Scales, Arpeggios, or Licks?

[MarkRhodes]

I'm happy with "F-D-A", or what Fred Sokolow calls "Fretboard Roadmaps." The shapes are like CAGED shapes---triads, to start with---but they move along the guitar, so when you're playing out of any shape in any key, you know which one comes next in either direction. It's not about playing all the chords in any one position. (Though I know how to do that.)

It's what Herb Ellis used (-though he assigned numbers to the shapes and suggested readers of his books call them---the shapes, not his books---whatever worked for them.) It's handy and useful for me.

Also, what is useful about these shapes is that they give you the root on each of the top 3 strings. Say you're playing a major chord out of the "F" shape at the first fret, well, the root is on the high E string. The next F is the sixth fret of the B string (that's in the "D" shape) and the next one is at the 10th fret of the G string (in the shape I call "Long A," though Herb calls it shape number one.) If you want that root, F, on the D string, you go back to the first position and find it at the 3rd fret. If you want it on the A string, well that's at the 8th fret, back in the "D" shape, and if you want it on the low E, you're back to the first position. That's all the Fs you have between the nut and the 12th fret. Then the whole thing starts over. Simple as pie and much more filling!

[eduardosanz]

If you want that root, F, on the D string, you go back to the first position and find it at the 3rd fret. If you want it on the A string, well that's at the 8th fret, back in the "D" shape, and if you want it on the low E, you're back to the first position. That's all the Fs you have between the nut and the 12th fret. Then the whole thing starts over. Simple as pie and much more filling!

I get lost in this part. Could you please elaborate on it and explain me the implication on soloing?

[Flyin' Brian]

I get lost in this part. Could you please elaborate on it and explain me the implication on soloing?

I'm sure that Mark will answer this, but my thought would simply be that if you are going to be able to play a solo, or a melody for that matter, anywhere on the guitar, you have to know where the starting place is.

Take a very simple melody like Happy Birthday and play it in the key of C. First you need to get you ear to a place where you know what the first note of the melody is before you even play it...so in this case it's G.

Next which G are you going to use? There are six of them on frets 1 through 12. Which octave are you going to use? What is the highest note in the melody? Where are you going to need to play that?

Now if you have to answer all of these question to play a simple melody, it should give you an idea of the fretboard knowledge you need to improvise. And the map to that knowledge is through both scales and arpeggios.

I've always pointed out this video to people who are in the early stages of learning as well.

[fumblefingers]

I guess ill keep working on both... Another question: two octaves arpeggio or just the high octave (as most of the soloing is gonna be on the treble strings i guess).

I would learn one octave first, then two, then three.

Learn your one octave arpeggios on all string sets. In other words learn them from the 6th, 5th, 4th, and 3rd strings.

[MarkRhodes]

Love that Barry Greene clip. 3 5 R b7 3 b9 R b7 are two great "perpetual motion" exercises (over a cycle of dominants. I saw this video before but am glad it was posted again---I want to do this exercise again! Thanks.