A recent post by a longtime member pointed out an abundance of ‘peripheral’ guitar topics in recent times. Nothing essentially wrong with this. Its a broad church here.
But, I too, do notice a lack of ‘hardcore’ guitar learning stuff recently; so its prompted the following post about a few navigational aids I’ve been using that may be useful to some; and spark some conversation in others.
Here’s three interesting and helpful fretboard navigational concepts for major and minor scales; and by derivation, the pentatonic scales. The third one relates to modes. These relate to the 5 pattern CAGED system. I’ve not seen the first 2 mentioned anywhere, but I’m sure knowledge of their existence is not ‘new’. Nonetheless, they are helpful for me, and in a very practical way. Perhaps some here may find them useful as well.
My ultimate aim with all these types of ‘aids’ and visualisations, along with note/interval/aural training and playing, is to help along the process of getting this into my subconscious; so actually thinking about them no longer becomes necessary. It becomes more of a live ‘image’.
A multi year endeavour I know, but I already know it works, as I’ve experienced it with previous learning. We probably all have.
Also, what other path would I rather be treading?
1. Each of the five 7 note major/minor scale pattern contains one string with only 2 notes on it.
The other 5 strings are all 3 notes per string*
This gives the following helpful reveal;
For the Major Scale, these 2 notes will ALWAYS be the 5 and the 6. ( Eg, for A Major Scale, E and F#)
For the Minor Scale, these 2 notes will ALWAYS be the b7 and 1 (Eg, for A Minor Scale, G and A)
(* Strings e and E obviously share the exact same notes, so there are 2 instances in one pattern)
I’ve found this one handy for actually ‘seeing’ the patterns more readily; particularly when I might be concentrating on say, arpeggios, and I can lose ‘sight’ of the scale framework underneath.
2. Another interesting one concerns adjacent patterns, and can be applied to both the Major/Minor and Pentatonic scales.
The top 3 strings (G,B,e) of any pattern are duplicated in the bottom 3 strings (E,A,D) of the next pattern. In fact, the exact notes are duplicated. Obviously a shift is required for the B string tuning as always, but nonetheless, the pattern and notes are identical. So the fretboard becomes both a horizontal and a vertical ‘conveyor belt’. Very helpful navigation tool for the 7 or 5 note scale.
If you think about, the way octave shapes on the guitar work, ‘make’ this happen. The point being though, I ‘knew’ these octave shapes 3 years ago, but only recently discovered this little practical aid. Funny how the brain works ( or doesnt) sometimes.
Good for running little drills, doing some ear training, rhythm training etc etc.
3. This one relates to modes. Putting aside Locrian ( as always ), there are 3 minor and 3 major modes of the Major Scale.
The three major modes (Ionian, Lydian, Mixolydian) all share 5 of the same notes
These 5 notes are the Major Pentatonic notes - 12356
The three minor modes (Dorian, Phrygian, Aeolian) all share 5 of the same notes
These 5 notes are the Minor Pentatonic notes 1b345b7
The 2 additional notes in each mode contain the ‘defining’ notes of the mode. Eg the #4 in Lydian, or the 6 in Dorian.
Its a handy way to visualise and actually utilise these, as they are within the perhaps more familiar pentatonic framework. Lots of cool drills etc you can run to start to relate and connect these. Again, additional ways of looking at, and applying things over time, always helps I reckon.
Perhaps some may find the above useful.
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Cheers, Shane
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