Sure to train all your fingers: a weak pinky limits severely your ability to play interesting patterns. It's also possible to rely on open strings to play scales in open position. Remember, these are just general directions that you can adapt or change as you need. I hope I gave some useful suggestions about the best way to fret a scale or arpeggio. Guitar Scales and Arpeggios Fingering: Conclusion Check the ebook here G Major Scale 4 Frets Box You various fretboard patterns for more than 30 types of different scales. My complete ebook Scales Over Chords shows Here below you find some fingering suggestions for various scale and arpeggio patterns.įor the purpose of this tutorial, we're going to use the G major scale and the G major arpeggo. Left Hand Fingering for Different Fretboard Patterns In the video you can observe a practical application of this suggestion. If an arpeggio extends from fret 3 to fret 7, we could use the index finger on fret 3, the pinkie on fret 7, and the middle finger for the frets between 3 and 7, keeping your left hand

Of course, particular patterns like arpeggios or 3-notes-per-string are larger than 4 frets, so a certain amount of stretch is required. There are scale exercises specifically conceived for developing dexterity and agility in all fingers (pinky Most of the scale patterns are 4 frets wide, each finger must take care of one fret only, limiting the movements of the left hand at the minimum, saving energy and This translates to using one finger per fret: as we have 4 fingers, and The only rule is ' efficiency of motion'. How Do I Know With Fingers To Use?įirst of all, you should know that there are not many strict rules for fingerings. Set-in-stone rule, if it works for you, feel free to use this finger too. The thumb, denoted with T, unless you are Django Reinhardt, is not How To Finger Scales and Arpeggios | IntroductionĪs a quick refresher, here below you find a diagram that shows you the standard convention for denoting the fingers of the left hand (or right hand if you are a left-handed guitar player):

G flat major scale and arpeggio