Stop 2 of 6
The major scale across the neck
CAGED positions and three notes per string.
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Stop 2 of 6
CAGED positions and three notes per string.
In the previous stop the C chord was spread across five shapes. Now we are going to dress those shapes with the scale: around each CAGED shape live the seven notes of the , and together they cover the whole neck. Then you will meet a second way of organising the same scale, , and learn to move from one zone to another without the seam showing.
Listen to the C major scale going up and down. Seven notes plus the octave: the "do-re-mi" sound we all carry inside.
Now look at every note of that scale on the neck, from fret 0 to 15. At first sight it is a swarm of dots; the key lies in the 1s, the roots, and in the chord shapes you already know hidden among them.
String 6, Open: E2 · 3 · Third
We start with the most comfortable position, the one around the E shape of C (fret 8). Put your index finger on fret 7 and keep one finger per fret: index on 7, middle on 8, ring on 9, pinky on 10. That four-fret zone is a : here, 7th position.
String 6, Fret 7: B2 · 7 · Seventh
Play the scale from the low C on the sixth string to the high C on the first, two octaves. Listen first, then follow the tab:
Notice the fingering: everything falls under four fingers without moving the hand. Each string has two or three notes, and on the second string you meet the usual "notch": the scale moves up one fret because that string is tuned a major third above the third string.
Each chord shape has its scale position. Here are the five for C major, in order. Play each one low to high and back, looking for the hidden chord:
String 6, Open: E2 · 3 · Third
String 6, Fret 3: G2 · 5 · Fifth
String 6, Fret 5: A2 · 6 · Scale tone
String 6, Fret 7: B2 · 7 · Seventh
String 6, Fret 10: D3 · 2 · Scale tone
The positions overlap just like the chord shapes: the notes on the right of one position are the notes on the left of the next. Some positions (G and D) span five frets; there one finger, usually the index or the pinky, stretches one fret out of its place.
The scale has seven notes, but CAGED positions are not built from each note; they are built from the five shapes of the tonic chord. Five linked shapes cover the twelve frets of the neck before repeating. The seven three-notes-per-string patterns, on the other hand, do come from the seven notes: each pattern starts on a different degree on the sixth string. Two ways of slicing the same cake.
If the positions feel familiar, that is no coincidence. Remove the 4 and 7 from each major-scale position and you are left with the C major , which has exactly the same notes as the A minor pentatonic. In other words: your five pentatonic boxes are the five CAGED positions with two notes fewer.
String 6, Fret 8: C3 · 1 · Root
This has a huge practical consequence: you are not starting from scratch. Take a pentatonic box you own, add the 4 (a half step above the 3) and the 7 (a half step below the root), and you have the complete major-scale position. Those two notes are exactly the ones that form the half steps of the scale and give it its tension and direction.
The second way of organising the scale is more regular: exactly three notes on every string. With six strings you get 18 notes, two and a half octaves. This is the pattern that starts on the C of the sixth string (fret 8):
String 6, Fret 8: C3 · 1 · Root
With three notes on every string, the scale fits perfectly into triplets: one string per beat. Hear how the pattern "rolls":
Notice that the pattern drifts upwards as you climb the strings: it starts on fret 8 and ends on fret 13. Three-notes-per-string patterns are, in themselves, a small diagonal journey.
They are not rival systems: they are two lenses on the same neck. Compare:
CAGED positions
Three notes per string
A good strategy: think in CAGED, play in 3NPS when speed calls for it. The chord map tells you where you are; the three-note patterns give you flow.
Positions are rooms; now you need doors. A works best with a : one finger glides along the string and the whole hand travels with it. Here you climb through the E-shape position and, on the second string, slide into the D-shape position to reach higher:
The slide (from A to B on the second string) is done with the ring finger: after it, your index lands naturally on fret 10 of the first string. Shifting by a whole step is the most natural; a half step works too, but it sounds more "slippery".
Goal: Play the five C major positions in eighth notes, up and down, without mistakes at 70 BPM.
A sequence breaks the mechanical "up and down" and forces you to see the position. Here every note jumps to the scale third and comes back one degree higher: C-E, D-F, E-G…
Once you own it, apply it to another position. Work in short blocks: three minutes, a pause, three more. If you plateau at a tempo, drop 10 BPM and climb slowly.
Goal: Play the thirds sequence in the E-shape position with alternate picking and even notes at 70 BPM.
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