If you can’t play a scale all the way through without bending awkwardly over your guitar like a chimpanzee peeling a banana….
Don’t sweat it!
It’s okay!
We’ve all been there, at some point. The trick is to get past that point – ideally as quickly as possible!
Part of the issue I find is when the student hasn’t yet connected with the fact that scales can be looked at as PATTERNS.
When you approach the scale as a pattern, after a few times through you no longer need a cheat sheet to tell you where to put your finger next.
A bunch more times after that, your fingers are now starting to get the hang of the pattern, and after a while, you don’t need to be looking at the fretboard anymore either.
If you skip the pattern step though, you’re forever wondering where that next note is going to be…
Hey – nobody said the learning the guitar has to be complicated!
Speaking of…
Checkout my course on Guitar Scale PATTERNS!
It covers the scale patterns in every key, all over the fretboard, and although it comes with cheat sheets, the goal is to have you playing without them.
You’ll never again be at a loss as to where & what to play…
I have been studying bebop scales which have 8 modes starting from the top. I have a problem with figuring out how to place them down the neck in lower positions.
Hi John,
Personally I don’t like using the modes, I think they’re outdated; however you can work out the open or lower positions for any scale pattern by looking at the notes you have in the particular mode you want, and then just working through to find the same notes elsewhere on the guitar.
jon, merry christmas. looking at your sites, you always published good advise. i was watching the minor pentatonic scale, question is the major just three frets forward, as the A min is at the the 6/5, an then the major would be a 6/2 in the same pattern , yes or no. but probably i will up for the guitar scale pattern and the I IV V. on of my freind is on me to learn the neck and scales , but i have seen that scales on top of chords as you spoke seem to be it also. i also enjoy your guitar tips an the riffninja dude also, just saying thanks again. lyle
Hey, A minor is at 6/5 (5th fret, 6th string), and A major is there as well… it depends on the pattern you use from that point. Really, that note is just an A, so it depends on the pattern you start whether it will be major or minor. If you want the relative minor of A major, then go down three frets to the second on the same string, and you get F#m. Cheers & Merry Christmas back to you.