Guitar Lessons From Your Own Home
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Diatonic Scale Positions
The diatonic scale refers to necessary group of intervals (spacing between notes) that make up the melodic patterns we're accustomed to hearing and knowing from most popular genres of music. Even more avant garde types of music like jazz use variations of these patterns. As explained in the , in western music theory, the intervals that make up the fundamental major scale are as follows; whole, whole, half, whole, whole, whole, half (giving the relation of notes commonly heard in "do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti-do".
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There are multiple ways to follow this interval pattern on the guitar because of the repetition of the same notes on different strings. The diagrams below show you a way to repeatedly follow this interval pattern in different areas of the guitar while staying within the same 4 to 5 frets with each position. These specific scale patterns are good starting patterns to practice and analyze for beginners trying to piece together their knowledge and proficiency of scales. These patterns give you specific placement of the notes in the diatonic scale to eliminate unnecessary hand movements that can slow down or get in the way of your playing. They're designed to allow you to keep your hand in the same spot within each position to give you better precision and comfort.
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The diagrams below indicate the root note with a red dot. The root note is the starting note of the scale (the letter of the major scale) which is followed by the whole, whole, half, whole, whole, whole, half interval pattern. In the diagrams below, these root notes are always on G and follow with the black dots on A, B, C, D, E and F#. These notes were determined by going up the previously mentioned interval pattern from G. These 7 notes apply to the G major scale. Your set of notes will change depending on what scale you're in (the root note which note is indicated by the name of the major scale), but the distances between the notes (intervals) stay the same.
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There are 5 different positions that lead you to different fingering patterns, still always going up the major scale interval pattern starting from the root. After the 5th position, the 1st position repeats by lining up the root notes of the 5th position with the root notes of the 1st position.
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We first have position 1, which is the easiest position to see the structure of the in, as you can start your root note on the lowest string and end with a root note two octaves higher on the highest string. For examples of songs that use this position including songs by Boston, David Bowie and Green Day,
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Second, we have position 2. Position 2 starts on the 2nd note of the major scale. This position has a hand shift on the 4th and 3rd strings. When practicing this position, pay extra attention to the fingering markings in order to shift cleanly between the strings. For song examples that use this position including riffs by The Beatles, The Cure, Foo Fighters and The Killers,
Next, we have the 3rd position. Position 3 starts on the 3rd note of the major scale (3rd note from the root). For examples of songs that use this position including songs by Michael Jackson, Metallica, The Pixies and Red Hot Chili Peppers,
Position 4 starts on the 5th note of the major scale (5th note from the root). For examples of songs that use position 4 including songs by Arctic Monkeys, Eric Clapton and Temper Trap,
Lastly, we have the 5th position which is used very often in popular music. Playing position 5 from the lowest note will give you a sadder, darker or edgier sound because the first note in this pattern is the minor scale root. For more on minor scales,
To see song examples that use this position including riffs by Guns N' Roses, Heart and Queen,
For more variations of scales once these are mastered, move on to pentatonic scales: