Pattern 3 of the Major Scale is based around the C Shape of the CAGED System. It's an easy pattern to play - and one of my favorites!
View the full lesson at Major Scale Pattern 3 | JustinGuitar
I am now happy with the three mj scale patterns, and also now learning the AM pentatonic scale in parallel but using the am pen for licks and with a backing track.
Are the 3 mj scales Iāve leaned also now ready to do licks with or is this later in the course. Also which backing tracks would I use for these three scales
Hi Craig , @Craigward
The idea is that with the first scale you learn, you first get the most out of it musically for a long time, and yes including licks, and then continue with the next oneā¦ usually we first learn minor pattern and major pattern 1 at about the same time, but you should be able to play with that very very well to continue ,
Hope this helps
Greetings,Rogier
Craig, you canāt go back from where you are now, with your learning of three major scale patterns and I donāt suggest you unlearn patterns 2 and 3. I do suspect that you have either missed or over looked some essential advice and learning pointers contained within the major scale maestro lessons. Hopefully I can steer you back to these.
The idea is to learn one pattern and spend a long time becoming really familiar with it - not as an up & down exercise that trains your fingers the habit of scale runs but as a vehicle for making music. And to do this over backing tracks.
These are all comments written in the very first Major Scale Maestro lesson for Pattern 1. https://www.justinguitar.com/guitar-lessons/major-scale-pattern-1-mm-001
(highlights are mine)
Backing Tracks:
2 free doanloadable tracks:
There are many, many people who have learned multiple scale patterns but been unable to actually use any of them for music.
Justin created a video lesson to address this with what may seem a click bait title but contains all the wisdom. https://www.justinguitar.com/guitar-lessons/when-not-to-learn-scales-sc-104
Interesting topic. What I noticed is that there are many lessons on Justinās site that teach licks in the minor pentatonic scale. These should be considered little phrases that one can put together to improvise with the minor pentatonic over a blues progression (or other types of progression, I suppose).
However, I donāt see the analogous lessons on licks using the major scale, licks that would form the building blocks to improvise with the major scale. It seems like the improv over the major scale that Justin is teaching in the Major Scale Maestro (https://www.justinguitar.com/modules/major-scale-maestro-1) module is much more free-form, not relying on pre-learned licks, but just improvising using the notes in the scale as the building blocks.
Iād be curious to know the idea behind this difference in teaching improvisation with the minor pentatonic and the major scales. Any thoughts?
The major scale is not such a lick-driven improvisatory tool. It lends itself to longer, story-telling melody creation.
Think of the song Amazing Grace. The melody is all major scale and the whole piece tells a narrative story.
Think of the song Thrill Is Gone. This is minor pentatonic and it is a story (of sorts) but the narrative could be summarised as You done bad, I feel blue, itās lonely on my own. The conveying of the emotion takes a little more priority over the actual substance and quality of the story telling.
Amazing Grace can best be told by means of a melody that swoops along a long and winding road (to steal a lyrical phrase from a musician who knows something about writing and singing melodies).
Stories weave a path through the usual plot devices of introduction and development, peril, triumph over adversity etc.
Thrill Is Gone can best be told by licks that emulate the short bursts of emotional outpouring. Gut-wrenching blues can quite readily be described through guttural wailing ā¦ I feel sad whoooaa yeah, you hurt me bad mmmmhhh ooohhh, babyās gone aagghhh. And pentatonic licks, with their articulations and bends and slides and nuances or expressive play are ideal for telling this human hurt.
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Thanks @Richard_close2u for the very interesting reply. I hadnāt thought about it like this, but it totally makes sense.
Update: I also came across this from Justin in his old lesson on major scale improv:
There are not as many ālicksā as there are in blues style playing - the major scale is more about listening than playing licks!
The lesson I refer to is here: https://www.justinguitar.com/guitar-lessons/major-scale-basic-improvisation-im-123 (just for reference, the new Major Scale Maestro lessons supersede this, Iām sure).
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But itās possibleā¦right? or is it bad advice because then I will adjust my answerā¦ for what itās worth, I did use it a lot in the beginning to play licks (esp the longer ones )and think in major scales, but I have more learned things out of order in my short time before arriving hereā¦
Greetings
thanks roger, sorry another question, go i have learned well the 3 mj scale patterns and the x2 minor pen scales patterns, but licks learned x10 currently are for the minor pen scalesā¦
can I use these licks on the major scales or does Justin teach us major scale licks later on?
Hi Craig,
After having just read Richardās story again and now it is completely clear to me (explanation was good, my translation in my head had some problems at the time 
)
I hope that I can make it clear (EDIT: i don`t think so 
) with that small quote that it could well be, but would actually be a wrong approach (and the same pattern is both major and minor in another place ) , but I doubt whether I will start with the bigger explanation because I fear with great fear that I may not make it clearer.
There will certainly be major scale licks discussed later in the program,follow the blues program step by step and it should become clear, I am not the best explainer in this area, I remember having at least 20 lightbulb moments during these blues lessonsā¦ but maybe Richard can give better advice here than I can ,so don`t hesitate to tag him if my explanation is of no use to you ā¦I hope this helps you a little , have fun 
Greetings,Rogier
FWIW, at my early stage of using scales to make music, I practice this with the Major scale by transcribing and learning the vocal melodies of songs. For example, I just learned to play the vocal melody for āWish You Were Hereā by Pink Floyd. Then, when I get together with my friend whoās been playing for30+ years, Iāll play the vocal melody, heāll play the solos, and weāll both take turns playing the chords.
For Minor Pentatonic, I spend 5 minutes every other practice session doing the following:
- Learn a lick
- āPlay with itā to find a bunch of variations that sound good to me
- Mix it into a 12-bar blues with other licks I already know.
- Add some vibrato on the last note of the lick(s)
At this point, Iāve only learned 4 licks, but with them, the variations of them, and some vibrato, Iām already starting to sound like I know what Iām doing 
For the Minor Pentatonic, Iām only using āpattern 1ā (the one with the root under the index finger on the low E string) in the keys of A and E, and have started adding in the āblue noteā just recently.
For the Major Scale, Iām primarily using āpattern 1ā (the one with the root note under the middle finger on the low E string), but because the fingering needed for some vocal melodies requires it, Iām starting to āstep outsideā that pattern a little. So, Iām kinda learning pieces of the next pattern up and down the neck and a bit of how to play the pattern with different fingers.
YMMV
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This is an interesting topic, that Iād like to come back to. Iām wondering about non-blues pop songs and the corresponding solos, especially ones with a āmajorā feel. Like the solo from Let it Be (album version). It seems the major-sounding solo is based on licks. But I gather they are from the C major pentatonic scale (not from the C major scale). Do I have that right?
I guess Iām wondering if improvising a solo (or just some fills) with major pentatonic licks is a thing? I know Justin deals with major pentatonic stuff in his advanced lessons, but I think itās in a specific blues context, whereas Iām wondering about more generic pop/rock songs.
Also, @Richard_close2u , you mentioned Amazing Grace using the major scale, but I guess you were referring to the melody line and not so much anything improvised. Can you point out some recording where the major scale is used in improvising a solo or even just some fills? I think that would be useful for my ears. Many thanks.
Yes.
Comfortably Numb solo #1 is D major scale (with some short arpeggio parts).
Thatās a decent one to start studying.
Great, thanks
Iām interested in this topic. I have been practicing major scales 1,2,3 following Justinās course for several months. Iām doing it in 3rds and improv daily. Now applying it to other keys starting with C and D. Iāve only taken lessons here but now staying at an airbnb hosted by a guitar teacher. I took one in person lesson yesterday from him and showed him what Iām working on. He immediately told me to concentrate on the Pentatonic scale patterns (I have learned from Justin the 2 he taught A and G). That completely confused me this teacher telling me the major scales just arenāt so useful for improv. Iād like to understand the difference esp. how to proceed in my practice application. Thanks.
The pentatonic scales are 5 note of the 7 notes of the major scale.
The major pentatonic is the R 2 3 5 6 intervals if major scale
The minor pentatonic is the R b3 4 5 b7 of the major scale.
It is true that the pentatonic scales are easier to use when learning to improv but saying they arenāt as useful would be his opinion not a fact.
My question to you would be what style of music are you trying to improv over? If it Blues or Blues based Rock the the minor pentatonic scale would be a good scale to start with. Start with pattern 1 and donāt bother with the rest of the patterns until you can use it to make music.
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The answer might be obvious, so forgive me in advance. I understand the need to start the scale on root notes. Pattern 1 made clear the low root on second finger is important. Makes sense. Then, Justin showed us for pattern two to use where finger 4 sets on the barre chord. Got that. But for pattern 3, he orients us by mentioning 5th string 10th fret. And I get it, easy to find and orient. But when I think about playing pattern 3 in other keys (say, C major scale pattern 3) I donāt understand the relationship of the starting root note to the prior pattern. I guess I was hoping for something like, āfind the lowest root note 3 frets up from where finger 4 was in pattern 2 (pattern 2 Gmajor this would be the 7th fret.ā Iām finding it a challenge to understand quickly and easily how to find the starting point of pattern 3 regardless of key. Is there an easier way to know? Thank you
The simplest way for me when I was learning the C shape (pattern 3) was play a open C chord. The root notes are on the 3rd fret A string and the first fret B string. So where ever you put ring or index finger using this C chord shape are the root note. Slide the C shape chord up to the 10th fret for the G major C shape scale.
Also the C shape is the only major scale pattern that can be played in open position, so the the root note is 3rd fret and 15 fret on the A string and 1st fret and 13th fret B string.
If the root note is on the fifth string in pattern 3 (I donāt even know pattern 3!), but if the root note is on string 5, then that is true in all keys. So, for key of C, fret 15, string 5 is the root note.
Thank you both! āEasy to understand answers in 10 minutes or less.ā Golly, I sure love this community!