In my analysis of 2-octave major scale patterns I've seen that scales A, B, and C have the same pattern:
A-
45
5 7
4 6 7
4 6 7
45 7
5 7
B starts at 7th, C starts at 8th.
but for D, E, F and G the patterns vary in this zone:
i.e. D-
7 9 10
78 10
4 67 9
45 7
5 7
i.e. E-
7 9 11 12
7 910
6 89
67 9
7 9
F-
8 10 1213
1011
910 12
8 10 12
8 10 12
G-
5 78 10121415
5 78
45 7
5 7
Unless I've missed it could you tell me is that all there is? If there's a simpler pattern for D, E, F and G please tell me. Thanks.
Next I'm onto the harmonic minor and melodic minor patterns.
I tried to find the book, "Having Fun with Scales" but haven't succeeded as yet. If you know of 'fun' ways of memorizing these scales please help.
Portamento - The ability to move from a wrong note to the right one without anyone noticing the original mistake.
Harmonics - The buzzing sound that string instruments make.
Impromptu - A carefully worked out composition.
There are actually a lot of different scale patterns, sapho. We tend to teach overlapping ones, because they break the fingerboard down into easily memorizable chunks... but each scale can actually be fingered in lot of different ways.
Your A, B, and C pattern can actually be moved anywhere, as can all the other patterns in your post. They are all just different ways of reaching all the notes you need to cover two octaves.
There are some popular memory tools around, like the CAGED system, that help you learn the scale positions. About the fewest number of positions you need is four. I'll illustrate with C major:
1) Starting with the 2nd finger on the 6th string (so you're in seventh position) you get the only moveable two-octave fingering that doesn't require a shift or reach:
7-8
8-10
7-9-10
7-9-10
7-8-10
8-10
2) Starting with the 4th finger on the 6th string (so now you're in fifth position), you need to either reach for one note or shift. I prefer a shift on the third string:
5-7-8
5-6-8
4-5-7
5-7
5-7-8
8
Notice how pattern 2 butts up against the top of pattern one.
3) Starting with the 2nd finger on the 4th string (so now you're in second position), you run out of reachable notes before you hit two octaves. This scale pattern will end up shifting to match pattern #2 at the end, and one way to play it is with a one fret shift on the 2nd string, and a jump on the first string:
3-(jump)-5-7-8
3-5-6
2-4-5
2-3-5
3-5
x
ok, we've covered notes from frets 2 through 10 with those patterns. One more pattern will close the gap between the 10th and 14th frets (where the 2nd position pattern repeats).
4) Starting with the 4th finger on the 5th string. Again you run out of notes, and this one requires a bigger shift:
12-13-15-(jump)-17-19-20
12-13-15
12-14
12-14-15
15
x
The real key to flexibility on the guitar is knowing which notes belong to which scales, and where they are on the neck. Get that down and you'll never need to worry about patterns :)
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