variations in playing scales.

[poopypocket]

Hey guys,
I was just wanted to know, if i'm playing A Natural Minor for example, is there a certain way to play it? Like, i learnt it across 3 different strings in a way that sounds right, but i saw on another site they played it differently, (starting from the same root note) but just different fingerings, which sounded the same. Should i just learn one type of fingering?

[dongenaro]

I would suggest learning several ways since each different pattern can take you to different areas of the fretboard. Try playing 2 notes per string, 3 notes per string and 4 notes per string and notice what happens.

[bassmantele]

Fingering is just the way you apply the scale to your instrument. There are probably hundreds of ways to play the same scale up and down the neck, so don't confuse the notes of the scale and the sound they give with the way you get the sound out of the guitar.

Are you familiar with the CAGED system of fingering? If you do a search - here or on the web - you'll find it laid out. Basically, it gives you five positions for each scale that let you play the same scale anywhere on the neck. The Fretboard Logic books illustrate it pretty well.

[Little Dreamer]

Go over here: http://www.harmony-central.com/Software/Windows/guitar.html
and download the Guitar Power 1.1.6 program (30 day free trial). Pay attention to where you save it, as it doesn't open automatically when you install it, so you have to go find it on your computer and then run it.

Anyhoo, once you've got it running, click on "scales" , then look on the left side of the window where it says "all scales", "major scale modes", etc. and double click on major scale modes. Then click on Aeolian (Aeolian mode is another name for the natural minor scale). Then just beneath the fretboard diagram there's a bunch of buttons with the various keys. Click on "A".

This will display the A minor scale over the entire fretboard. You can see where all the "patterns" are, and how they connect to each other. If you click on different keys, for instance A#, B, etc. you can see that the pattern the notes form over the fretboard stays the same, but the whole pattern just moves up and down over the length of the fretboard.

This should give you a lot better insight into how scales are arranged over the fretboard. And yes, practice the scale all over the fretboard.

Hopefully I gave you the name of the right program :D