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What's New
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Scale
Patterns
Scale patterns are
arrangements of notes in the scale. They are constructed by defining a pattern
of scale degrees, and then a second pattern by adding 1 to each degree, then
adding 2, 3, etc. For example, consider the scale pattern 1-2-3-1 in the key of
G, which are the notes G A B G. The exercise would consist of playing: 1-2-3-1,
2-3-4-2, 3-4-5-3, etc. which corresponds to the
notes: G A B
G A
B C A
B C D B,
etc Descending versions of scale
patters are formed by subtracting numbers. In the specialized arithmetic used
here, there are only numbers 1 through 7 and the addition and subtraction
operations have the following, somewhat peculiar behavior:
7 + 1 = 1 and 1 – 1 = 7. This corresponds to “wrapping around” the
end of an octave. When practicing a scale
pattern, one becomes familiar with all of the various note changes contained in
that pattern, including comfortable ones and those that are (initially) awkward.
So when any of these moves are encountered in a tune or are desired during
improvisation, they will be familiar and playable. More familiarity with a given
key is gained as each new pattern exercise is mastered. There are many possible
scale patterns, limited only by ones imagination. In this section, a few of the
possibilities are presented. The patterns that are covered are as follows:
2 Note Patterns: 1-3,
1-6, 1-2, 1-7
4 Note Patterns: 1-2-3-1,
1-3-2-1, 1-7-6-1, 1-6-7-1
3 Note Patterns: 1-2-1,
1-7-1, 1-3-1, 1-6-1, 1-2-3, 3-2-1 The tablature throughout
this section describes exercises in the key of G as an illustration. The scale
degrees in the tablature that are underscored, indicate the beginning
of each cycle of the pattern. Although exercises are not presented for other
keys, it should be easy to create them, after becoming skilled with the standard
scale exercises for the desired key. Because patterns consist of
multiple notes, they may “span” positions shifts. So in order to reduce
radical bar movement, it may be necessary to play additional notes in the
starting position before the shift and/or additional notes after the shift that
were not used in the standard scale exercise. One may find a more comfortable
strategy for shifting than is presented below. In general, it is beneficial to
practice variations of the exercises that use different position shift
strategies. It is not uncommon to find
whole sections of scale pattern exercises contained in tunes or songs. For
example, the first three cycles of a descending 1-2-3-1 Pattern in the key of G
are part of the melody for “Blackberry Blossom”:
1 2
3 1 7
1 2
7 6 7
1 6
5 … If one were to practice the
8 note pattern 1-7-6-5-4-5-6-1, he would recognize that the first four cycles
contain most of the melody for the beginning of “Fly Me to the Moon”. 2
NOTE PATTERNS 2 Octave Ascending 1-3
Pattern in G: 1
3 2
4 3
5 4
6 5
7 6
1 7
2 1
3 2
4 3
5 4
6 5
7 6
1 7
2 1
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----------------------------------------------------------0-----2--0--4-----5-----7----- ----------------------------------------------0-----1--0-----1-----------5-----7-----8-- ----------------------------------0-----2--0-----2-------------------------------------- ----------------0-----2--0--4--2-----4-------------------------------------------------- ----0-----1--0-----1-------------------------------------------------------------------- -0-----2-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2 Octave Descending 1-3
Pattern in G: 1
3 7
2 6
1 5
7 4
6 3
5 2
4 1
3 7
2 6
1 5
7 4
6 3
5 2
4 1
----9-----7-----5--0--4-----------0----------------------------------------------------- -8-----7-----5--------------5--0--------1-----0----------------------------------------- -------------------------5-----------2-----0--------2-----0----------------------------- -------------------------------------------------4-----2-----0--4----------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------5-----0-----1----- -------------------------------------------------------------------5-----0-----2-----0-- 2 Octave Descending 1-6
Pattern in G: 1
6 7
5 6
4 5
3 4
2 3
1 2
7 1
6 7
5 6
4 5
3 4
2 3
1 2
7 1
-5-----4--0--2-----0-------------------------------------------------------------------- ----5-----------1-----0--1-----0-------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------2-----0--2-----0-------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------4-----2--4--0--2-----0-------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------1-----0--1-----0-----1-------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------2-----0--------0-- In the above exercise, a
rest is in place of the final 7th because it is below the lowest note
on the neck. Bar movement can be reduced by playing the third cycle of pattern (6
- 4) using 2\5 - 3\5 instead of 1\2
- 2\1. 2 Octave Ascending 1-6
Pattern in G: 1
6 2
7 3
1 4
2 5
3 6
4 7
5 1
6 2
7 3
1 4
2 5
3 6
4 7
5 1
-------------------------------------------------------------------0-----5-----4--0--5-- -------------------------------------------------------0-----1--------0-----5----------- -------------------------------------------0-----2--------0-----2----------------------- -------------------------0-----------4--0-----2-----4----------------------------------- -------------0-----1--------0--5-------------------------------------------------------- -0-----2--------0-----2-----------5----------------------------------------------------- In the above exercise, a
rest is in place of the first 6th and 7ths because they
are below the lowest note on the neck. 2 Octave Descending 1-2
Pattern in G: 1
2 7
1 6
7 5
6 4
5 3
4 2
3 1
2 7
1 6
7 5
6 4
5 3
4 2
3 1 ----7-----5-----4--0--2-----0----------------------------------------------------------- -8-----7-----5-----------1-----0--1-----0----------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------2-----0--2-----0----------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------4-----2--4--0--2-----0----------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------1-----0--1-----0----- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------2-----0-- The ascending 1-2 pattern is
the same as an ascending scale where each note is repeated twice: 2 Octave Descending 1-7
Pattern in G: 1
6 7
5 6
4 5
3 4
2 3
1 2
7 1
6 7
5 6
4 5
3 4
2 3
1 2
7 1
-5-----4--0--2-----0-------------------------------------------------------------------- ----5-----------1-----0--1-----0-------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------2-----0--2-----0-------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------4-----2--4--0--2-----0-------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------1-----0--1-----0-------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------2-----0--2-----0—- In the above exercise, a
rest is in place of the last 7th because it is below the lowest note
on the neck. The descending 1-7 pattern
is a descending scale where each note is repeated twice: The following illustrates
the similarities between some of the 2 note pattern exercises:
ascending 1-7:
1 7
2 1
3 2
4 3
5 4
6 5
7 6
1
descending 1-6: 1 6 7
5 6
4 5
3 4
2 3
1 2
7 1
descending 1-2: 1
2 7
1 6
7 5
6 4
5 3
4 2
3 1 Notice that the ascending
1-3 pattern visits the same notes as the 7-1 ascending pattern, shifted by 3
notes, and that corresponding notes occur on the opposite beat (downbeat versus
upbeat). The same is true for the descending 1-6 and 1-2 patterns. Because there
are subtle rhythmic differences, and right hand techniques are likely to vary,
it is beneficial to practice each of these patterns despite their similarities.
4
NOTE PATTERNS 2 Octave Ascending 1-2-3-1
Pattern in G: 1
2 3 1 2
3 4
2 3 4
5 3
4 5
6 4 5 6
7 5
6 7
1 6 7 1
2 7 --> |
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------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------------------------------------0--------0--2---- -------------------------------0--------0--2-----0--2--4--0--2--4-----2--4--------4- -------0--------0--1-----0--1-----0--1--------1------------------------------------- -0--2-----0--2--------2------------------------------------------------------------- 1
2 3 1 2
3 4
2 3 4
5 3
4 5
6 4 5 6
7 5
6 7
1 6 7 1
2 7
1
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-------------------------------0--------0--2-----0-----4--0-----4--5-----------7------- -------0--------0--1-----0--1-----0--1--------1-----5--------5--------5--7--8-----7--8- -0--2-----0--2--------2---------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- There are always possible
variations in the way notes can be accessed for exercises that go above the
fourth fret on the higher strings. For example, the root at the sixth note in
the last measure could be played at 1\5 instead of 2\8. 2 Octave Descending 1-2-3-1
Pattern in G: 1
2 3 1 7
1 2
7 6 7
1 6
5 6
7 5 4 5
6 4
3 4
5 3 2 3
4 2 --> ----7--9-----------7--------4--5-----0-----4--0-----0--2-----------0---------------- -8--------8--7--8-----7--5--------5-----5--------1--------1--0--1-----0-----0--1---- -------------------------------------------------------------------------2--------2- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1
2 3 1 7
1 2
7 6 7
1 6
5 6
7 5 4 5
6 4
3 4
5 3 2 3
4 2
1 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------0------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -0--2-----0-----0--2-----------0------------------------------------------------------- -------------4--------4--2--4-----2--0--2--4--2-----0--2-----------0------------------- -------------------------------------------------1--------1--0--1-----0-----0--1------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------2--------2--0- 2 Octave Ascending 1-3-2-1
Pattern in G: 1
3 2 1 2
4 3
2 3 5
4 3
4 6
5 4 5 7
6 5
6 1
7 6 7 2
1 7 --> |
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------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ----------------------------------------------------------------0-----------2--0---- ----------------------------0-----------2--0-----0--4--2--0--2-----4--2--4--------4- ----0-----------1--0-----0-----1--0--1--------1------------------------------------- -0-----2--0--2--------2------------------------------------------------------------- 1
3 2 1 2
4 3
2 3 5
4 3
4 6
5 4 5 7
6 5
6 1
7 6 7 2
1 7
1
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| ----------------------------0-----------2--0-----0--4-----0-----5--4--------7--8-----8- ----0-----------1--0-----0-----1--0--1--------1--------5-----5--------5--7--------7---- -0-----2--0--2--------2---------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bar movement can be reduced in the third measure by playing the 6th at 5\5 instead of 4\2.
1 3 2 1 7 2 1 7 |
