Copyright © 2017 Csaba Fazekas

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be copied or reproduced in

any form, without prior written permission from the author.
Table of Contents

4 How to navigate on the fretboard easily & visually?

5 Some information before we start

6 Explanation of the diatonic scale positions.

7 1 Position

8 2 Position

9 3 Position

10 4 Position

11 5 Position

12 How do the pieces fit together?

13 A few long scale examples

14 Let’s reverse engineer!

15 How to practise all of this?

16 How to extend your possibilities for more room?

17 Pentatonic Scale Positions

18 The Other Pentatonic Scale Positions

19-20 Discover the Musical Modes!

21 Check out my Fretboard Mastery Course for more

in-depth explanations and videos
Fretboard Diagram Cheat Sheet
How to navigate on the fretboard easily & visually?

At the first glance, the guitar fretboard can be very confusing and it may seem that it is
very complicated. However, there are patterns, and the sequence of these patterns is re-
peatable. If we think in terms of scales and positions, then we’ll discover that there are 5
different positions in a scale. After the 5th one, we can repeat the whole sequence start-
ing with the 1st pattern again.
The goal here is to learn all the positions of a scale on the neck and visualize these scale
patterns, then shift and use them in your playing. That being said, it doesn’t matter which
key you play over, the only thing you should do is to find the root note on the low E
string and start playing the patterns and the sequence from there.
Some information before we start
Fret numbers

The fret number of the pattern is indicated under the position image. This
is the place the scale starts horizontally. However, in some cases you
have to go out from the “box” as the scale doesn’t perfectly fit into these
boxes. For example the fifth position starts on the 12th fret, and except
one note (G string 11 fret) the whole scale lies within that position.

Scale fingering

The fingering is indicated in the diagram. Lots of people replace the little
finger with the ring finger because they feel that it is more comfortable.
I strongly recommend using your little finger, because it will be very useful
in the future if this finger is “well trained”. I know that it’s pretty difficult at
the beginning but please, take your time and get used to it.

How to practice?

An important thing is to visualize each scale shapes and start playing them
at a slow speed. While you’re playing, watch the diagram to get it in your
head. If you feel comfortable with the speed you can gradually accelerate it.

What is the thing next to the name of the scale after the
“/” sign?

It is the name of a scale mode. Every step of a scale is a different mode.

Since a scale consists of seven notes, there are seven modes as well. In
this ebook, we cover 5 modes because we use 5 positions. It is just an
additional information, as for the moment don’t bother with it too much.
But if you memorize them, then in the future you can save a lot of time
when you learn about modes.

In this ebook we will practise the G major scale throughout the neck.
Watch the video to see in action.
Explanation of the diatonic scale positions.
Before we dive into the different positions, watch this video that I created specifically for
this book. It gives a nice overview about the fretboard, the positions, how they fit to-
gether, but also about the pentatonic scale positions. Watch the video a few times if you
need to understand how it works.

In the video you also get explanation how the major scale is built and how you can cre-
ate the pentatonic scale from it.

Click here to watch the video

 1 Position
G Major Scale / G Ionian
R

1
R

3rd fret on the

fretboard
Root note: G R
R = root note
3rd fret

Click here to watch the video

1
 2 Position
G Major Scale / A Dorian

2
R

5th fret on the

fretboard
Root note: A
R = root note
5th fret

Click here to watch the video

The position of this scale is a bit tricky. Actually, it starts from

the 5th fret but then on the D and G strings we shift it back
to the 4th fret and we return to the original position on the B
and high E strings.
 3 Position
G Major Scale / B Phrygian

3
7th fret on the
R
fretboard
Root note: B
R = root note

7th fret

Click here to watch the video

3
 4 Position
G Major Scale / D Mixolyd

4 R

R
10th fret on the
fretboard
Root note: D 10th fret
R = root note

Click here to watch the video

The same here regarding the position. It starts from the 10th
fret but then on the A, D and G strings we shift it back to the
9th fret and we return to the original position on the B and
high E strings.
 5 Position
G Major Scale / E Aeolian
R

5 R

12th fret on the

fretboard
Root note: E R
R = root note
12th fret

Click here to watch the video

The same here regarding the position. It starts from the 12th
fret but then on the G string we shift it back to the 11th fret
and we return to the original position on the B and high E
strings.
 How do the pieces fit together?

Let’s construct the sequence based on the

different positions.

So far we’ve covered all the patterns. Now let’s put them together! As
you can see in the diagram below, they overlap each other. If we put all
the 5 different patterns next to each other, we will get a 3 octave G major
scale. But you don’t have to stop there! If you put the first pattern next
to the last one, you can play the scale further and repeat the sequence
(if the neck of your guitar is long enough).
Play the entire sequence, again, starting at a low speed, the accelerate it
if you feel comfortable playing it.

Fret numbers: 3 5 7 10 12 15
 Let’s take a few concrete examples!

I present two different ways to play this long G major scale.

The black outlined circles mean all the notes you play. You start from the
low E string, play the notes after each other, then go to the next string
and play the notes again. This way you get a scale along almost the en-
tire fretboard.

Fret numbers: 3 5 7 10 12 15

The second example is a more horizontal one, and as you can see, you
immediately change position on the low E string. First you are on the
first position (light blue area) then you go to the third position (purple
are), skipping the second one.

Fret numbers: 3 5 7 10 12 15
Now let’s reverse engineer the process!

There are situations when the first position is already quite high
on the neck so you don’t have room to play all positions going
up on the fretboard.

In this case you put the fifth position before the first one, then the 4th
one before the 5th and so on. This way you cn comfortably playing not
only going up, but also going down on the fretboard!

Let’s assume, that we play in D major. The D major barre chord lies at the
10th fret.

As you can see the order is reversed now and every position preceeds
each other. Experiment with this method to see if you can grasp it. Start
the positions on C from the 8th fret. So C will be the first position and
go backwards to practice this technique.
How to practise all of this?

Take the first position and put the second one next to it:

Find a couple of variations to play them. Experiment with different fin-

gerings and take the most comfortable one. Though I’d suggest to not to
skip your pinky because to more it is trained the better in the future.

Here are two different variations:

Do the same with all adjacent pairs.

Once you’re comfortable playing them, change keys and do the same!
How to immediately extend the possibilities
for more room

Once you’re comfortable on one position change, take the following con-
cept and apply it in your everyday practise sessions.

Tip:

Most of the guitarists think vertically on the neck because

it’s easy to visualize. If the key is G for example, then its
easy to take the G barre chord at the 3rd fret and play
around that position, which is within the first position.

If you take the next, 2nd position

and learn combinations from
one to the other, you already
widened your room.

Now there is another popular G major chord, at the 10th

fret, also a barre chord, skipping the low E one. That is
within the 4th position.

If you combine the 4th position

with the 3rd one and learn the
combinations, then you are able
to play across 4 positions in G!
Pentatonic Scale Positions

Have you ever wondered how the pentatonic scale

positions are laid down?

I have good news for you: the same way since you can achieve the pen-
tatonic scale by playing the major scale and leave out 2 notes! If you’ve
learned the diatonic scale (major scale) positions well based on the pre-
vious pages then this will be an easy cake for you. There are 5 positions
for the pentatonic scale and they fit perfectly into the previously talked
positions.

First major scale position: First pentatonic position:

As you can see, they’re actually the same. The only difference is that in
the pentatonic scale we play the root note, the third, fourth and seventh
notes (as you can see we skip two notes, and this is why it is called as
the pentatonic scale. Penta stands for 5 from the Greek language).
The same is true with all the other positions as well. So if you’re more
familiar with the pentatonic scale, use that method or reversed: if you’ve
learned the major scale positions based on this diagram, you can use
your knowledge to determine where the other pentatonic scale positions
are on the fretboard.

On the next page, we will cover the other positions so that you can’t go
wrong.
The Other Pentatonic Scale Positions

Second major scale position: Second pentatonic position:

Third major scale position: Third pentatonic position:

Fourth major scale position: Fourth pentatonic position:

Fifth major scale position: Fifth pentatonic position:

Discover the Musical Modes!

Here is the best part: if you learn these positions, then you
learn almost all the modes at the same time.

Modes are the colors in music. You can use them to create different moods in your
music. If you learn how to use them, you will be a versatile player.

What are modes exactly?

If you start playing a scale, in this case, a G major scale starting from the differ-
ent scale notes, you get all the modes. So, starting the G major scale from the root
note G, you get the Ionian mode. If you start playing the same scale from the sec-
ond note A, you get the Dorian mode etc. Finally, since there are 7 notes in a scale,
you get seven modes, which are the followings:

1 position / ionian

Ionian mode
Final major sound.
Usually, we finish phrases here or play com-
pletely within its notes.
There is no need to resolve this sound.
Start playing the scale from the root note
G, and use this scale along with a G major
chord.

2 position / dorian

Dorian mode
Interesting positive sounding minor scale.
We raise the 6th note and it gives a strong,
memorable mood.
Start playing the scale from the 2nd note
A, and use this scale along with an A minor
chord.
 3 position / phrygian

Phrygian mode
Eastern sounding minor mood.
This is not a common sound and used rare-
ly but it gives a strong characteristic and
tense.
Start playing the scale from the 3rd note
B, and use this scale along with a B minor
chord.

3 position / lydian

Lydian mode
Sweet sounding major scale. We have an
augmented fourth, which creates outside
feeling if played over major chords.
Start playing the scale from the 4th note
C, and use this scale along with a C major
chord.
4 position / mixolydian

Mixolydian mode
Strong dominant sound. Need to be re-
solved, perfect scale to create tension.
Often used in blues.
Start playing the scale from the 5th note D,
and use this scale along with a D dominant
chord.

5 position / aeolian

Aeolian mode
Natural minor sound. It has a bit sad char-
acteristic. Widely used over minor chords
because of its weak feeling.
Start playing the scale from the 6th note
E, and use this scale along with a E minor
chord.

5 position / locrian

Locrian mode
Minorish sound. It has a flat 2nd and flat 5,
which makes it very interesting, kind of evil
sounding scale. Perfect for diminished chords.
Start playing the scale from the 7th note F#,
and use this scale along with a F#
diminished chord.
Would you like to learn more about the Fretboard and
get total Fretboard Fluency?

As a follow-up of this book, I created an extensive video course

to learn the fretboard. Here’s what you’ll discover:

Major scale positions and covering the whole fretboard

Pentatonic Positions & putting them togeher

Extended pentatonic scale

3 notes / string pattern

One string scale

Scales with melodic patterns

Scales with intervals

Wide interval applications

Arpeggios everywhere

Dual arpeggios

Introduction to modes

Loads of tasty licks

Backing tracks to practise

Click here for more details!