3 Shape Fretboard: Guitar Scales and Arpeggios as Variants of 3 Shapes of the Major Scale

3-Shape Fretboard is for intermediate to advanced guitarists interested in learning how to work out guitar scales and arpeggios for themselves.

It all starts with the major scale, the basis of music. All other scales and arpeggios are defined in comparison to this scale. The book reflects this in practical terms by categorising the major scale into three different fundamental shapes, which once understood, can be used as templates to figure out other guitar scales and arpeggios.

This system can help to understand the larger CAGED guitar scale shapes in terms of their single octave components. For example, the five CAGED shapes for the major (or minor) pentatonic scales that each contain twelve notes, can be learned as only two shapes of five notes, which are joined end to end to give us the five full CAGED shapes.

Intervals are grouped together in the context of the scales they are intended for, which can provide a foundation for learning intervals individually on the fretboard.

All 3-note per string guitar scales can be understood as the same combination of single octave component types.

See how basic major and minor chords are formed from within scales.

Being able to create guitar scales and arpeggios yourself can give a better understanding, while knowing the logic behind them can make them more meaningful and therefore easier to learn.

3-Shape Fretboard contains 600 fretboard diagrams. Each scale and arpeggio type has a question, with the answer at the back of the book in guitar tablature.