Practicing Scales by Position

by Richard Vandyne
(Laredo, Texas)

Since I am not sure of the fingering you want to be used I will give you my interpretation and wait to be corrected!

Would it be best to practice the major scale by positions using that fingering and changing every time you get to a new position like 3rd,5th,7th,9th,12th and the doing the same with the dom 7, and then going on to the minor scales and repeating the same procedure?

This way you would get to play all scales in all positions up and down the fretboard!!!

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M-A's Answer :

Yes, eventually you will want to play all scales in all positions...

But this specific page / lesson was aimed at clarifying the scales choices for common jazz chords and progressions. Lots of people just finding out about scales to use for jazz can't necessarily master the concept of positions all over the fretboard yet. (-:

So, as I mentioned in the practice steps, "Consolidate between 2 and 4 fingerings that work well for you" and that is for each sound : major, dorian, mixo.

If you are just starting out with the scales, it's best to do like in the last paragraph. Focus on less knowledge and apply in all keys. Two fingerings will go a long way if you can find how to change starting strings for the same fingerings.

Of course, when you develop and are comfortable with 5-7 fingerings for each of the scales, it literally means that you are ruling the fingerboard! That's the "eventual goal" so to speak.

I encourage you to re-read the "Practice Steps" and the "More Practice Steps" on the page. Please, let me know if you have any questions, and post them as a comment here.

Thank you,

Marc-Andre Seguin
JazzGuitarLessons.net
MarcAndreSeguin.com