THE PRACTICE WORKBENCH
See the scale across your fretboard.
FROM THE DIAGRAM TO YOUR GUITAR
Use the four lessons below to read the map, choose a scale, play one shape and connect it to the next area of the neck. Every example opens in the tool above.
In standard tuning, strings 6 → 1 are E A D G B E. String 6 is the thick, low E; string 1 is the thin, high E. This tool starts with the high string on top. The View control reverses that display order.
The numbers across the neck are frets. 0 means an open string; fret 5 means press at the fifth fret. Moving one fret higher raises that string's pitch by one semitone.
Basis: Fender: string order and Fender: notes and frets.
The scale's tonic—the root selected here—is 1, shown in green. Other octaves of that root are also 1. Choose Scale degrees to see each marked note's relationship to it.
We use the same-root major scale as the reference: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7. ♭3 means one semitone below its major third. These are scale formulas, not finger numbers or a count of semitones.
Basis: Open Music Theory: major scales and degrees and minor scales. Natural minor can also be numbered 1–7 in its own scale; the flats here explicitly show its differences from parallel major.
For the other options in the tool: Open Music Theory: Dorian and Mixolydian; University of Puget Sound: blues scales. Harmonic minor is covered in the minor-scales reference above.
Start with the pattern you want to study. Major and natural minor have seven notes; pentatonic scales have five. These examples compare the note sets, without assigning a mood or promising that a scale fits every chord.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
C D E F G A B
A seven-note starting point for learning the numbered degrees. Its step pattern is whole, whole, half, whole, whole, whole, half.
Basis: Open Music Theory: major scales.
1 2 ♭3 4 5 ♭6 ♭7
A B C D E F G
Seven notes, with the third, sixth and seventh lowered relative to the same-root major scale. This example shares C major's notes, but starts from A. Natural minor differs from harmonic and melodic minor.
Basis: Open Music Theory: minor scales.
1 2 3 5 6
C D E G A
Five notes: C major with its fourth and seventh removed. Compare it with the seven-note example above to see which dots disappear.
Basis: Fender: pentatonic formulas.
1 ♭3 4 5 ♭7
A C D E G
Five notes: A natural minor without its second and sixth. This is the scale used in the step-by-step shape below.
Basis: Fender: pentatonic formulas.
Use A minor pentatonic at frets 5–8. The table is an ascending path: start on the thickest string, play its lower fret first, then its higher fret, and move to the next string. The tool's 5–9 view leaves one extra fret visible; it is a viewing window, not a separate fingering system. Follow the table below: extra marked notes, such as string 3/fret 9, are outside this twelve-note route.
| Play order | String | Frets | Notes | Degrees |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 → 2 | 6 · low E | 5 → 8 | A → C | 1 → ♭3 |
| 3 → 4 | 5 · A | 5 → 7 | D → E | 4 → 5 |
| 5 → 6 | 4 · D | 5 → 7 | G → A | ♭7 → 1 |
| 7 → 8 | 3 · G | 5 → 7 | C → D | ♭3 → 4 |
| 9 → 10 | 2 · B | 5 → 8 | E → G | 5 → ♭7 |
| 11 → 12 | 1 · high E | 5 → 8 | A → C | 1 → ♭3 |
Shape basis: Fender: A minor pentatonic, fifth position. This original table independently calculates each coordinate from standard tuning, one semitone per fret and the A–C–D–E–G note set. The sequence below is our suggested exercise, not a copied Fender lesson.
6/5 → 6/8 → 5/5 → 5/7 → 4/5 → 4/7
A → C → D → E → G → A
The tool's Play scale button plays the scale in pitch order for reference. It does not demonstrate this exact twelve-note fretboard route. Click individual dots to check their pitches while following the table on your guitar.
Connecting positions means keeping the same scale while finding a route into a neighboring area. On string 1, use fret 8 (C) as the shared point between these overlapping windows.
String 1: 5 → 8 → 10 → 8 → 5
A → C → D → C → A
Move your hand after the shared C to reach fret 10, then return. The root remains A. These are overlapping practice areas, not named CAGED patterns.
Basis: Fender: why scales have different shapes. This short connection route is our own example, calculated from the tuning and scale formula cited above.
Keep minor pentatonic selected and change the root from A to B. With standard tuning unchanged, moving the fretted shape up two frets moves every note up two semitones. The root on string 6 moves from fret 5 to fret 7.
The six string pairs become 7–10 / 7–9 / 7–9 / 7–9 / 7–10 / 7–10, in string 6-to-1 order. The degrees stay 1 ♭3 4 5 ♭7; the notes become B D E F♯ A.
Derivation: Fender: one semitone per fret plus the minor pentatonic formula. An equal shift preserves the intervals.
This movable example uses fretted notes only. An open string does not move when your hand moves. A fixed viewport can also hide notes beyond its edges; use Whole neck to explore the larger map.