Help with Guitar Fretboard Workbook page 24

Guitar Fretboard Workbook
Here  we go step by step through the creation of major scale 
pattern 1 on page 24 (Exercise 12, problem 1).

Hopefully you are a little bit familiar with tablature 
(like they use in guitar magazines), so you can understand
the examples that follow.

To create the major scale fingering pattern, you have to 
first know some things from previous chapters: 
1) The major scale formula: all whole steps except 
for half steps from 3-4 and 7-8. 
1 2 3^4 5 6 7^8, introduced on page 20.

and

2) How to play whole steps and half steps when 
changing strings. (This is covered on page 23 and it's often the 
culprit if you're having trouble with the page 24.)

and 

3) The root shapes from Chapter 2. Root shapes 
underlie EVERYTHING on the neck.

Make sure you're familiar with those 3 things before going on.


The D roots in pattern 1 are on the 2nd string, 
3rd fret, and the 5th string, 5th fret. We find 
the root shape first and put those circles in. 
Here’s how it looks in tablature. 

E ---------|
B --3------|
G ---------|
D ---------|
A -----5---|
E ---------|

At this point we have two roots. When building a scale, 
the lowest one is the easiest to start from, because it is from
there we can count up the entire major scale formula.

We'll start with the lower root (on the 5th string 5th fret) 
as "1." The scale from this note will proceed: 
1 2 3^4 5 6 7^8. (Half steps from 3-4 and 7-8.)

Unlike in Chapter 6, we now want to stay put, so the hand 
is in position to play the higher root when we get there.
No moving around unless it's really necessary. So, the 
lower root ("note 1") should be played on string 5, fret 5, 
with the 3rd or 4th finger, because the higher root 
is on a lower fret!

The fingering is given below the tablature. LH means "Left Hand."

E ---------|
B ---------|
G ---------|
D ---------|
A --5------|
E ---------|

LH: 3 or 4

The next note is a whole step higher. As we learned on page 23 we can
play a whole step on the next string (string 4) at fret 2.
These two notes can only be played with fingers 4 and 1 if we are
to minimize shifting or stretching. Try it!

E ----------|
B ----------|
G ----------|
D -----2----|
A --5-------|
E ----------|

LH: 4  1


Remember you're looking at tab here. It's different from a
neck diagram---the notes are written in the order you play
them. 

Note 3 is a whole step up from note 2. This too can be
played on string 4, with the ring finger at fret 4.

E ----------|
B ----------|
G ----------|
D ----2-4---|
A --5-------|
E ----------|

LH: 4 1 3


Note 4 is a half step from note 3. This is just one fret
higher and so should be played with the pinky finger.

E -----------|
B -----------|
G -----------|
D ----2-4-5--|
A --5--------|
E -----------|

LH: 4 1 3 4

From 4 to 5 is a whole step, so we must ascend to string 3,
three frets down the neck as we did before. So step 5 is on
string 3, fret 2. Index finger.

E -------------|
B -------------|
G ----------2--|
D ----2-4-5----|
A --5----------|
E -------------|

LH: 4 1 3 4 1


5 to 6 is a whole step, which we can play also on string 3,
two frets above the previous note, with the ring finger.

E --------------|
B --------------|
G ----------2-4-|
D ----2-4-5-----|
A --5-----------|
E --------------|

LH: 4 1 3 4 1 3


6 to 7 is a whole step, but we just used our ring finger.
Using the pinky finger on the same string (without
stretching or shifting) will only get us a half step. So we
play note 7 on the 2nd string at fret 2. As shown on page
23 of the book, this gives us a whole step when crossing
from string 3 to string 2.

E ----------------|
B --------------2-|
G ----------2-4---|
D ----2-4-5-------|
A --5-------------|
E ----------------|

LH: 4 1 3 4 1 3 1


From 7 to 8 is a half step, which we can play with the
middle finger on string 2, fret 3.

E ------------------|
B --------------2-3-|
G ----------2-4-----|
D ----2-4-5---------|
A --5---------------|
E ------------------|

LH: 4 1 3 4 1 3 1 2


At this point we have played/drawn one octave's worth of
scale, from D to D. The guitar has more D major scale notes
available in this position beyond what we've drawn. To
continue the scale higher we count up the formula again,
treating note 8 as the new "1."

E ----------------|
B -3--------------|
G ----------------|
D ----------------|
A ----------------|
E ----------------|

From 1 to 2 in the scale is a whole step; a two fret
distance. We play note 2 with our 4th finger at fret 5 of
string 2.

E ----------------|
B -3-5------------|
G ----------------|
D ----------------|
A ----------------|
E ----------------|

LH:2 4

From 2 to 3 in the scale is also a whole step. This is a
3-fret distance down the fretboard when going from string 2
to string 1. Use your index finger for the last note in
this tab.

E -----2----------|
B -3-5------------|
G ----------------|
D ----------------|
A ----------------|
E ----------------|

LH:2 4 1

From 3 to 4 in the scale formula is a half step, a one-fret
distance on the same string. We’ll play it with the
 second
finger.

E -----2-3--------|
B -3-5------------|
G ----------------|
D ----------------|
A ----------------|
E ----------------|

LH:2 4 1 2

The highest D major scale note we can reach without
shifting or stretching is the 5th, which is a whole step
above note 4. The little finger plays this at the 5th fret.

E -----2-3-5------|
B -3-5------------|
G ----------------|
D ----------------|
A ----------------|
E ----------------|

LH:2 4 1 2 4

To get the available D major scale notes BELOW the lower
root, we count the major scale formula backward, treating
this low "1" as "8." Again, we'll be counting DOWN the
major scale formula from 8 to 1. 8^7 6 5 4^3 2 1

E ---------|
B ---------|
G ---------|
D ---------|
A --5------|
E ---------|

LH: 4

From 8 to 7 is a half step (one fret when played on the
same string). We can play note 7 on string 5, fret 4, with
the ring finger.

E ---------|
B ---------|
G ---------|
D ---------|
A --5-4----|
E ---------|

LH: 4 3

From 7 to 6 is a whole step. We can play that with the
index finger on fret 2.

E ----------|
B ----------|
G ----------|
D ----------|
A --5-4-2---|
E ----------|

LH: 4 3 1


6 to 5 is a whole step. To follow the "minimize shifting" rule we
have to play this on string 6, at fret 5. Pinky finger.

E -----------|
B -----------|
G -----------|
D -----------|
A --5-4-2----|
E --------5--|

LH: 4 3 1 4


5 to 4 is a whole step. That's two frets down; at fret 3 on
string 6. Play it with your 2nd (middle) finger.

E ------------|
B ------------|
G ------------|
D ------------|
A --5-4-2-----|
E --------5-3-|

LH: 4 3 1 4 2


Finally we can use our index finger to play one last half
step to get from 4 to 3.

E ---------------|
B ---------------|
G ---------------|
D ---------------|
A --5-4-2--------|
E --------5-3-2--|

LH: 4 3 1 4 2 1

When all notes are included, from root to root as well as
those we can reach above or below without shifting, we have
created fingering pattern 1 of the D major scale. All the notes
are shown here, but you should start and finish on either root
when practicing it.


E -----------------------------2-3-5-|
B -----------------------2-3-5-------|
G -------------------2-4-------------|
D -------------2-4-5-----------------|
A -------2-4-5-----------------------|
E -2-3-5-----------------------------|

LH:1 2 4 1 3 4 1 3 4 1 3 1 2 4 1 2 4

I suggest taking a break now, and reviewing this process
and the scale pattern it creates every day for a week or
longer.

When you are clear on it and can play the scale from
memory, start the entire process again with pattern 2 of
the D major scale. The roots are on string 5, fret 5, and
string 3, fret 7. By experimenting with starting with the
1st and 2nd finger you'll find the lower root should be 
played with the 2nd finger in order to minimize shifting.

E ---------------|
B ---------------|
G -----7---------|
D ---------------|
A --5------------|
E ---------------| 
LH: 2  4

You will find a one-fret shift is required on string 2.
It is unavoidable.

This is the entire resulting Pattern 2 major scale fingering:
E -----------------------------5-7--|
B -----------------------5-7-8------|
G -----------------4-6-7------------|
D -----------4-5-7------------------|
A -----4-5-7------------------------|
E -5-7------------------------------| 


Hope this helps, and again, thanks very much for digging into 
the Guitar Fretboard Workbook. 

Barrett