Targeting inside the scale

All the notes comprising a chord exist in a scale of some sort. For example, each chord in the key of C is built from notes in that key.

Sounds obvious, but let’s unpack it anyway. I’ll start with the scale.

Here’s the notes and the tab…

 

…and here’s the image.

 

 

Bear in mind that both of these images represent a two-octave C major scale, which has 15 notes.

That’s important to remember for the following:

 

• The 1^st, 3^rd, and 5^th notes of the scale give you the C major arpeggio (6^th string, fret 8), E (5^th string, fret 7), and G (5^th string, fret 10).
• The 2^nd, 4^th, and 6^th notes give you a D minor arpeggio: D (6^th string, fret 10), F (5^th string, fret 8), and A (4^th string, fret 7).
• The 3^rd, 5^th, and 7^th notes give you the E minor arpeggio: E (5^th string, fret 7), G (5^th string, fret 10), and B (4^th string, fret 9).
• The 4^th, 6^th, and 8^th notes give you an F major arpeggio: F(5^th string, fret 8), A (4^th string, fret 7), and C (4^th string, fret 10).
• The 5^th, 7^th, and 9^th notes give you a G major arpeggio: G (5^th string, fret 10), B(4^th string, fret 9), and D (3^rd string, fret 7).
• The 6^th, 8^th, and 10^th notes give you an A minor arpeggio: A (4^th string, fret 7), C (4^th string, fret 10), and E (3^rd string, fret 9).
• The 7^th, 9^th, and 11^th notes give you a B diminished arpeggio: B (4th string, fret 9), D (3^rd string, fret 7), and F (3^rd string, fret 10).

 

Chord-tones in the scale

So the idea here is that when you see a progression with chords in the key of C, you can find the notes of the chord in a scale. Because of this, you can easily slip in other notes in the scale that aren’t part of the chord. This creates more tension, which is easily resolved by moving to a chord-tone.

You get good at this by practicing only the chord-tones first.

Take the following progression:

 

 

Play the C major arpeggio a few times, just to get used to it. Now play the A minor arpeggio until you’re comfortable with it. Then play from the C major arpeggio to the A minor arpeggio, treating them as a single unit. Once that’s comfortable, add the D minor arpeggio (play it by itself, then as part of a C – Amin – Dmin unit). Then add the G.

It will probably feel a bit unnatural, jumping from arpeggio to arpeggio (especially from A minor to D minor). All we’re doing here is teaching our fingers where to go for each chord. Don’t expect music yet.

 

Linkages

C major to A minor and D minor to G major link up pretty naturally. But A minor to D minor is a problem. You can’t really move naturally from the last note of the A minor arpeggio to the first note of the D minor arpeggio.

Good thing it’s a two –octave scale. You can make a D minor arpeggio starting on the 3^rd string:

• D (3^rd string, fret 7), F (3^rd string, fret 10), and A (2^nd string, fret 10).

 

 

That’s the basic strategy: if something doesn’t seem to work, look for alternatives. The specific strategy here is to find another place on the neck to play the D minor arpeggio.