Kevin's Notes

Upcoming Events

Kevin Karrick and Swing Essence
Tuesday, February 14
Fort Collins Country Club (members)
Fort Collins, CO

Kevin Karrick Trio
Sunday, April 15, 7PM to 10PM
The Crown Pub
134 South College Avenue
Fort Collins, CO 80524-2809
(970) 484-5929

New Clinic Entry: Standard and Extended Major Scale Patterns

After talking about major scale forms for reading music on the guitar, I thought it would be a good idea to include the standard, and what I think of as the extended scale patterns. As discussed in the last entry, I find these difficult to read with, but they have proven very useful for freedom in improvising and arranging on the guitar. Numerous, legendary guitarists swear by the standard five position patterns for improvising solos.

Here are the five, traditional or standard, position-based patterns. This illustration shows how the patterns overlap one another, eventually repeating (every 12 frets).

Standard Major Scale Forms

Here are the 12 fret, extended, major scale patterns that I like.

Extended Major Scale Forms

For past entries, check out my Clinic Page.