Jazz Guitar Scales :
Positions Part Two
-Top Must-Know Positions
for Jazz Guitar
Positions are the "meat and potatoes" of jazz guitar scales playing. Any melodic idea can be analyzed and explained (on the fingerboard) as
belonging to one or more positions.
In this article series, we will look at the fundamental aspects of learning the proper positions and fingerings for the most common jazz guitar scales: major scale and melodic minor scale.
"Why just these two scales?"
Most of jazz music is derived from the major and melodic minor scales. They are building blocks and these jazz guitar scales should be mastered before attempting to learn more advanced scales.
And, of course, more advanced scales and modes are covered in other articles on this website (or will be in the near future, I promise!)
[Make sure you somewhat understand what the above mentioned scales are and how they sound. Click on their names for theorical explanation.] Jump to a page :
Positions Part 1 : How to Have Six Fingers and Control the Universe
Positions Part 2 : Top Must-Know Positions for Jazz Guitar
Positions Part 3 : Scales Polishing and Connecting
The "Starting String and Finger" System
Let's identify positions, not by fret (absolutely), but according to what
finger and string the first note is played on (relatively). "6th (string) - 2nd (finger)"
For example, "6-2" means that the first note of the position, also called root, is played with the second finger on the sixth string. That relative
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location can be applied to any fret on the guitar.
For example, if we say "G major scale in 6-2" it implies three things: 1. Play a G note as a root...
2. ...with your second finger... 3. ...on the sixth string.
So "G major scale in 6-2" will have you place your 2nd finger on the 3rd fret of the 6th string (G note).
One more Example : "Db major 5-1" woud be : 1. Db root...
2. ...with first finger... 3. ...on fifth string.
So you would use your 1st finger on the 4th fret of the 5th string to play that Db root and start the scale from there.
Seven Most Common Positions
The following seven position are, to me and many other professional guitarists, the most important. It's essential that you learn them in and out if you want to master jazz guitar scales :
6-2 6-1 4-1 5-4 5-2 5-1 6-4
The fingerings with the same "finger number" are very similar (such as 6-2 and 5-2). It will help trememdously for memorization. More on that later... It probably doesn't make any sense to you right now, but read on! Each position is clearly explained (with tabs and diagram) below.
Demonstration : 7 Positions for the Major Scale
Let's play the above mentioned positions in G major. I like that key because it lays well on the fretboard and the "string-finger" identifiers makes sense.
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practicing the scales. Make the palm your fretting hand as round as possible (as if you were holding a grapefruit.)
Also make sure that you practice the jazz guitar scales positions ascending and descending.
Ready? GO!
6 - 2 G major
[To start : Use your 2nd finger on the 6th string to play the G root. In that case, the root is a the third fret.]
No finger stretches are involved in 6-2.
6 - 1 G major
Notice that there are three 1st finger stretches in 6-1. Do not move the
entire hand to play them. Simply reach for the notes with the index. 4 - 1
G major
This is basically the same as 6-1 but on a different set of strings. You may notice that this diagram is incomplete. There is more notes to be played in that position and we'll discuss it in the next article.
No finger stretches are involved in 5-4. This is also an "incomplete" diagram since more notes could be played in the position.
5 - 2 G major
This is basically the same as 6-2 but on a different set of strings. Notice that this diagram is also incomplete.
5 - 1 G major
This is basically the same as 6-1 but on a different set of strings. Notice that this diagram is also incomplete.
6 - 4 G major
And finally, our pinky stretch! 6-4 is very much related to 5-4 but has this necessary stretch of the 4th finger.
6-2 and 5-2 6-4 and 5-4 6-1, 5-1 and 4-1
In short, the finger you start on decides on the fingering to adopt... and we're starting scales on either the 1st, 2nd or 4th finger, thus, 3 families.
So only three master fingerings can be derived into seven positions. You may have also noticed that...
Positions starting on the 6th strings are mostly "complete" in themselves (covering almost the entire range of the fretting hand.) Go on to the next article to find out how to fill-in the "missing notes" for jazz guitar scales positions 4-1, 5-4, 5-2 and 5-1.
7 Positions of Melodic Minor Scale
That's my favorite part of the story! Without knowing it, if you learned the seven positions of the major scale properly then you've also have
unlocked seven positions of the melodic minor scale!
How is that possible?
If you know a minimum of scale theory you know that there's only one
note difference between major and melodic minor :
The third!
So if C major is : C D E F G A B
...then C melodic minor is : C D Eb F G A B In G, we'll simply change the B to a Bb.
All you have to do is go through the seven positions and change one
note. To help you, I made a chart of melodic minor scale diagrams...
Pay attention to the new finger stretches that occur!
