Segovia Scales - A Pattern Approach

[David]

Montgomery

I'm glad that you're finding them useful.


Kampret

[thendrix]

... It dawned on me last year that learning the scales could be made easier by focusing on the patterns themselves...

Aaron Shearer's Scale Pattern Studies is based on this idea. Shearer concentrates on the scales as linkable and shiftable patterns. So no open strings. And the scales tend to not span as many frets as Segovias - or at least the ones I remember and play every day .

Shearer favored fingerings that avoid long shifts. So in his version of this scale

2 4 // 1 2 4 // 1 3 - 1 3 // 1 2 4 // 1 3 4, on the way down 3 1 // 4 2 1 // 3 1 - 3 1 // 4 2 1 // 4 2.

the long shift // 1 3 - 1 3 // 1
becomes 2 shorter shifts
// 1 3 - 2 4 // 1

Really nice annotation symbology and fret board road maps.

[David]

Tom

Thanks, I'll track down Shearer's scales and have a look at them.


Kampret

[JoniG]

Thanks for working these patterns out. They are a great learning tool and I can't wait to start working through them.
Joni

[George Crocket]

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[Daniel Cumberland]

Thank you for posting these scales. This is EXACTLY what I was looking for.

[ArrJayBee]

Thanks for these invaluable PDFs. I was looking for help with some of the finger patterns. I was coming up with my own but the patterns here are far better and more efficient.
Thank you again.

[David]

Thanks for these invaluable PDFs. I was looking for help with some of the finger patterns. I was coming up with my own but the patterns here are far better and more efficient.
Thank you again.

Thank you but the patterns are Segovia's. I've just made them look pretty.

[Amin Kawas]

Hi David, thanks for such organized work.
I'm totally a beginner, so excuse me for my question, but don't know anybody that can help me with such questions!
when I read Ascending & Descending I felt lost a bit, but for C Major Pattern (Ascending) we start from 1st string E at 8th fret with 4th finger? and for descending for C Major we start at 3rd fret (A string) ending at 7th fret (1st string) with 3rd finger right?
and why there is a difference between Ascending and Descending on Patterns for the same scale's name?

[David]

Hi David, thanks for such organized work.
I'm totally a beginner, so excuse me for my question, but don't know anybody that can help me with such questions!
when I read Ascending & Descending I felt lost a bit, but for C Major Pattern (Ascending) we start from 1st string E at 8th fret with 4th finger? and for descending for C Major we start at 3rd fret (A string) ending at 7th fret (1st string) with 3rd finger right?
and why there is a difference between Ascending and Descending on Patterns for the same scale's name?

Hi Amin

It looks like you're reading the fretboard maps upside down. Scales start on the lower (bass) strings, so C Major starts on the A String (5th string), 3rd fret (C) and goes up to E string (1st string), 8th fret (also C) and returns by retracing your steps. NB. In the fret maps I've made the lines representing the strings different widths so that people can relate them directly to the strings on the guitar (if that makes sense). Basically, the thickest line is the bass E & the thinnest the treble E.

The fretboard diagrams may appear to be upside down as you're playing your guitar, but there's madness in the method, highest string on the top, lowest on the bottom. (It's the same with tablature.)

As to why ascending differs from descending, there are two basic reasons; the minor scales have different notes when ascending than descending, the 6th & 7th notes are raised going up and return to the key signature when coming back down, so they have to be different; two, the Majors scales where they differ, it's probably because Segovia though it was useful in helping to learn more of the fretboard, in these instances, you can blame Andres.

Hope this is clear, or have I added to the confusion?

David

[Amin Kawas]

Hi Amin

It looks like you're reading the fretboard maps upside down. Scales start on the lower (bass) strings, so C Major starts on the A String (5th string), 3rd fret (C) and goes up to E string (1st string), 8th fret (also C) and returns by retracing your steps. NB. In the fret maps I've made the lines representing the strings different widths so that people can relate them directly to the strings on the guitar (if that makes sense). Basically, the thickest line is the bass E & the thinnest the treble E.

The fretboard diagrams may appear to be upside down as you're playing your guitar, but there's madness in the method, highest string on the top, lowest on the bottom. (It's the same with tablature.)

As to why ascending differs from descending, there are two basic reasons; the minor scales have different notes when ascending than descending, the 6th & 7th notes are raised going up and return to the key signature when coming back down, so they have to be different; two, the Majors scales where they differ, it's probably because Segovia though it was useful in helping to learn more of the fretboard, in these instances, you can blame Andres.

Hope this is clear, or have I added to the confusion?

David

Many many thanks David
And no, you made it pretty clear

[Hui Liu]

Thanks a lot for posting this.

Hui

[robin loops]

Cool. Thank you for posting

[Canuck007]

Thanks so much. You have brought these scales into the modern era.
I use them daily.

Cheers
Paul

[Rob Graft]

Wow!!!! this is awesome and sooo great of you to post. This is very helpful of learning, and is going to save me so much time!!