A Simpler Scale Method

For the Memory Challenged Guitarist

u/rabbitrun_21
Contents
Introduction ................................................................................................................................................. 2
Diagram Notes ............................................................................................................................................. 3
Pentatonic Scales ......................................................................................................................................... 4
Basic Shapes............................................................................................................................................. 4
Moving Across the Neck.......................................................................................................................... 4
The B String ............................................................................................................................................. 5
Root Note Location .................................................................................................................................. 6
Moving Up/Down the Neck .................................................................................................................... 7
Moving Diagonally ................................................................................................................................... 8
Pentatonic Summary ............................................................................................................................... 9
Diatonic Scales ........................................................................................................................................... 10
From Pentatonic to Diatonic................................................................................................................. 10
Basic Shapes........................................................................................................................................... 11
Moving Across the Neck........................................................................................................................ 11
The B String ........................................................................................................................................... 12
Root Note Location ................................................................................................................................ 13
Moving Up/Down the Neck .................................................................................................................. 14
Moving Diagonally ................................................................................................................................. 15
Diatonic Summary ................................................................................................................................. 16
Modes ......................................................................................................................................................... 17
Arpeggios ................................................................................................................................................... 18
Conclusion.................................................................................................................................................. 19

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Introduction
Music theory tells us that we can build scales using a sequence of intervals that take us from one
note to the same note one octave higher. An example of this would be the major (Ionian) scale,
which follows the sequence W->W->H->W->W->W->H, where W represents a whole step and H
represents a half step. Getting a feel for these intervallic distances is key for understanding music
on any instrument. However, regardless of the instrument you play, a connection must be made
between these intervals and how they are applied physically on your instrument. This will involve
recognizing visual patterns on your instrument, and the guitar is no different in that regard.

Learning guitar by strictly memorizing patterns is generally agreed to be a poor approach.

However, patterns can still be valuable tools and should not be rejected for pedantic reasons. The
approach outlined in this book is one that I have found to be extremely helpful on my own musical
journey. The premise is to use the most basic building blocks to develop a path for navigating
around the fretboard. Instead of the standard method of breaking scales across the neck into
multiple 6 string box patterns, this approach instead uses only the shapes on one string that can be
played within a 4 fret span. For a pentatonic scale this gives 2 possible shapes, and for a diatonic
scale this gives 3 possible shapes.

These shapes follow a regular sequence along the neck of the guitar, regardless of the position you
are playing in. With this knowledge in hand, we can learn one pattern and apply it everywhere on
the neck of the guitar. There are some similarities between this and the three notes per string
method (3NPS), but it requires fewer patterns, does not require 5 fret stretches, and also matches
up with traditional single position pentatonic and diatonic scales.

There are a few benefits to this approach. First, it allows more fluid movement across, up/down,
and diagonally across the fretboard without getting stuck in “boxes”. Second, it requires less
memorization, and allows for building the scales in a more organic way. Third, it easily translates to
7 and 8 string guitars. Finally, by breaking down the scale into smaller and more manageable
pieces, it reduces the chances of getting lost while you are improvising.

What this book IS

In this book you will find strategies for locating pentatonic and diatonic scales on the fretboard, as
well as arpeggios. The focus will be on major and minor scales, as these are the most heavily used,
but a short section on modes is included as well.

What this book IS NOT

This book does not cover music theory. You will not find the more important discussion about how
to use these scales in the most effective way, as this is simply a tool for quickly locating the notes
available to you. But with this information, growing musically should be much easier. Learning the
notes on your fretboard and how to incorporate scales into your playing is left to you.

I hope that you can find this as helpful as I have, or that at the very least you can take away a few
new tricks that can help open up your playing.

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Diagram Notes
All of the diagrams contained in this document will illustrate patterns across a grid that represents
the strings of the guitar, as shown in Figure 1. This is from the perspective of a right handed
guitarist looking down at the guitar. This means that the low E string is at the bottom of the
diagram and the high E string is at the top. Moving to the left is to move DOWN in pitch and towards
the nut of the guitar, and moving to the right is to move UP in pitch and towards the bridge of the
guitar. DOWN and UP will be referred to in this way throughout the text.

DOWN UP
E
B
G
D
A
E
To Nut To Bridge
Figure 1: Fretboard diagrams.

In addition, note that the frets are not numbered. This is because all of the techniques used in this
document are not specific to one key. On the guitar, scales can be easily transposed to a new key by
shifting up and down the neck. This is in contrast to an instrument like piano, where transposing to
a new key requires changing the sequence of white and black notes that are played. So for now, it is
best to learn everything relatively, and then when a specific key is desired, the patterns can settle
down into a fixed position on the neck.

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Pentatonic Scales

Basic Shapes
Figure 1 shows the two shapes that we will use to build all of our pentatonic scales. For pentatonic
scales, notes are separated by one whole step (two frets) or one whole step + one half step (three
frets). These will be labeled as S for Short, and L for Long, respectively. Every pentatonic scale can
be built by combining these two shapes. By breaking down the scale into these manageable chunks,
and following a few simple rules, it becomes much easier to navigate around the neck, and it is less
likely that you will be stuck in a “box”.

S
L

Figure 2: The two basic pentatonic shapes.

Moving Across the Neck

These S and L shapes follow a very specific sequence across the guitar, and this sequence can be
found anywhere on the neck. Suppose for a moment that you have a guitar with way more than 6
strings. If you did, and this guitar also happened to have 5 half steps between every string (as a
standard tuned guitar does with the exception of the B string), you would see a very obvious
pattern come about. This hypothetical djent machine is shown in Figure 3, and has 11 strings
spaced 5 half steps apart.

L
L
S Rule #2
S
S
L
L
S Rule #2
S
S
L

Figure 3: Recurring sequence of S and L shapes across the neck. Rules #1 and #2.

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You’ll notice that there is a repeating sequence of 3 S shapes followed by 2 L shapes. Because a
standard guitar has only 6 strings this is less obvious, but this pattern is apparent to a well trained
eye. Notice that moving from an S shape to an L shape always includes a shift DOWN by one fret.
For a guitar with only 6 strings, this pattern still holds true, and as you move up and down the neck,
you are simply seeing different pieces of this repetitive sequence.

Rule #1: Alternate between 3 S shapes and 2 L shapes when moving across the neck

Rule #2: When moving from an S shape to an L shape, move one fret DOWN

The B String
Unfortunately, the first two rules will not suffice on their own on a standard tuned guitar, as the B
string is tuned only 4 half steps higher than the G string. What this means is that any time we
advance from the G string to the B string, we need to shift UP one fret. Figure 4 shows an example of
this. There is an S shape on the G string that is followed by another S shape on the B string.
However, you can see that the shape has been shifted up by one fret.

S Rule #3
S
S
L
L
S

Figure 4: Rule #3. Advancing from G to B includes a shift UP by one fret.

In the event that we are crossing from the G string to the B string and we are moving from an S
shape to an L shape, we apply both Rule #2 and Rule #3, and they cancel each other out, as shown
in Figure 5.

L Rule #3
L
S Rule #2
S
S
L

Figure 5: Example of Rules #2 and #3 working simultaneously.

If you have studied pentatonic scales in the past, the two figures above should look quite familiar to
you. Of course, moving in the opposite direction (B to G) requires a shift DOWN.

Rule #3: When moving from the G string to the B string, move one fret UP

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Root Note Location
If you blindly follow the first 3 rules, you will be able to successfully play a pentatonic scale across
the neck. But you won’t necessarily know which scale you are playing. Playing a scale with no
context of what key you are in, and whether you are playing a minor pentatonic or major pentatonic
is a quite unmusical endeavor. The good news is that for a given major or minor scale, the root note
will always appear at the same place in the pattern.

For a major scale, the root note will always appear at the top of an S shape, and the bottom of an L
shape. However, these are not at any S and L shapes, but rather the third S shape, and the second L
shape. Figure 6 illustrates a major pentatonic scale, with the root notes highlighted in red. The S
and L shapes are numbered 1-3, and 1-2 respectively for explicitness.

L2
L1
S3
S2
S1
L2

Figure 6: Major pentatonic scale root locations.

For a minor scale, the root note will always appear at the top of the second L shape and the bottom
of the middle S shape. Figure 7 illustrates a minor pentatonic scale, with the root notes highlighted
in red.

L2
L1
S3
S2
S1
L2

Figure 7: Minor pentatonic scale root locations.

At this point, you could play a minor or major pentatonic scale anywhere on the neck. However, you
would still not know what alphabetic key you are playing in. C major pentatonic? G# minor
pentatonic? For this, there is simply no way around learning the notes of the fretboard. But once
you do know all of the notes, or at least some of them, you can begin to explore the neck with the
rules laid out before.

Rule #4: Major pentatonic root notes are found at the top of S3 and the bottom of L2

Rule #5: Minor pentatonic root notes are found at the top of L2 and the bottom of S2

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Moving Up/Down the Neck
We now have the ability to move across the neck of the guitar, but it is important to be comfortable
moving up and down the neck as well. This prevents us from getting stuck in the “box” shapes
which can severely limit our playing. The following figures illustrate how the shapes are connected
up and down the neck. There are many ways you can compartmentalize and visualize this
information, but I will share what has worked best for me.

The first thing to note is that if you look at your two L shapes, you will find that they always have S
shapes directly above and below them. This is illustrated in Figure 8.

S L S
S L S

Figure 8: L shapes always have S shapes above and below them.

However, if you don’t know which S shapes you are moving to, then you won’t be able to get much
farther. It helps to make sure you know where in the sequence of three S shapes you land on when
you move up and down from your L shapes, as illustrated in Figure 9.

S3
S2 L2 S3
S1 L1 S2
S1

Figure 9: Moving up and down from L shapes with numbers.

It is also helpful to know which shapes surround the trio of S shapes. Seeing where the L shapes are
relative to the core of the S shapes is helpful, and is shown in Figure 10.

L2 S3
L1 S2 L2
S1 L1

Figure 10: The 3 S shapes have L shapes both above and below them, offset.

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For completeness, Figure 11 shows all of the patterns above and below the three S shapes.

L2 S3 S1
L1 S2 L2
S3 S1 L1

Figure 11: All shapes above and below the 3 S shapes.

Moving Diagonally
Not only should we be able to move across, and up and down the neck fluidly, but diagonally as
well. This happens to be quite easy when using the S shapes, and is illustrated in Figure 12. For the
S shapes, you can simply slide up two frets after an S3 shape and begin again on an S1 shape. For
the L shapes, you will need to include an S1 shape before sliding up to the next L shapes, as shown
in Figure 13. Note how advancing from the G string to the B string requires Rule #3.

S3
S2
S3 S1
S2
S3 S1
S2

Figure 12: Moving diagonally with S shapes.

L2
S1 L1
L2
S1 L1
L2
L1

Figure 13: Moving diagonally with L shapes.

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Pentatonic Summary
Rule #1: Alternate between 3 S shapes and 2 L shapes when moving across the neck

Rule #2: When moving from an S shape to an L shape, move one fret DOWN

Rule #3: When moving from the G string to the B string, move one fret UP

Rule #4: Major pentatonic root notes are found at the top of S3 and the bottom of L2

Rule #5: Minor pentatonic root notes are found at the top of L2 and the bottom of S2

Figures 14 and 15 show the C major and A minor pentatonic scales, respectively. See if you can
apply the rules presented in this document to prove for yourself that they hold true. The note
values here are the same for both major and minor scales because A is the relative minor of C.

Open 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Figure 14: C major pentatonic scale.

Open 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Figure 15: A minor pentatonic scale.

For practice, pick a single scale, and play from one root note to the next using the rules outlined
above. Try to move across the neck, up/down, and diagonally without losing site of where your root
is. Incorporate slides, hammer-ons, pull-offs, note skipping, and experiment with different phrasing.
If you have a friend or a loop pedal available, playing over a chord progression in the key you are
practicing will help you practice the scales in a more musical and productive way.

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Diatonic Scales

From Pentatonic to Diatonic

The pentatonic scales covered in the previous section consisted of 5 notes. For the major and minor
pentatonic scales, adding two extra notes to each will create a diatonic scale. For the major scale the
additional notes will be the 4th and the 7th scale degrees, and for the minor scale the additional
notes will be the 2nd and 6th scale degrees. These extra notes will work their way into the S and L
shapes in a regular way. Figure 16 illustrates this with the pentatonic notes shown in black, and the
new diatonic notes shown in grey.

L2
L1
S3
S2
S1
L2

Figure 16: The diatonic scale and pentatonic scale shown together.

You can see that all of the shapes acquire an extra note, with the exception of the S2 shape. The two
L shapes now have an extra note in the middle, and the two S shapes have an extra note on the
outside. At this point we could call it a day and say that we can now play both pentatonic and
diatonic scales. However, it can start to become counterproductive if we are constantly thinking in
terms of the pentatonic scale while playing diatonic. Recognizing how the pentatonic and diatonic
scales fit together is very important, but for the sake of quickly navigating around the fretboard, we
will adopt a new set of names for the diatonic shapes. The S2 shape will retain its shape name of S,
but we will need two additional pattern names.

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Basic Shapes
The three diatonic shapes are labeled S, H, and W, as illustrated in Figure 17. The S shape is
comprised of a single whole step. The H shape is comprised of a Half step followed by a whole step.
The W shape is comprised of a Whole step followed by a half step.

W
H
S

Figure 17: The three basic diatonic shapes.

Moving Across the Neck

These S, H, and W shapes follow a very specific sequence across the guitar, and this sequence can be
found anywhere on the neck, just as with pentatonic scales. Because diatonic scales contain all of
the pentatonic notes, and it is important to see the relationship between the two, the convention for
the rest of the book will be to show pentatonic notes in black, and the extra diatonic notes shown in
grey. Figure 18 shows our 11 string guitar and the pattern that is repeated across the neck.

W
H
H
S Rule #2
W
W
H
H
S Rule #2
W
W

Figure 18: Recurring sequence of S, H, and W shapes across the neck. Rules #1 and #2.

Notice that the repeating pattern is one S shape, followed by two H shapes, followed by two W
shapes. Whenever you advance from an S shape to an H shape you will move one fret DOWN.

Rule #1: When moving across the neck, the sequence is SHHWW

Rule #2: When moving from an S shape to an H shape, move one fret DOWN

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The B String
As with pentatonic scales, we need to account for the B string. Whenever we advance from the G
string to the B string, move one fret UP, as shown in Figure 19.

W Rule #3
H
H
S
W
W

Figure 19: Rule #3. Advancing from the G string to the B string includes a shift UP by one fret.

In the event that we are crossing from the G string to the B string and we are moving from an S
shape to an H shape, we apply both Rule #2 and Rule #3, and they cancel each other out, as shown
in Figure 20.

H Rule #3
H
S Rule #2
W
W
H

Figure 20: Example of Rules #2 and #3 working simultaneously.

If you have studied diatonic scales in the past, the two figures above should look quite familiar to
you. Of course, moving in the opposite direction (B to G) requires a shift DOWN.

Rule #3: When moving from the G string to the B string, move one fret UP

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Root Note Location
For a major scale, the root note will always appear at the bottom of the first W shape and the
middle of the first H shape. Figure 21 illustrates a major scale, with the root notes highlighted in
red. The H and the W shapes are labeled with 1 and 2 for explicitness.

W1
H2
H1
S
W2
W1

Figure 21: Major scale root locations.

For a minor scale, the root note will always appear at the top of the first W shape, and the bottom of
the S shape. Figure 22 illustrates a minor scale, with the root notes highlighted in red.

W1
H2
H1
S
W2
W1

Figure 22: Minor scale root locations.

As with the pentatonic scales, you will need to know the notes of the fretboard to know which major
and minor scales you are playing.

Rule #4: Major root notes are found at the bottom of W1 and the middle of H1

Rule #5: Minor root notes are found at the top of W1 and the bottom of S

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Moving Up/Down the Neck
Moving up and down the neck is only slightly more work than for the pentatonic shapes. For the S
shape, you will always find the W1 shape above it, and the H2 shape below it, as shown in Figure
23.

H2 S W1

Figure 23: S shapes have an H2 shape below them and a W1 shape above.

It is helpful to see the two H shapes and the two W shapes as they relate to the S shape, as shown in
Figure 24.

W2
H2 S W1
H1

Figure 24: S shapes are surrounded by two H shapes below and two W shapes above.

For the H shapes, you will always find the two W shapes below them. This is intuitive as whenever
we have two notes side by side, they must be the top of an H shape, and the bottom of a W shape,
since we never have three notes next to each other in a diatonic scale. Figure 25 illustrates the
shapes above and below the H shapes.

S
W2 H2 S
W1 H1 W2
W1

Figure 25: H shapes have two W shapes directly below them, and an S and W2 shape above.

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Based on what we know about the H shapes, we know that the W shapes must have two H shapes
above them. Figure 26 illustrates the shapes above and below the W shapes.

H2
H1 W2 H2
S W1 H1
S

Figure 26: W shapes have two H shapes directly above them, and an S and H1 shape below.

Moving Diagonally
When moving diagonally with diatonic shapes, we can repetitively use the H or W shapes, and use
the S shapes to connect them. When moving with H shapes, we play two H shapes, slide up two frets
to play the S shape, and then continue with the H shapes. Figure 27 illustrates this concept.

H2
H1
H2 S
H1
H2 S
H1

Figure 27: Moving diagonally with H shapes.

When moving diagonally with W shapes, we play two W shapes, then an S shape on the next string,
and then slide up to continue using the W shapes. Figure 28 illustrates this concept.

W2
S W1
W2
S W1
W2
W1

Figure 28: Moving diagonally with W shapes.

Don’t forget that when crossing from the G string to the B string you need to shift one fret UP.

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Diatonic Summary
Rule #1: When moving across the neck, the sequence is SHHWW

Rule #2: When moving from an S shape to an H shape, move one fret DOWN

Rule #3: When moving from the G string to the B string, move one fret UP

Rule #4: Major root notes are found at the bottom of W1 and the middle of H1

Rule #5: Minor root notes are found at the top of W1 and the bottom of S

Figures 29 and 30 show the C major and A minor diatonic scales, respectively. See if you can apply
the rules presented in this book to prove for yourself that they hold true. The note values here are
the same for both major and minor scales because A is the relative minor of C.

Open 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Figure 29: C major scale.

Open 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Figure 30: A minor scale.

Practice the diatonic scales the same way that you did with pentatonic. In addition, you may want to
move back and forth between pentatonic and diatonic to make sure you understand the
relationship between the two.

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Modes
In the last section, it was mentioned that the scales of C major and A minor share the same notes
due to the fact that A minor is the relative minor of C major. If we played the notes of C major with a
musical focus (or tonal center) on the C notes, then the scale will sound major and bright. But if we
instead played the notes of C major with a focus on the A notes, our ears will hear something more
minor and dark. This is a manifestation of the concept of modes. When you play the same notes of a
scale but with a different tonal center, the scale will sound different, as the intervals you hear in
relationship to the tonal center have now changed.

There are 7 diatonic modes for any given scale. So far, we have learned two of these modes –
major(Ionian) and minor (Aeolian). The 7 modes are listed below:

Ionian (Major)
Dorian
Phyrigian
Lydian
Mixolydian
Aeolian (Minor)
Locrian

These modes are ordered in a meaningful way, which is in reference to the major scale. If you look
at the notes found in C major, you will find the following modes:

C Ionian
D Dorian
E Phrygian
F Lydian
G Mixolydian
A Aeolian
B Locrian

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As we learned in the Root Note Location section, the shape remained the same for both major and
minor, but the root note was what distinguished the two. This same concept can be applied to all of
the modes, and is illustrated in Figures 31-37.

W1 W1
H2 H2
H1 H1
S S
W2 W2
W1 W1

Figure 31: Ionian (Major) mode has root notes at the Figure 35: Dorian mode has root notes at the top of
bottom of W1 and middle of H1. W2 and the bottom of H1.

W1 W1
H2 H2
H1 H1
S S
W2 W2
W1 W1

Figure 32: Phrygian mode has root notes at the Figure 36: Lydian mode has root notes at the bottom
middle of W2 and the top of H2. of W2 and the middle of H2.

W1 W1
H2 H2
H1 H1
S S
W2 W2
W1 W1

Figure 33: Mixolydian mode has root notes at the Figure 37: Aeolian (Minor) mode has root notes at
top of S and the bottom of H2. the top of W1 and the bottom of S.

W1
H2
H1
S
W2
W1

Figure 34: Locrian mode has root notes at the

middle of W1 and the top of H1.

It is important to note here that there are many ways to learn and play modes, and you may want to
internalize this information in other ways. In the previous 7 figures, the same pattern is shown but
with a different root note. But what if you wanted to play with the same root note, but change the
mode on the fly? You can still do that with the method presented here (you simply need to
remember all the rules above), but it may be advantageous to learn how the modes relate to one
another with a root note in a fixed position. One common approach for this is to learn the major and
minor modes, and then treat the remaining modes as alterations to major and minor. For a given
tonal center, Lydian and Mixolydian only have one note different from the major scale, and Dorian
and Phrygian only have one note different from the minor scale. The rarely used Locrian mode is
not within one note of either major or minor scales.

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Arpeggios
We can also use our shapes to learn some basic arpeggios. An arpeggio is simply the notes of a
chord played one at a time instead of together. There are countless arpeggios that could be played
due to the countless number of chords that exist. For the scope of this book, we will only look at
major and minor arpeggios as they are very common, and also neatly fit into the methods presented
previously. In addition, major and minor chord tones are found within the pentatonic shapes, which
helps simplify things further.

For a major chord, the intervals that can be found in it are the root note, major 3rd, and perfect 5th.
We already know where the root notes are within our S and L shapes, so we only need to find the
location of the other two tones. The major 3rd can be found at the bottom of an S1 shape, and the
top of an L1 shape. The perfect 5th can be found at the top of an S2 shape and the bottom of an L1
shape. Figure 38 illustrates a major arpeggio, with the chord tones highlighted in blue and red. If
this were played in first position it would represent a G major arpeggio.

L2
L1
S3
S2
S1
L2

Figure 38: Major arpeggio. Arpeggio notes found in blue and red.

Figure 39 shows a different major arpeggio pattern that follows the same rules.

S2
S1
L2
L1
S3
S2

Figure 39: Major arpeggio. Arpeggio notes found in blue and red.

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For a minor chord, the intervals that can be found in it are the root note, minor 3rd, and perfect 5th.
We already know where the root notes are within our S and L shapes, so we only need to find the
location of the other two tones. The minor 3rd can be found at the bottom of an L2 shape, and the
top of an S3 shape. The perfect 5th can be found at the bottom of an S1 shape and the top of an L1
shape. Figure 40 illustrates a minor arpeggio, with the chord tones highlighted in blue and red. If
this were played in first position it would represent an E minor arpeggio.

Keep in mind that although the perfect 5th is in the same position relative to the root note
regardless of major or minor, when it comes to the patterns, it falls in a different location simply
because the root notes are in a different place.

L2
L1
S3
S2
S1
L2

Figure 40: Minor arpeggio. Arpeggio notes found in blue and red.

Figure 41 shows a different minor arpeggio pattern that follows the same rules.

S2
S1
L2
L1
S3
S2

Figure 41: Minor arpeggio. Arpeggio notes found in blue and red.

Conclusion
In this book we covered pentatonic scales, diatonic scales, modes, and arpeggios, and how to
quickly move around the fretboard with them. But this is only the tip of the music theory iceberg –
we haven’t studied how to use these concepts musically, or even how to build chords and chord
progressions! Nonetheless, the faster you can locate the notes that are available to you on your
fretboard, the faster you can begin to use them musically.

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