In this lesson you will learn the second moveable scale pattern, which will open up an enormous amount of possibilities in your playing. If you haven’t yet worked with scale pattern #1, put this lesson on hold until you have done so and feel that you have really saturated that pattern. Extensive work with the first pattern will not only help you to avoid confusion between the two patterns, it will also help you understand how to make good use of the second pattern.
Scale pattern #2 has tonic (the starting point of the scale or name of the scale or key) on the fifth string. In order to play it correctly, first determine in which position you will play by finding tonic on the fifth string and putting your fourth finger on that note. Then follow the fingering below, keeping your hand in the same position throughout. Here is the fingering:
The note that is bold in this diagram is tonic. The pattern starts on scale degree 3 and ends on scale degree 5, so if you want it to sound like the major scale as you are accustomed to hearing it, simply play the pattern from tonic to tonic.
As with the first scale pattern, it is important to first become comfortable with playing the scale from memory before using it in other ways. When you are ready, you can explore the pattern in the same manner that you did scale pattern #1, practicing random manipulation, thirds and melodies.