The 3-SHAPE Scale Shortcut

[@Nowo78]

This is pure gold and the absolute best explanation of 3NPS scales, period.

[@derekirons2615]

ID LIKE TO THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE TIME N SHOW THE DOT ILLUSTRATION!!!! FINALLY SOMEONE GETS IT WHEN TEACHING!!!! The visual is perfect to easily grasp!!! Compared to every other guy showing off flying thru notes and or chords!! This should ALWAYS be the new norm when teaching guitar!!! YOU HEAR THIS ALL YOU GUITAR TEACHERS!!!

[@naruto00nix]

exactly, the time it takes to add these illustrations reduce the time it takes the student to learn it by so much more :D

[@Jeff_H_the_Guitarist]

Of all the KZbin videos I have saved, this is the one I value the most. It's the "One KZbin video to rule them all" in my opinion.

[@Roksolana97]

This is absolutely genius! Now I can finally understand how to memorize these scales. A big thank you for sharing this shortcut!

[@tronlady1]

This is how I just “know” what to play!!!!! Been doing this subconsciously without realising what I was doing. ABSOLUTE GOLD. This is a MEGA TIP😍

[@MrSF247]

Not gonna lie: this kinda blew my mind. Thank you so much for this lesson! Amazing how well you simplified it.

[@daviddawkins]

Absolutely brilliant. Suddenly I can orient myself on the fretboard and pick up scales midway through etc. Learning where the root notes are in these shapes, and using same shapes to play relative minor, etc. A step change for me, thank you

[@DSmith-iw7fs]

Absolutely incredible lesson. Thank you so much

[@Jeff_H_the_Guitarist]

Are you the only one teaching this tip. This totally unlocked the mystery for me but I see no one else offering up this nugget of crucial knowledge.

[@michaelj.anderson1116]

This was an awesome lesson. Thank you. It's been right in front of my face this whole time & I've never thought of the shapes in this way. Definitely a game changer for my guitar journey. Much appreciated.

[@RyanlsAwsome]

I found your channel some time ago before summer and you’ve helped me understand guitar. Anyone can play tabs but the different techniques and practice methods really helped me play so much better than just the notes a chords. I love the videos so keep up the great work.

[@DamnedEyez]

I came up with some form of this back when I first picked up a guitar. I'd had some basic music theory beforehand, so the most obvious thing beyond checking out tablature was playing major scales. This just...it was always sloppy before, butt this just made it easy and concise and just plain logical. Thanks.

[@Nicole-px3ll]

nice! i never realized this pattern before. that's so helpful!

[@hmeraat9]

Really good lesson . Thank you!

[@johnnyrandom100]

cheers dude, you know keeping it simple is so much more fun.

[@tonypistilli7111]

REally well done. I've done similar things with minor pentatonic but not with the major scale. Great teaching ability.

[@mikejones-vd3fg]

wow i cant believe after all this time playing guitar I was making it harder than it was, these shapes help alot thank you!

[@Jeff_H_the_Guitarist]

Gotta thank you again. This has helped me find my bearings when playing like nothing else. Everyone I've shared this with has never heard of it. This is brilliant!

[@ilyaanufriev1344]

YOU’RE GODDAMN MAGICIAN

[@robertheipel8017]

Your lessons are the best!

[@captainstabbing4556]

Have been trying to come up with this on my own for awhile, thanks for saving me future headaches. Rock on!

[@BirenDaftary]

Thank you! Found a way to remember the scales after years!!

[@bradleywihebrink8205]

These videos are really helpful. Started playing when I was 15. Learned a few power chords, what I thought were some shredding solos, and thought "yep...I can rock". Now I am 37 and finally getting back into playing again but just want to learn all that technical stuff that I was too stupid to pay attention to so long ago. Well... also cause I'm finally doing well enough to afford a Les Paul...lol. Nonetheless, videos like yours are really allowing me to rise beyond that plateau that my playing has been for so many years. Now if I could only keep the carparal tunnel and arthritis at bay....hahaha. Thanks again!!!

[@mcourt411]

Great video Mike! Really a great way to remember major scale shapes. I'm a finance guy so the logical approach to remembering patterns really appeals to me. Thanks for that.

[@flavy1000]

A great shortcut, really!

[@lyvelon]

Ty so much this is enlightning

[@thormusique]

This is awesome, thanks! I've never seen the shapes described in this way, but it makes so much sense.

[@mariogamutan6513]

I wasted my time on books and he hits it in 10 minutes.

[@concretecurse6594]

This was great, I've had an acoustic for years but only ever learned some chords, and have wanted to do more. As basically a beginner this was very helpful to start moving around the fretboard with some confidence

[@RapidShotzZ]

Your're awesome. Thanks for all your help.

[@KDStryker]

Thanks, great lesson.

[@kerim.g.498]

Thanks!

[@JesperAlvermark]

Brilliant!

[@rabihbourji2069]

❤❤ great lesson as always

[@sirnukesalot24]

I thought these were just for Major scales, but that only applies to where you marked out the root notes. After sketching this out, there is an application for our minor scales, too. Pattern 3 contains two instances of the related minor root, pattern 2 contains one related minor root, and pattern 1 has none.

[@tripsbacks]

Thank you!! You have helped so much.

[@studioofshred1050]

Please do Johnny Marr's Greatest Guitar Techniques 🙏🙏🙏🙏

[@bernardinomadera600]

you have shown the light to me!!!! Thank you, than you, thank you :-)

[@Holynoway51]

you disappeared from my recommended, happy you’re back on hahaha

[@Jeff_H_the_Guitarist]

I can't believe I've never heard about these repeating patterns. Very handy!

[@Phoenix-ox2jr]

It’s something you pick up on once you learn the fretboard. I’ve been playing only a year and a bit and I’ve pretty much taught myself how to improvise just from countless hours of doodling all around the neck in Am and figuring out these shapes. It’s like a shortcut-formula for whatever scale you’re playing in.

[@pshep138]

I really love that Jaguar.

[@pshep138]

K, now I've finished the video. This is a really good guide for learning the 3NPS patterns and playing them up the neck. One thing I also found helpful when learning these was seeing how they overlap the respective pentatonic box shapes.

[@roycook1882]

It would be nice if you also showed playing or using the scale along with a backing track. That way we can get a full understanding of how it works or flows together. Thanks

[@tronlady1]

Roy Cook as if this isn’t enough!! For free!!! Some folk want the moon on a stick!

[@lukadoderovic3490]

Hi Mike can you pls do chris poland guitar techniqes i would love to see that.

[@hustonmann452]

If anyone still is having a hard time with this technique, check out " Uncle Tim's Building Blocks. It's all about what he's talking about. It REALLY helped me with what he's teaching here! Best of luck!

[@johnny_b_dude]

Very cool idea for a lesson indeed, enjoyed every second! Have a quick question though, these repeating shapes apply only to the major scale, right?

[@TheArtofGuitar]

No all diatonic major and minor scales and modes. :)

[@44scoots]

Very similar to SFS.

[@danielroberts9414]

4 dislikes from Lil Wayne

[@sean4586]

I'm pretty new to guitar. I understand the shapes and rules What I was lost on was when you start with your 4th finger on the E how do I know this is pattern 3 we use the 4th finger for all three patterns. When the E was played with the 2nd finger then it was very obvious it was the first pattern. Thanks for the lesson!

[@TheArtofGuitar]

Start anywhere you want and begin finding the next few notes of the major scale. You’ll be able to hear it over time. Soon you’ll see a pattern (one of the three shapes) take form. You can also look up 3-note per string scales and look at a diagram. It’ll click then.

[@wombozombo]

Sorry, A major not G

[@nicmrobichaud]

Great video! I think you kinda touched on it near the end and I may need to rewatch but is there a more cut and dry way to tell where you're starting in the shapes? Right now I follow the patterns and figure it out after it sounds funny. At this stage, I trust my brain more than my ear and would rather think about the shapes in a proactive way than listen and react.

[@TheArtofGuitar]

I advise you use your ear. If it sounds wrong investigate and see how to start reach major scale from one of three fingers: index, middle, and pinky. :)

[@zathothegrizzxx9747]

Isn’t Shape #3 a Mixolydian shape?

[@Miracle7Seven]

So are you starting each scale in a different mode? I can't tell if you're going up in the modes for the start of each scale or not...

[@climber7565]

HI there! thank you for this!! However, I am a little confused about when or how do you know when to start with either shape?

[@wombozombo]

Depends on what key your playing. If you're playing in the key of A major then the root note will always be the note A.

[@lavie403]

Hi! (First, sorry for my english) It's not a way to learn scales, it's a good trick to help you vizualizing them on the fingerboard. For example, you want to practice any major scale you will see it's always the 'first shape' for the major mode (and the second shape for the minor mode)... But before for deducting that, you need to know (by ear or by reading about scales) what is a major scale... 'A major scale is a diatonic scale. The sequence of intervals between the notes of a major scale is: whole, whole, half, whole, whole, whole, half' en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_scale

[@nicjan1154]

Cool

[@ichirofakename]

Have you done a Keith Richards video yet?

[@TheArtofGuitar]

No, workin on it.

[@someguywithamic9]

Wow this made it just about click for it all to fall into place. The diagrams help so much that I had to draw them myself to keep around (now to learn to read Treble) I do have one question that may have been answered in the video. If going down the fretboard instead of using a different string, would it still be the next shape and would it overlap the previous shape?

[@Phoenix-ox2jr]

Exactly. That’s how these shapes are taken out of the scale and put together. They’re just 3 note sequences starting from every note in the scale. For example, the major scale is shape 3, go up a note, shape 2, go up a note, shape 1, go up a note shape 3, go up a note, shape 3, go up a note, shape 2, go up a note, shape 1, and then it repeats itself as we get back to the first note again. There really is no difference between going to the next string and continuing on the same string, as we are going through the major scale (or whatever scale you want) with the formula, WWHWWWH, which gives us complete freedom, rather than just blindly playing scale shapes that you read in books and never help you play outside of a small box.

[@kenathwarnarathne6703]

Thanks. ..a lot 👍..from. .sri lanka

[@UnderCultures]

How do you know which shape to start with and where the root note should be in that shape?

[@TheArtofGuitar]

That takes a bit of knowing scales but you can use your ear as well. I teach it all at my main lessons site.

[@dieselhrt5492]

There's one caveat that isn't explained. Other than when running out of strings (B & E), when does shape 3 span 3 strings vs 2 strings?

[@TheArtofGuitar]

That's a great question. After playing with these shapes for a while it just becomes clear. I recommend starting on any string and do two of the (3rd shape) and let your ear tell you if you should do another 3rd shape or move onto 1st shape. I'll tell you right away, if you start on the 6th string and do two 3rd shapes your ear will tell you to switch to the next shape to make a major scale.

[@dieselhrt5492]

@@TheArtofGuitar That's what I thought but I wanted to be sure . Pardon the expression but I've been cracking out on this trying to tie in the 1 scale shape w/ it. It works great when going the opposite direction of the 1 shape (up or down the neck). One of the 3 shapes always seems to work, so it seems to open up even more of the fret board w/o having to over-think it.

[@md.taufiquerrhman240]

sir,,,can you do this for minor scale?

[@TheArtofGuitar]

Yes. If you start on the 6th string with the beginning of the 2nd shape it'll be a minor scale.

[@MomoKarain]

So if we switch from 3th shape to first shape and hit the B string, do we have to move two feet higher? Btw thanks for the lesson it's so useful.

[@TheArtofGuitar]

Exactly. It’s a big big jump.

[@MaxB3021]

Awesome video! Does each shape always cover 2 strings, or can something like shape-3 go through 3 strings?

[@JPVanderbuilt]

Shape 3 does cover 3 strings (unless you run out of strings). Know what I mean?

[@michaelgablecolvin7949]

What ??? Shape 2 comes AFTER 1 and BEFORE 3 ??? ;)

[@Zosojuan]

Give me a sweet nothing daddies

[@Trizdowg]

What scale is this for? Just the major?

[@TheArtofGuitar]

All diatonic major and minor plus the modes. :)

[@MomoKarain]

If you start with second shape and follow the same direction you have natural minor.

[@gabrielcruz2291]

What strings do you use????plz

[@TheArtofGuitar]

D'Addario 10's.

[@mihaimuntean7580]

G scale....

[@nicjan1154]

Cool