Mapping the Fretboard

CHANGE THEME

Home / Blog / Mapping the fretboard

Mapping the Fretboard

Using the C major scale in the first position on the guitar to play solos all over the fretboard in all other scales, major, minor, pentatonic and blues.

By the end of this lesson you should be able to play guitar solos all over the fretboard in all major, minor, pentatonic and blues scales.

One of the first scales I learnt on guitar was the C major scale in the first position. In my eagerness to learn the instrument I practiced the scale over and over, starting with the open E string (6th string) and ending with G (third fret) on the first string, until it came naturally to the fingers of my left hand. This position includes all of the open strings.

C major scale in the first position. Red notes are the root notes.

In the same scale, if the root note is changed to A, it becomes the A minor scale.

A minor scale in the first position. Root notes are the open A string and the red note.

Then I discovered that I could move this position up the fret and play the major and the minor scales in other keys. For instance, if I moved it one fret up I could play the Db or C# major scale, and the Bb or A# minor scale. Another fret up and I could play the D major and the B minor scales, and so on.

Db or C# major scale. Red notes are the root notes.

Bbm or A#m minor scale. Red notes are the root notes.

We can keep moving this "box" up the fret and play many other scales.

Later I found out that the pentatonic scale comprises of only 5 notes. The notes of the C major pentatonic scale, for instance, are: C, D, E, G, A.

Likewise, the notes of the A minor pentatonic scale are: A, C, D, E, G.

You will notice that the two notes missing in these pentatonic scales are F and B. If you remove these two notes from the natural major or minor scale you get the pentatonic A minor and pentatonic C major scales. The diagrams below assume the first fret shown is the 12th fret.

C major pentatonic scale (F and B removed). Red notes are the root notes.

A minor pentatonic scale. Red notes are the root notes.

You can convert C Major and A minor pentatonic scales shown above to C Major and A minor blues scale by adding just one note.

If you add the Eb note (blue note) to the C Major and A minor pentatonic scales, you get the C Major and A minor blues scales respectively. Again the diagrams assume the displayed first fret is the 12th fret.

Notes in C major blues scale: C, D, Eb, E, G, A

Notes in A minor blues scale: A, C, D, Eb, E, G

C major blues scale.

A minor blues scale.

So you see, it is easy to convert the minor and major pentatonic boxes to natural and blues scale boxes. Move the boxes around (pay attention to root notes) and you can play riffs and solos all over the fretboard.

Now you need not strictly stick to these positions — the scales can also be played diagonally on the fretboard.

G Major scale. Red notes are the root notes.

E Minor scale. Red notes are the root notes.

G Major pentatonic scale. Red notes are the root notes.

E Minor pentatonic scale. Red notes are the root notes.

G Major blues scale. Red notes are the root notes. Blue notes are the added blues notes.

E Minor blues scale. Red notes are the root notes. Blue notes are the added blues notes.

TODAY: Page Hits: 9 | Site Hits: 5356
ALL TIME: Page Hits: 9 | Site Hits: 5356