Sunday, April 10, 2011

Mandolin Moveable Arpeggio Scale for Any Key

Page from our Essential Chords for Guitar, Mandolin, Ukulele and Banjo book of our moveable arpeggio scale for any Mandolin Key. This chart allows you to use arpeggios for doing solos. This movable chart will work for any key as it can be moved up and down the fret board.

Songs for mandolin, (amazon affiliate link)

Easy Songs for Mandolin: Supplementary Songbook to the Hal Leonard Mandolin Method (Hal Leonard Mandolin Method: Supplement to Any Mandolin Method)

6 comments:

luthier said...

Bruce, since the charts are for *moveable* scales, why not use degrees instead of name of each note?

bruce jones said...

HI Luthier, if you have a moment, can you explain a little what degrees mean, I am not all that familiar with it. thank you for all the comments, they have been great

bruce

luthier said...

By degrees, I mean the numerals.

In the C major scale:
R=C
2=D
3=E
4=F
5=G
6=A
7=B

In the Bb major scale:
R=Bb
2=C
3=D
4=Eb
5=F
6=G
7=A

In the F minor scale:
R=F
2=G
b3=Ab
4=Bb
5=C
6=D
7=E

That means that the formula for a major scale is R-2-3-4-5-6-7, and for a minor scale it is R-2-b3-4-5-6-7, no matter what the key is. Likewise, the pentatonic minor scale is R-b3-4-5-b7 and so forth. It works for any scale, arpeggio or chord in any key. If you apply this on a fretboard, any scale shape is moveable up and down the neck regardless of the key. This is why I was suggesting using degrees instead of naming the notes.

luthier said...

@ Bruce Jones, I hope I am not taking too much space here.

bruce jones said...

Hi Luthier, no not at all, thank you very much for the details, this will help. I originally started writing all this stuff when I began playing and trying to figure it out. I am a graphic designer and had the tools to make it more formal looking. This has resulted in the books and all this stuff, still learning and try to make it easier to understand

thank you very much for all your comments.

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