Today though, we’ll start simple, and find out just what a scale is .

So What’s a Scale?

Scales are simply a collection of (usually at least five) notes, with one of those notes being specified as the root. Any collection of notes with a root could be called a scale, so the number of theoretically possible scales is infinite. In reality though, history and common practice has distilled these infinite possibilities down to just a few basic scales, which form the basis of all other common scales.

So What is a Root?

The root note is a note which controls what kind of feeling or emotion a scale will imply. It is the most fundamental note of a scale, chord, or key, and it is the note against which every other note is judged/heard. We perceive every note of a scale, chord, or key as it relates to the root note.

Also the root note is the letter used to name scales, chords and keys. For instance a C major scale will have a ‘C’ as its root note; a Gmin chord will have a ‘G’ as its root; and a piece written in the key of ‘B’ will have a ‘B’ as the root.

The root note is the most important note in a scale, chord or key and so it is the note which receives the most ‘emphasis’. Notes which are emphasised (especially harmonically) stand out to the ear, so we perceive this note as having a special importance in the scale, chord, or piece. In this sense the root is usually referred to as a key centre.

How Can the Root be Emphasised?

Scales are usually rehearsed starting and finishing on the root note – this naturally reinforces the importance of the root. Similarly, songs usually use chord progressions and a harmonic rhythm which emphasise a particular chord and note, and will typically begin or end on the root chord.

Harmonic context (the chords/chord progression) is usually the number one indicator in determining the key centre/root of a piece, and for determining which scales/modes are appropriate for melodic composition or improvisation.

What Are the Modes?

Let’s take the notes C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. If the note ‘C’ is taken as the root then these notes form the C major scale (we’ll talk about this more later); but if we take ‘A’ as the root then these notes form the A minor scale. The same set of notes can create two completely different scales depending on which note is the root.

These same notes (C, D, E, F, G, A, B) can also be known as D Dorian, E Phrygian, F Lydian, G Mixolydian, or B Locrian, depending on which note is taken as the root.

If scales are collections of notes, then modes are scales but with different notes taken as the root.

So How Do I Know Which Note is the Root?

Context! You need to listen to the underlying chord progression, rhythmic structure and melodic structure to determine which note is sounding like the key centre (i.e. which note is being ‘emphasised’).

Here are a few mp3s for you to listen to. All of these mp3s use the same set of scale notes but every example has a different emotive quality and ‘flavour’ because of them each taking a different note as its root. To create context and hopefully make the differences between each mode more obvious, I have phrased the mode to emphasis the root notes and I have included a chordal backing to create harmonic context.

Summary

Hopefully this article hasn’t scared you off modes and scales – I promise everything will become clear in the coming articles. All that you should have taken from this post is that scales are collections of notes. Modes are scales but with different notes taken as the root. And the easiest way to tell one mode from another is to listen critically and decide for yourself which note sounds like a key centre.

• Major Pentatonic
• Minor Pentatonic
• Blues Scale
• Major Scale
• Natural Minor Scale
• Melodic Minor
• Harmonic Minor

And here are all of the scales in a single multipage pdf.

Have fun… well, as much as one can have learning scales

Note that the CAGED shapes are drawn such that the ‘C’ shape is on the left and the ‘D’ shape on the right – they are not drawn in the order EDCAG as some books/sites might choose to arrange them. I find it makes more sense to begin with the first letter of the word rather than in the middle of the word (even though it is commonly done both ways).

Of course, if you need to refresh yourself as to exactly what is the CAGED system anyway the you might like to check out this series of posts on the CAGED system.

Anyway, here are the PDFs – Enjoy!

• Ionian Mode
• Dorian Mode
• Phrygian Mode
• Lydian Mode
• Mixolydian Mode
• Aeolian Mode
• Locrian Mode
• Diatonic Mode Fingering Diagrams

Sorry, but I haven’t quite figured out how to do 4, 5 and 7 string blank TAB for guitar and bass – I’ll post them as soon as I can…

• Standard Notation with Treble Clef
TAB
• Hybrid with Both Standard Notation and TAB
• Chord Boxes
• Full Page Fretboard Diagrams

Simplified CAGED Shapes

The CAGED shapes as we know it so far, with the full chords:

Stripping the above chord shapes of everything but the roots (marked ‘R’) gives us the following:

The Major Scale

You should already familiar with this basic major scale shape:

The positions of the roots in this scale match the ‘E’ shape in the CAGED system.

Accordingly there are four other standard major scale shapes which fit around the roots of the remaining shapes ‘C’, ‘A’, ‘G’ and ‘D’. Here is a complete diagram of the major scale shapes in the CAGED system. Each scale fits perfectly within the octave shapes

Below is the same diagram but with a few notes added in grey. These grey notes are outside the octave shapes but are still notes of the scale.

The Minor Pentatonic Scale

The minor pentatonic scale is one of the first scales we learn, and is certainly one of the most common scales in the majority of guitar music. Its definitely a good idea to learn the minor pentatonic in all CAGED positions. Note how these shapes also built off the CAGED octave shapes.

If you just want to know the scale shapes then the above diagrams are all you really need to know, but those interested in knowing how I arrived at those shapes can read on.

(Very Brief) Theory

For a fretboard map of the C major scale, we need the notes C, D, E, F, G, A, and B in all of their different possible occurrences on the fretboard. (Understanding which notes belong to what scale is beyond this article but I’ll make a post on major scale construction in the near future).

By referring to ‘Finding the Notes Part 1′ and ‘Finding the Notes Part 2′ you can locate every possible occurrence of the seven notes of the C major scale.

But realistically there will be precious few readers who can actually be bothered figuring it all out on their own, so here is a complete diagram to move things along (complete for for 25 frets).

This large fretboard map is a little difficult to comprehend as a whole. The next step is to break it down into its logical parts – one scale for each octave root shape.

… And Ta-Da we’ve found the CAGED shapes!

P.S. Terminology

The CAGED shapes can also be referred to by position numbers, however the numbering system isn’t very intuitive since the numbering starts from the letter ‘E’ in CAGED, rather than sensibly starting with the letter ‘C’.

So…

• Position 1 refers to the ‘E’ shape chord or scale
• Position 2 refers to the ‘D’ shape chord or scale
• Position 3 refers to the ‘C’ shape chord or scale
• Position 4 refers to the ‘A’ shape chord or scale
• Position 5 refers to the ‘G’ shape chord or scale

Why is the numbering system and the CAGED system so un-intuitively incompatible? I honestly don’t know and unfortunately we’ve just got to accept it and deal with it.

Although many people will use the numbering system from time-to-time, on this site I generally refrain from using it. Using the numbering system instead on the CAGED system can get very confusing very quickly – especially when we study the 3NPS scale fingerings which are numbered slightly differently again!

These diagrams have six lines representing the strings, and the diagram is oriented as if the guitar is standing up in front of you.

Since the guitar is oriented as if standing up, the thickest string is on the left and the thinnest string is on the right. The nut is usually represented with either a double line or a single bold line, at the top of the diagram.

And the horizontal lines represent the frets.

Dots show where you need to place your left hand fingers.

Often the dots are numbered to show you which fingers you should use; where the 1 is the index-finger, 2 is the middle-finger, 3 is the ring-finger, and 4 is the little finger.

X’s are used to indicate strings which you should not pluck (or should mute). 0′s indicate notes which you should pluck and are to be played ‘open’. This means that you do not need to fret the string with your left hand – just pluck the string without fretting.

When a single finger is used to fret more than one note, it needs to be barred. A barre is represented with a solid line.

Sometimes chord/scale diagrams will indicate positions further up the fret board. In this case the nut is not drawn in. Instead, a normal horizontal fret is drawn, and a roman numeral indicates the fret that the diagram is drawn at.

So this figure means that the index finger is to be placed at the fifth fret, and the ring finger at the seventh fret.

Lastly, chord diagrams are occasionally tipped on their side. When this happens the nut is always on the left, and the string at the top of the diagram is therefore the thinnest string, and the string at the bottom is the thickest. The following two images show the same fingering for the same chord – one diagram is drawn standing up, and the other, lying down.