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SingleStringScalesNowthatyoulookedatthenotesontheneck,andlearnedaboutkeysignatures,workexercisesthatteachyouthosenotesontheguitar.Oneofthemostenjoyable,andbeneficial,exercisestolearnnotesontheneckisplayingsinglestringscales.Workingascaleononestringatatimeteachesyouthenotesontheneck,thekeysignatureofthatscales,andgetsyousoloswithscales.Inthissectiontherearethreeexamplesofthisexerciseinaction,butfirstcheckouthowtoworksingle-stringscalesonguitar.Herearethestepstoworkingsinglestringscalesinthepracticeroomtocheckout.

Ø Pickascaletoworkon,sayCmajor.Ø Writeoutthenotesinthatscale,CDEFGABinthiscase.Ø Findthosenotesoneachstring,oneatatime.Ø Sayeachnoteasyouplayitontheguitar.Ø PutonaCmajorbackingtrackandsoloonestringatatime.Ø Repeatwithotherkeysformajorscales.Ø RepeatwithotherscalessuchasDorian,Lydian,etc.

Nowthatyouknowhowtoworkscalesonestringatatime,hereareexamplesofthatexerciseinaction.Here’sanexampleofaCmajorscale,CDEFGAB,onthe6thstring.NoticethatyoustartonE,thelowestpossiblenoteofthescale,andmoveupthestringfromthere.Afteryoucanfindthesenotes,repeatthatexerciseonotherstrings,andthensolowiththisscaleoverabackingtrackoneachstring.

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AudioExample3

WhenfindingtheCmajorscaleiseasy,movetoflatkeyscales,suchastheFmajorscalebelow.Addingscalesthathaveflatsinyourstudiesteachesyouwherethosenotesareontheguitar,aswellasteachesyouaboutkeysignatures.Ifyoucan’trememberthenotesofthesescalesinthemoment,writetheletternamesdownandusethatasareferencewiththisexercise.AudioExample4

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Thefinalexampleaddssharpstothemix,asyoufindtheAmajorscaleonthe3rdstring.Again,don’tforgettosolowiththesescalesononestringatatime.Soloingononestringteachesyouthosenotesanddoessoinacreativeandfunway.Italsobuildsyoursoloingchops,soit’sawin-wininthepracticeroom.AudioExample5

Herearethenotenamesforeachscalewithsharpsasareference.

Ø C=CDEFGABØ G=GABCDEF#Ø D=DEF#GABC#Ø A=ABC#DEF#G#Ø E=EF#G#ABC#D#Ø B=BC#D#EF#G#A#Ø F#=F#G#A#BC#D#E#Ø C#=C#D#E#F#G#A#B#

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Herearethenotenamesforeachscalewithflatsasareference.

Ø C=CDEFGABØ F=FGABbCDEØ Bb=BbCDEbFGAØ Eb=EbFGAbBbCDØ Ab=AbBbCDbEbFGØ Db=DbEbFGbAbBbCØ Gb=GbAbBbCbDbEbFØ Cb=CbDbEbFbGbAbBb

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IntervalRecognitionTritonetoOctaveYounowmoveontointervalsinthesecondhalfoftheoctave,onesthatareatritoneorlarger.Theseintervalsrequireyoutostretchmorewhenplayingthemonadjacentstrings,ortoaddstringskipstomakethemplayable.Aswasthecasewiththefirstgroupofintervals,thereareotherwaystovisualizetheseintervals,butthesetendtobetheeasiesttolearn.Thefirstintervalinthesecondhalfoftheoctaveiscalledatritone,oraugmented4th,orevendiminished5thinterval.Iprefertritoneasitimpliesthatitisbuiltwiththreetones,hencethename,anditdividestheoctaveintohalf.Noticethedissonantsoundthatthetritoneproduces,whichiswhyitwasavoidedinclassicalmusicformanyyearsbeforebeingaccepted.Herearetheformulaeforfindingtritoneintervalsontheguitar.

Ø Strings6,5,4,and2=onefretoverandonestringup.Ø String3=twofretsoverandonestringup.

Thenextinterval,theperfect5th,isthelastintervalfoundonlyonadjacentstrings.

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Fromhereonout,allintervalswilleitherhavetwooptions,oronlybeavailablewithastringskipbetweennotes.Here’stheformulaforfindingperfect5thintervalsanywhereontheguitar,noticethe“powerchord”shapesdownlowforthisinterval.Usingsomethingfamiliar,likeapowerchord,helpstorecognizeandmemorizedeviceslikeintervalsontheguitar.

Ø Strings6,5,4,and2=twofretsoverandonestringup.Ø String3=threefretsoverandonestringup.

Thenextintervaltolearnistheminor6th,whichcanbefoundintwoplacesontheguitar.Thefirstplaceisonadjacentstrings,suchas6-5,whereyoucanusethefollowingformulaetofindm6thintervalsanywhereontheguitar.

Ø Strings6,5,4,and2=threefretsoverandonestringup.Ø String3=fourfretsoverandonestringup.

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Stickingwiththeminor6thinterval,hereitiswithastringskipbetweenthelowestandhighestnotesintheinterval.Whenworkingoutminor6thintervals,withastringskip,youcanusethefollowingasaguidetothesenotesonthefretboard.

Ø Strings6and5=twofretsbackandtwostringsup.Ø Strings4and3=onefretbackandtwostringsup.

Thenextintervaltostudyisthemajor6thinterval,whichyoucanseeacrossthefretboardbelow.Tofindthisintervalanywhereontheguitar,herearetheformulatouseforeachstring.

Ø Strings6and5=onefretbackandtwostringsup.Ø Strings4and3=samefretandtwostringsup.

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Movingon,youcannowfindminor7thintervalsontheguitar,whicharefoundinm7,m7b5,7th,andothercommonguitarchords.Here’stheformulaforfindingm7intervalsonanystringoftheguitar.

Ø Strings6and5=samefretandtwostringsup.Ø Strings4and3=onefretoverandtwostringsup.

Thenextintervalisthemajor7thinterval,whichisalsocalledtheleadingtoneasitresolvesuptotherootinmostinstances.Thisintervalisalsofoundinmaj7chords,andotherharmonicdevicesinmodernmusic.Here’stheformulatofindmajor7thintervalsanywhereontheguitar.

Ø Strings6and5=onefretoverandtwostringsup.Ø Strings4and3=twofretsoverandtwostringsup.

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Thefinalintervaltoworkonistheoctave,whichisthesamenoteplayedintwospotsontheguitar,oneanoctavehigher.Here’stheformulaforrecognizingoctaveintervalsontheguitar.

Ø Strings6and5=twofretsoverandtwostringsup.Ø Strings4and3=threefretsoverandtwostringsup.

Octavescomeinhandyastheyhelpyoufindrootnotesinotherareasofthefretboard.Thisallowsyoutoplaychords,scales,arpeggios,andothermusicaldevicesacrossthefretboardwithease.

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Exercise

Ø Pickanote,sayD.Ø Pickaninterval,sayperfect5th.Ø PlayDthenaperfect5thaboveeachDonthefretboard.Ø Repeatwithotherstartingnotes.Ø Repeatwithotherintervals.Ø Checkyourworkwiththeaboveexamplesandformula.