network, solidifies the knowledge in long term memory. Just learning it without any other ocntext is the same as creating a tower by stacking blocks. It rises quickly but it you don’t fix it every day, it will topple.
My advice; make real use-cases and explore them as deep as you find necessary (and fun).
example:
the intro to Englishman in New York.
As today, I play that song and do some of my most virtuoso jazzy stuff around that basic Bm shape while taking a run with the original walking melody.
It is a fun way to practice some of the more nimble fingerwork and lead-like decorations. Yet I did not invoke the power of a full scale shape.
I think I use a QUARTER of the shape for that song but I squeeze a lot of mileage out of it. with some passing notes here and there. but it is firmly anchored in its context, I have a real musical context to practic and PLAY with it and I get to experiment with timing, rhytm, synchopated strums etc. You don’t get that from cramming complete scale shapes.
I feel like a taxidriver who does 99% of it’s trips to the same hotels and airports but know all the ways to get THERE.
To you may be. I struggle with all this theory stuff (and have done for years) and have literally only just realised (in the last 15mins) that the one finger G major scale on the 6th string has the same notes as this one https://www.justinguitar.com/guitar-lessons/major-scale-pattern-1-mm-001#learn-more so you get (using @stitch terminology)
