So … still being relatively new to this community, I’m not sure if this is the right place to share this or not… If not, I hope the mods will forgive me and perhaps move it to the correct place.
I came up with a set of scale cards I made on my PC to help identify notes and intervals in common scales. They use a diagram of the bass neck up to fret 12, and a set of individual scale cards to place over top of the neck diagram. Each card has the positions cut out to show the shape and notes of each scale. (see below)
I know the neck diagram only shows flat notes ( sharps can be derived ).
I thought I would share how I have been using some home made stuff to help remember notes in scales.
For those who want to make a set, Here is the neck diagram, and the blank to work with:
Tip: When printing these, maintain the same DPI for both images, and set SCALE setting to ‘original size’ so the cards are in scale with the neck (see what I did there?)
I have a laminator, so I made sure mine will last a good long time. However you can just print your shapes and make use of these without lamination.
I know there are a lot of advanced players here who don’t need these. But because of Josh’s course… the forum will always be attracting new batches of beginners
As I understand it Mark stopped providing apps because first Apple but now also Android insist on him selling his courses on the apps and them taking their outrageously high commissions. And like many he simply doesn’t have the margins to afford that. So now it’s just his website. I can’t say I blame him I hate how these organisations make such vast profits partly by using their monopolies to extract lots of money from the small players.
On the scales side one of the thing that frustrates me about most scale diagrams is that they mostly limit themselves to one octave starting on the root. Initially that sounds logical but if I’m improvising then I typically want to wander a few frets higher or lower or a string higher or lower. So I’m building scales more around positions and not necessarily worrying about starting on the root.
So this is how I view a C Major scale around the 5th to 12th frets. Note: the numbers are the intervals so, for example, sometimes I might focus on just the 1st, 3rd and 5th.
Oh for sure… I completely get what you are saying there. These are of course the beginner shapes. The scales (as we all know extend to all 4 strings, and I do have charts for the full shapes. ) are not just one octave.
Everyone comes up with a system that works best for them, I like the way you charted that out though… clear and easy to read!
Hey thanks so much for this one! I think I’m going to go run off and print/laminate my own right now.
I also like that you made a framework, not just a set of cards. It’s portable and something I can study on the couch.
I can use the holes to get used to the shapes, I can study the notes in each scale for memorization, I can use the blank to do other shapes/scales etc.
It might be cool to throw a splash of color or something for each number in the scale.
I like the idea of being able to physically hold something that isn’t my phone or guitar.
I like they way you show everything for the scale too. I’m wondering if I could make a hole card that had 4 frets up and down. and maybe some way to show numbers based on where the root hole is.
