Guitar scales - page 4
Now we have the blues scale over the whole neck, we only need to add a few extra notes per box to obtain the master scale.
The extra notes added to the first box
The actual type and key of scale this conforms to depends on where we play this pattern on the neck with regard to the actual key we are in. For example, if you are playing along to a song in A using the blues scale in A (meaning you'd have the root notes of the scale on the note A) and suddenly added all the notes of the master scale into your playing, you'd be playing the Dorian mode in the same key. What I'm calling the 'master scale' is really the Dorian mode (a 'mode' is just another name for a scale), so what you've done is to learn the Dorian mode using the blues scale as a skeleton. As with any of the 7 modes, you only need to learn one pattern, and you can use that to obtain the others.
The master scale - if used with the root notes shown, this is the 'Dorian mode' If you play the master scale 1 tone higher than your home key (a tone is 2 frets, a semitone is one fret) you'll get the Ionian mode, which is the same as the Major scale. For instance, if your song is in A, play the master scale in B. Obviously, the actual root notes of the scale you get once you move the master scale will change from those shown in the charts, but you should still use the root notes on the chart to work out where you need to move the master scale.
Here are some other positions:
Minor 3rd (3 semitones) down from key - Lydian mode, e.g. to get the Lydian mode in the key of A, play the master scale in F#
Perfect 4th (5 semitones) up from key - Aolian mode or natural Minor scale, e.g. in A, play in D
Perfect 5th (7 semitones) up from key - Mixolydian mode, e.g. in A, play in E
These are the most useful of the scales and modes, check back soon for the rest.
If you don't know already, you should make a concerted effort to learn the names of all the notes on the low E and A string - you really do need to know this anyway, but it makes working with scales in this way a lot easier.