Here are the 5 major scale CAGED style shapes that I work with. As for the melodic minor scale, I think of the shapes based on the scale degree that they start on, which helps me.
Another common way to name them is 1 through 5, but that doesn’t really tell you anything useful musically, so I name them after the scale degress they start on.
Here are the 5 CAGED shapes / positions that I use for playing the Melodic Minor Scale.
The filled in notes are the roots, the numbers above the boxes tell you which degree of the scale the shape starts on. The notes are marked black and red as a visual aid for sequencing patternts such as thirds, triads and 7th chord arpeggios. It works quite well like that, try it!
Here are the 5 harmonic minor scale CAGED shapes that I work with. As for the major scale, I think of the shapes based on the scale degree that they start on, which helps me.
Knowing where the natural notes are (C – D – E – F – G – A – B) across the fretboard is an important step in getting to grips with the guitar. I previously posted the notes of C major (the natural notes, no sharps of flats) across the fretboard.
If you’re intersted in learning to read standard music notation on the guitar, then you might find the following chart useful, as it shows each string in turn from high to low e, with all of the corresponding note locations on the stave above each fret. Each string covers an octave from the open string to the 12th fret.
I’m going to post some arpeggio diagrams that help you practise the main 7th arpeggios, starting from each string. Because the notes on the guitar reoccur in different positions, it can be difficult deciding how to practise arpeggios sometimes.
For example you could play G major 7 arpeggio by playing, 3rd fret low E, 2nd fret A, 5th fret A, 4th fret D string. Alternatively, you could play it as 3rd fret low E, 7th fret low E, 5th fret A, 4th fret D string. The choice is yours! Which is wrong? Neither. They are both valid, so it’s good to practise these kind of shapes in several different ways.
Have a look at the exercise below, it shows you something really scary about the guitar. Look at the notes; C – E – G – B, this is a C Major 7 chord played 5 times over. So this exercise shoule involve you playing the same thing 5 times right? Wrong. Look at the tab guide, it’s telling you that for every repeat of the C Major 7 arpeggio, there is a different fingering in use. Have a play through it.
Nightmare? Not really, it’s a good thing to have so much choice, right? The main thing is having an approach that enables you to practise all the alterntaive fingerings, without going crazy. The format I use is the diagram below, if you look at the first box, this is the Major 7 arpeggio starting on the low E string. The diagram below is an easy way of visualising the shapes you play through in the exercise above. You start by playing all the black notes and then you add an extra red note each time to move to the next shape. Check it out;
I’ll post the other 7th arpeggio shapes next, but without the explanation and tab guide. If I get the time, I’ll post all the tab for the entire exercise and all arpeggio types.
In a previous post I described the modes and related intervals on each degree of the major scale. As it turns out, these intervals give us 3 pentatonic scales hiding within every major scale.
If we think of these as minor pentatonic scales, then they start on the 2nd, 3rd and 6th degrees of the major scale i.e. in C major C - D – E – F – G - A – B we have:
D minor pentatonic = D – F – G – A – C
E minor pentatonic = E – G – A – B – D
A minor pentatonic = A – C – D – E – G
This can be helpful in two ways;
1) It means you can play pentatonic scale phrases in place of playing the full major scale / mode i.e. all the licks you know in E minor pentatonic can be used over a tune / progression in the key of C major.
2) It helps you get used to playing the major scale CAGED shapes and hearing the sound of the different modes, if you’re very used to the pentatonic box shapes and haven’t ventured too far away from them yet when you improvise.
Below are diagrams showing the 3 pentatonic scales shapes hidden in each major scale CAGED position. The pentatonic scales are marked in red.
The second diagram in the next block of 3 is a good way of getting in to the Dorian mode, see the basic pentatonic box and try adding the extra notes. The root of the Dorian mode here would be the first note on the low E string. You’ll be Carlos Santana in no time!
The first diagram in the next block of 3 is a good way of getting in to the Phrygian mode, see the basic pentatonic box and try adding the extra notes. The root of the Phrygian mode here would be the first note on the low E string. Instant Flamenco!
The first diagram in the next block of 3 is a good way of getting in to the Aeolian mode, see the basic pentatonic box and try adding the extra notes. The root of the Aeolian mode here would be the first note on the low E string. Holy Mark Knopfler licks!
There are two main shape groups I use for playing the major, melodic minor and harmonic minor scales. The first group is based on the CAGED system and covers the fretboard in 5 shapes / positions. The second group use 3 notes per string in the shapes and cover the fretboard in 7 shapes / positions, [...]
Here’s another Infinite String Shape, this time it’s for the Major scale based on the CAGED shapes. The great thing about this one is that the pattern repeats every 5 strings. Just remember that the symmetry of the pattern I’ve shown below is broken on the guitar when you jump from the g to b [...]
Here are diagrams showing the minor pentatonic scale across the fretboard, with and without scale degrees. These sort of diagrams are useful for two opposing reasons: they are good for showing you how shapes like the CAGED positions all lock together across the fretboard; they are also good for helping you visualise the scale across [...]
Here’s the arpeggio diagram to help you visualise and play all of the fingering variations for a Minor 7 chord, starting on each string. For an explanation of how to apply these shapes, check out the Major 7 Arpeggio Patterns post.
Here are the 5 shapes / positions for the minor pentatonic scale. Classic stuff! I refer to them by the scale degree they start on and don’t denote that 3 is actually b3 etc, it’s just a simple visual reference and more helpful musically then calling them shape 1 to 5.
Here’s the arpeggio diagram to help you visualise and play all of the fingering variations for a Dominant 7 chord, starting on each string. For an explanation of how to apply these shapes, check out the Major 7 Arpeggio Patterns post.
Here’s the arpeggio diagram to help you visualise and play all of the fingering variations for a Minor 7 b5 chord, starting on each string. For an explanation of how to apply these shapes, check out the Major 7 Arpeggio Patterns post.
Here’s the arpeggio diagram to help you visualise and play all of the fingering variations for a Major 7 #5 chord, starting on each string. For an explanation of how to apply these shapes, check out the Major 7 Arpeggio Patterns post.
Here’s the arpeggio diagram to help you visualise and play all of the fingering variations for a Minor Major 7 chord, starting on each string. For an explanation of how to apply these shapes, check out the Major 7 Arpeggio Patterns post.
Here’s the arpeggio diagram to help you visualise and play all of the fingering variations for a Major 7 b5 chord, starting on each string. For an explanation of how to apply these shapes, check out the Major 7 Arpeggio Patterns post.
Here’s the arpeggio diagram to help you visualise and play all of the fingering variations for a Diminished 7 chord, starting on each string. For an explanation of how to apply these shapes, check out the Major 7 Arpeggio Patterns post.
Here’s the arpeggio diagram to help you visualise and play all of the fingering variations for a Minor 7 #5 chord, starting on each string. For an explanation of how to apply these shapes, check out the Major 7 Arpeggio Patterns post.
Here’s the arpeggio diagram to help you visualise and play all of the fingering variations for a 7 b5 chord, starting on each string. For an explanation of how to apply these shapes, check out the Major 7 Arpeggio Patterns post.
Here’s the arpeggio diagram to help you visualise and play all of the fingering variations for a 7 #5 chord, starting on each string. For an explanation of how to apply these shapes, check out the Major 7 Arpeggio Patterns post.
