Visualizing the Fretboard - Major Scales and Modes

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Instructor: Tom Quayle Level: Intermediate Topic: Scales Style: Any Style

Excerpt: Hi there guys! Welcome to this tutorial on how to Visualize the Fretboard. This tutorial is going to deal with learning major scales and their modes and how to visualize them on the guitar. I'm sure in your time as a guitarist you've come across those books that have diagrams of scales all over the fretboard. You know, the ones with a fretboard covered in ...

Media Length: 1:49

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Instructor: Tom Quayle Level: Intermediate Topic: Scales Style: Any Style

Excerpt: We're going to be using 3 fingerings only to learn these scales all over the neck. Fingering number 1 uses our 1st, 2nd and 4th fingers with a gap of 1 fret between each. On the video and in the diagram I use the frets 3, 5 and 7 on the low E string. Fingering number 2 uses the same fingers but now there is no gap between our 1st and 2nd fingers. Fingerin...

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Instructor: Tom Quayle Level: Intermediate Topic: Scales Style: Any Style

Excerpt: Okay! Let's put these fingerings to work. We're going to be doing everything in the key of G major for this tutorial but these ideas will transpose into any key you wish. Our first scale is going to be the G Major Scale. In the next few videos we'll be looking at the modes of this scale but this is a good place to start. Now, the major scale utilizes the ...

Media Length: 3:30

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Instructor: Tom Quayle Level: Intermediate Topic: Scales Style: Any Style

Excerpt: So here's our first modal scale - dorian. Dorian is the second mode of the major scale and in the key of G starts on the note A. We'll start our scale on the 5th fret of the low E string. If you look at the diagram below you'll see that the scale starts on the second of our fingering no.3's (yellow dots) followed by three fingering no.1's (red dots) and the...

Media Length: 2:10

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Instructor: Tom Quayle Level: Intermediate Topic: Scales Style: Any Style

Excerpt: Moving on to Phrygian we have a scale starting on the note B. This occurs on the 7th fret of the low E string giving us B Phrygian. Our phrygian scale starts on the second of our fingering no.2's. So we have one fingering no.2, followed by two fingering no.3's and then three fingering no.1's. By knowing that the pattern starts with this particular fingerin...

Media Length: 1:26

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Instructor: Tom Quayle Level: Intermediate Topic: Scales Style: Any Style

Excerpt: So, moving on we have Lydian. In the key of G we have C Lydian so our scale starts on the 8th fret of our low E string. We start the scale with the third of our fingering no. 1's. Because this is the third fingering no.1 it is followed by two fingering no. 2's, then two fingering no.3's and a final fingering no.1 to cover all six strings. Once again, once ...

Media Length: 1:21

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Instructor: Tom Quayle Level: Intermediate Topic: Scales Style: Any Style

Excerpt: Now we move onto the Mixolydian Scale. In the key of G our Mixolydian Scale starts on the note D at the 10th fret of the low E string. When we apply our fingerings sequence we can see that the scale starts on the first of our fingering no.1's. So, we get three fingering no.1's, followed by two fingering no. 2's, then one fingering no. 3. Again, this scale ...

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Instructor: Tom Quayle Level: Intermediate Topic: Scales Style: Any Style

Excerpt: Here is the idea applied to the Aeolian Scale. In the key of G our Aeolian scale is E Aeolian. This starts at the 12 fret on the low E string with the note A. Now, in terms of our sequence of fingerings, Aeolian starts on the 1st of our fingering no. 3's. So we get two fingering no. 3's, then three fingering no. 1's followed by one fingering no. 2 to cover ...

Media Length: 1:19

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Instructor: Tom Quayle Level: Intermediate Topic: Scales Style: Any Style

Excerpt: So next we'll apply this idea to the Locrian scale. Be sure to look at the diagram below for guidance whilst watching the video. The locrian scale in the key of G starts on the note F# which is up at the 14th fret of our low E string. We start the pattern on the 1st of our fingering no. 2's. So we get two no. 2 fingerings, 2 no. 3 fingerings and then 2 no....

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Instructor: Tom Quayle Level: Intermediate Topic: Scales Style: Any Style

Excerpt: So what have we achieved here? Well, basically we've mapped out the entire key of G Major over the majority of the fretboard using just 3 different fingerings. This gives us a strategy for learning major scales and their modes in all 12 keys which is easily digestible as opposed to those horrible diagrams with dots all over the fretboard which you're suppos...

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