Two-Note Scale Fragments
Two Finger Scale Fragments Hi, I'm Grey, and this is Hub Guitar. In this lesson we're going to talk about how to take any scale and play it up and down a pair of strings instead of a single string. This is a great way get used to the idea of playing up and down the guitar neck as opposed to remaining stuck in a single position. This is especially helpful if you already know all of the position-based scale patterns. For example, I know my 5 pentatonic scale patterns up and down the neck... but when I go to use them I might get stuck in one box pattern. By playing up and down a pair of strings, I can get used visualizing the scale moving up and down the neck, and come up with new ideas that incorporate this type of motion. I'm going to show you how to apply this to the G major scale, but remember that you can use this with any scale pattern and use it on any pair of strings. [demosntration] Apply these patterns to your guitar playing, and break out of the box.
Two-String Scale Fragments
In addition to playing scales as a sequence of notes following a single string and playing scales in position-based patterns, you can also think of scales as patterns that can be played up and down a given set of strings.
In this exercise, we'll start a position-based scale on two strings. Once the notes are played, we'll return to the second note of the original pattern and play another two-string pattern, working our way up the guitar fretboard.
The Scale
We'll apply this exercise to the G major scale, and we'll play up and down the 2nd and 3rd strings. This pattern can be applied to any scale on any string pair.
Playing scales up and down the neck this way will help you think about strings vertically climbing up the guitar neck instead of just horizontally across the frets.
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Key Tasks
- Complete the G major scale. Apply this pattern to all sets of two adjacent strings.
- Apply this logic to an entirely different scale, such as B minor.
- Incorporate this technique into your improvisation.
As the creator of Hub Guitar, Grey has compiled hundreds of guitar lessons, written several books, and filmed hundreds of video lessons. He teaches private lessons in his Boston studio, as well as via video chat through TakeLessons.