Your scale systems?

[Shadow of the Sun]

Heya, folks.

I'm pretty sure everyone here has their own personal method of organizing the scales on the fretboard. I'm more or less interested in seeing what your personal little systems are.

At the moment, I'm taking the most common scales (major, minor, modes, pentatonics) and organizing each type of scale into five shapes- each shape is based on what string the root note is on under my index finger. Each shape extends to all six strings, with each note of the scale in the shape - shape 2, which is the root on the D-string under my index finger has, for the major scale, the second as the lowest note in the shape on the low E.

I'm gonna practice the hell out of these- at first, starting each scale from the root, going up as high as the scale goes, then descending to the lowest note, and then moving onwards and upwards based on various intervals and such- naming the name of each interval as I play it.

So, how do you lot practice/organize scales on the fretboard?

[gingerjazz]

If im not mistaken you are going to end up with the five shape of the caged system.This is a common method of orientation around the fretboard.I do use these shapes but i allways avoided calling them c,a,g,e,d etc especially when i was starting out as i believe that when you start saying things like play a c major scale using the A shape,could lead to confusion.I prefeto call them shapes one to five.But thats just me im sure plenty of people have benefitted from it as it is.

[fep]

I think of chord tones and shapes as the basis of my scales,

Take a chord, superimpose an arpeggio over that chord shape, and superimpose a scale over the arpeggio/chord shape... that's pretty much my system. I like to think this way because I like to be aware of all this simultaneously when I'm playing.

And I associate all chords to the five CAGED positions

[jbraun002]

I tune in 4ths, so this may not quite work/resonate in standard tuning, but...

I have 3 scale shapes for any given scale, depending on whether the root would be played with my 1st, 2nd, or 4th finger. As I pass one root, the scale shifts into its next formation. So, if I start on the root with my 1st finger, by the time I get to the octave ascending, the scale will transform into the "2nd finger" scale, because the octave will be played with my 2nd finger.

Another way to think about it (perhaps better), is that all my scales are organized around 3 different arpeggios (maj7, min7, and 7) that interconnect throughout the neck. Because the fingerings repeat themselves in a predictable manner in perfect 4ths tuning, I only need to be able to see a given area of the fretboard in 3 ways.

And when I do scales like the lydian dominant, I just think of that as a dom7 arpeggio with a flat 5th (or #4), and the scale looks pretty much the same. Same with melodic minor (I organize that around my "Dorian" min7 arpeggio).

Anyhow, it's what works for me.

[docbop]

From playing bass what I got was knowing how to scales and modes are built in in upper and lower tetrachords. So no matter where I'm at I can play that scale or mode. Only issue with guitar is have to deal with the B-string that don't on bass.

On bass this was taught starting with playing major scales on one string, then two, and three. Then move to minor scales after that if you know how a mode or scale is constructed they you can play it instantly.

[jayx123]

I use the 5 shapes of the major scale for all the major modes so all the modes are in these 5 shapes for example if its a dorian then I see the dorian in the major shape with a different focus on the root.

I use the 5 shapes of pentatonic/blues scale and see how they overlap the 5 positions of the major scale ( each major scale shape contains a pentatonic shape)

I use 5 positions of the MM and see how they overlap with the major scale position.

I use 2 positions for the whole tone scale (one boxed and the other is linear) and the same to the diminished scale.

each arpeggio shape (5 shapes) is overlapped with the major scale position

so the major scale is the foundation every shape/scale/arp is somehow related visually to the major scale position