The Guitar Secret that all the Pros use to Remember Every Scale
Caged Scales
If you want to supercharge your lead guitar skills, you’re probably starting to realize that each scale you learn grants you more and more freedom in your guitar playing. But it can be difficult to remember the many scales required on the road to becoming a complete guitarist. Would you love a system that could help you remember every note on every scale, so you can shred with confidence all over the fingerboard? Well, I’m going to let you in on a secret that the pro guitarists use to take their playing from great to mind blowing! CAGED scales are the key, but before you get started, revisit the CAGED CHORD shapes lesson and make sure you understand the concepts thoroughly – it’ll make CAGED scales a breeze.
The Five Basic Fingering Patterns
The five basic CAGED fingering patterns are derived from the shapes & positions that we went through in the CAGED CHORDS lessons. We’ll use the C Major scale to learn the scale patterns. In this occasion, the scales are not written from root note to root note, but include all the notes in the position. Learn each pattern one by one. Chill out and take your time to avoid overload – perhaps learn one shape per week.
C MAJOR SCALE DERIVED FROM THE (C) SHAPE AND PLAYED IN POS #1 FRETS 0-3
C Pattern
I’ve included a suggested fingering for your left hand under each note.
Practice the pattern using alternate down up strokes.
Can you see the chord in the scale pattern?
Once you’ve mastered this first pattern, take a break before moving on to the next.
C MAJOR SCALE DERIVED FROM THE (A) SHAPE AND PLAYED IN POS #2 FRETS 2-6
A Pattern
C MAJOR SCALE DERIVED FROM THE (G) SHAPE AND PLAYED IN POS #3 FRETS 4-8
G Pattern
C MAJOR SCALE DERIVED FROM THE (E) SHAPE AND PLAYED IN POS #4 FRETS 7-11
E Pattern
C MAJOR SCALE DERIVED FROM THE (D) SHAPE AND PLAYED IN POS #5 FRETS 9-13
D Pattern
So with those patterns under your belt, I’d like to demonstrate how versatile they are. I’ve notated the C Major scale, covering the fingerboard through all five shapes & positions. You start on the low E and go to a high F, as the scale descends with the same fingering. Notice the slides in between some of the notes on the half interval steps?
The next step is to devote some practice time to the C Major scale from C to C in the five positions. Some of the positions only allow one octave major scales, while others have two octave major scales. There are also alternative patterns to the basic patterns. Let’s have a look at few exercises to boost your CAGED scale knowledge.
Alternate Pattern
Alternate Pattern
Alternate Pattern
* This pattern has the first C root note taken from the #4th position.
Alternate Pattern
The C Major scale can be played encompassing 3 octaves on the guitar.
There are many different possible patterns using all the shapes.
Let’s have a look at four common useful patterns. Experiment for yourself and create patterns that you’re comfortable with.
C MAJOR SCALE: 2 OCTAVES – BASIC PATTERN
THE (C) SHAPE – POS #1 SHIFT TO THE (G) SHAPE – POS #3
C MAJOR SCALE: 2 OCTAVES – BASIC PATTERN
THE (A) SHAPE – POS #2 SHIFT TO THE (G) SHAPE – POS #3
Alternative Pattern
I warned you there’s a lot to take in, but focus on one step at a time, and those patterns will start to be burned into your brain, ready for access any time you want to rock! Spend time learning this information and be patient with yourself, and your understanding will grow organically. Start applying it to the musical ideas you already know. Once you’ve got a grasp of the system in the key of C Major, move onto transposing it to all the other keys. This isn’t too difficult, because the patterns stay the same, the root note just shifts to a different fret. You learned the five G Major CAGED shapes in the Major scale chapter, so you should already have an understanding of how the shapes can be moved around the fingerboard. Have fun shredding!
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