my thoughts about what to study and why

[satch]

As i post this i will tell ya that users on these forums
such as wild axeman ...ianb....and a few others are some of
the most knowledgeable guitarists you will find and
any addition by them to my post will be welcome
anyways here goes............
In every potential musician there is a drive to be as good
as we can possibly be in the shortest amount of time possible.
As im jamming away along with my new satriani cd i discover
something truly amazing to me at least and it is this.......
Whether composing,transcribing or working with other musicians
I find it most compelling to work from the melody first
using octave patterns from the major scale and its modes.
Ive found that after about 3-4 play alongs with same song
you can decipher the close major key changes in entire song
even with fast difficult music such as satrianis quickly.
I use paired
6 note 3 note per string patterns that have chromatic numbers
mentally attached to them so i know which mode of which keys
im using and what i can use for alterations and possible substitutions
from that.
I find that major and mixolydian contain the same 6 note pattern
so im able to cover a whole lot of ground very quickly.
Heres the way you should label your patterns and why.
major.......paired 1 3 5 patterns starting on e string root moving in octaves
mixolydian..same as major played 7 chromatic steps above or 5 below major
minor...paired 1 3 4 patterns played 9 chromatic steps above or 3 below major
locrian..paired 124 patterns played 11 chromatic steps above or 1 below major
dorian...stacked 134..135 played 2 chromatic steps above or 10 below major
phrygian..stacked 124..134 played 4 chromatic steps above or 8 below major
lydian is the hardest because it involves a chromatic 1/2 step
up pattern on the 4th note and it is 135....124 played 5 chromatic steps
above or 7 below major.
So if you can restrict your melody to the closest 6 note major modal pattern
and you know which mode you used and how to find your octave root
back to e string you will know which major keys the entire song uses
and when to make changes.Your chords will come from the repected
keys and feel free to use substitution scales for cooler sounding
chords,motifs,phrases and properly placed out notes.
An example of a substitution would be to replace the minor mode
played 9 steps above major key with harmonic minor.
By using this method and researching close substitution scales
and knowing modal chromatic numbers and all the other 27 scale modal
scale numbers from grimore scale bible you have more ways than china town
to be expressive with your music.
Pm me for more details....This approach has really opened my eyes
as to how to make sense of music theory.

[satch]

Use these octave patterns and play along with track 12 on joe satrianis
super colossal cd and see what i mean.
The intro melody uses D major but i havent played with rest of this song yet
just so ya know but this is a good start.
------------------------------------------------------15--17---19----
------------------------------------------------------15--17---19------
-----------------------------------------12--14--16-----
-----------------------------12--14--16-----------------
----------------10--12--14-------------------------------
----10--12--14-------------------------------------------
major (ionian)mode of D major
----------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------6--7--9------------------------
---------------------5--7--9-----------------------------------
-------------4-5--7--------------------------------------------
----3--5--7------------------------------------------------------
G lydian mode of D major
notice the offset and how it is only mode that isnt stacked
notice its 7 chromatic steps below major root
10 to 3 goes 7 down and would be same if it were played 5 steps up
or 15th fret......10+5=15
---------------------------------------------------------14--15-17-
----------------------------------------------14--15--17-------------
----------------------------------11--12--14--------------------------
----------------------11--12--14---------------------------------------
------------9-10--12---------------------------------------------------
--9--10--12--------------------------------------------------------------
C#locrian played 1 below major mode
My personal favorite because you can roll these notes around insanely fast:-)
You can bet my fastest improvs involve this modal pattern
Roll this around with major and mixolydian and you can here
the famous satriani mind numbing legato slurs:-)
Lets recap
(ionian)major=0 or root key
dorian=2
phrgian=4
lydian=5
mixolydian=7
aeolian(minor)=9
locrian=11
Going up or down involves sum of 12
5 up = 7 down........notice sum of 12
11 up = 1 down........notice sum of 12
This is important because you may have to do this
if you run out of fretboard.....lol
Enjoy)
P.s. track 9 of super colossal uses F# major and B major for bridge

[ianb]

Nice posts.
I use something similar, my shapes have smaller stretches, but yours play faster.

I base my shapes off pentatonics

|---|---|---|---|---|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|-o-|---|-o-|---|-o-|
|-o-|---|-o-|---|---|

and then stack them in octaves

|---|---|---|---|---|-o-|---|-o-|---|-o-|
|---|---|---|---|---|-o-|---|-o-|---|---|
|---|---|-o-|---|-o-|---|-o-|---|---|---|
|---|---|-o-|---|-o-|---|---|---|---|---|
|-o-|---|-o-|---|-o-|---|---|---|---|---|
|-o-|---|-o-|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|


Doing this gives me the bones of Major and Minor Pentatonics all of the Major scale modes.
As an example this gives A Minor Pentatonic and C Major Pentatonic

||---|---|-C-|---|-D-|---|-E-|
||---|---|-G-|---|-A-|---|---|

but it could also give me
C Ionian
D Dorian
E Phrygian
F Lydian
G Mixolydian
A Aeolian
B Locrian

||---|---|-F-|---|---|---|---|
||---|---|-C-|---|-D-|---|-E-|
||---|---|-G-|---|-A-|---|-B-|

or I can build on it like this

A Dorian
= A,B,C,D,E,F#,G
||---|---|---|-F#|---|---|---|
||---|---|-C-|---|-D-|---|-E-|
||---|---|-G-|---|-A-|---|-B-|

A Phrygian
= A,Bb,C,D,E,F,G
||---|---|-F-|---|---|---|---|
||---|---|-C-|---|-D-|---|-E-|
||---|---|-G-|---|-A-|-Bb|---|

or go Major with

C Lydian
C,D,E,F#,G,A,B,C
||---|---|---|-F#|---|---|---|
||---|---|-C-|---|-D-|---|-E-|
||---|---|-G-|---|-A-|---|-B-|


C Mixolydian
C,D,E,F,G,A,Bb,C

||---|---|-F-|---|---|---|---|
||---|---|-C-|---|-D-|---|-E-|
||---|---|-G-|---|-A-|-Bb|---|

[wild_axeman]

Octaves are powerful to beginner and advanced players alike.It's neat seeing two-string patterns and how they repeat and hold the same shape at each higher octave.It is a powerful aid in visualizing scale patterns and is the key to developing a photographic memory of fretboard shapes and patterns for chords,scales and arpeggios.Octaves are a powerful learning tool whether you are first learning chords or notes on the fretboard,or if you are advancing and learning longer scale patterns or arpeggio patterns.Even early on when learning phrasing we are often told to play a lick and then repeat it an octave higher in a kind of question-and-answer/call-and-response type of phrase.You can sequence licks through several octaves or you can use this octave symmetry to quickly navigate the fretboard to arrive in a different range or register via one long,fast,symmetrical pattern.

http://www.cyberfret.com/scales/minor-pentatonic/page2.php

http://www.guitarz-for-ever.com/hexatonics.html

http://www.guitarz-for-ever.com/hexatonic-scales.html

http://www.guitarz-for-ever.com/hexatonic-scales-iii.html


Be sure to explore this octave symmetry in any other scales such as the blues scale,and also in any foreign/exotic scales you may be exploring.Or in any scale really.Infact just use it wherever you can as a learning tool/playing aid.

[satch]

Yep.....My whole teaching sessions involve mastering a linear scale,
knowing how to transfer octaves,inversions,counting modes and how to form chord structures from a 1 string 12 fret approach.I feel this is the key
to unlock an understanding of how the guitar or any other instruments notes
relate to ea. other.This unlocks the mystery behind scales,chords and keys
and how other scales and chords are closley related and how they can be formed anywhere on the neck.Once they know this then the art of using
melody,harmony,key changes,substitutions and telling a story using various instruments becomes a labor of love because you are now armed with everything you need to make music.Only natural talent,your ear and sense of direction is all that stands in your way.Oh yeah a great memory helps too with intense practice routine:-)

[freedog]

I just want to say I think this thread is great. I am currently unable to play due to tendonitis, so I am trying to put my enegry into gathering lessons and other guitar wisdom. I think this patterned way of learning the fret board is a great compliment to learning the scales in each "position". I think that by leaning the scales across each position (at the 5th fret, for example), then learning these patterns which use more than one position, then working with single string scales, one has a great way to learn the whole fret board and be able to move up and down the neck seemlessly. Thanks for the great lessons and links, yall.

Phil