Scale Runs Up the Neck
Any scale in any key as one run from the root on the low E string up to the high e - each note at the lowest fret it can be played, moving across the strings as it climbs.
Play the run
Key
Scale
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G Major - play s6f3, s5f0, s5f2, s5f3, s4f0, s4f2, s4f4, s3f0, s3f2, s2f0, s2f1, s2f3, s1f0, s1f2, s1f3, saying each note as you go.
How the run works
- It starts on the root on the 6th string and climbs one note at a time, always to the next note of the scale - nothing skipped, nothing repeated.
- Each note is played at the lowest fret it can be found, on the string you're on or one above. So it moves over to the next string as soon as that's the easier spot - often onto an open string.
- It finishes on the root on the high e string, so one run takes the scale across all six strings.
- This is one path through the scale, not every place each note lives. Each note shows up in several places on the neck; the run picks the nearest to the nut.
Using it
- s6f3 means string 6 (the thick low E), fret 3. Say each note as you play it.
- Keys with open strings (E, A, D, G, C...) run along the first few frets. Keys without them, like F# or Bb, step back down the neck each time they cross to a new string - that's expected.
- Try the same key through different scales: the notes that change between Major, Dorian and Natural Minor are the ones that give each its sound.