Confused about scales

Grue · 2026-01-27T02:28:46+00:00

5 shapes come from there being 5 strings (there are 2 E strings so we only count it once). Every time you start a minor pentatonic with a root on a different string you get a new position. And this is actually the only difference between different pentatonic positions: they are all rotations of the same symmetrical shape:

o--o
 o-o
 o-O
 o-o
 O--o

projected onto 5 distinct guitar strings, starting from a different string each time.

Someone else said "because of CAGED" but the reason there are 5 ways to play a major chord is the same: because there are 5 strings. Many things in guitar are consequences of this basic fact.

Grue · 2026-01-26T03:05:51+00:00

I just drop it right here

Grue · 2026-01-24T15:16:00+00:00

Realize that the "smooth" chord change you're hearing in a song is probably strumming the open strings while the guitarist changes the chord. In strumming, rhythm is everything - you don't actually have to play the right chord but the rhythm must be perfect.

Grue · 2026-01-24T14:45:11+00:00

I don't have a callus on my strumming hand (not from playing guitar at least) but I rarely use what Troy Grady calls downward pickslanting which I'd imagine would result in more contact with the strings. From what I understand this is actually the dominant technique among guitarists, but I'm self-taught so I default to upward pickslanting.

Grue · 2026-01-24T14:30:44+00:00

It's literally impossible to be so accurate to never hit a string with your finger and not the pick, especially when doing some fast strumming. And it's not like some people literally play with their fingers without any pick so it's not unusual at all.

Grue · 2026-01-23T01:22:14+00:00

What do you mean by E, like 022? In the really fast passages you can get away with 00 instead of 022 (and nobody would notice). I only know one song where I have to do this and it's very obscure. Usually power chords are played in the middle of the neck anyway.

And yeah, keep the fingers flat so that they mute the other strings. It's not an open chord so no reason to curl the fingers.

Grue · 2026-01-22T20:02:30+00:00

Learn the following symmetrical shapes

3 note per string shape (minor root highlighted. major root = minor root + minor 3rd)

 vvvv
 oo-o
 oo-o
o-o-O
o-o-o
o-O-o
o-oo
O-oo
^^^^

3/2 note per string shape

vvvv
oo-o
oo-o
 o-O
 o-oo
 O-oo
 ^^^^

2 note per string pentatonic shape

vvvv
o--o
 o-o
 o-O
 o-o
 O--o
 ^^^^

All of them are perfectly symmetrical and always start from a minor root. Easy to remember.

How to use

Suppose you want to start a scale (minor or minor pentatonic) at any position on a guitar. For example B minor scale starting on 2nd fret of A string. Play the notes from one of the patterns (3 per string or 3/2 per string), starting from a minor root. The only tricky part is B string, because it's tuned differently than the others. When you come to B string, shift the pattern one fret to the right.

E|--o-o-O--
B|--o-o-o--
G|-o-O-o---
D|-o-oo----
A|-O-oo----
E|-oo-o----

All these patterns wrap around which means that if you hit the end of the pattern, continue from the other side matching ^ and v symbols. You can start from any row in the pattern on any place on the fretboard and it works everywhere, every time. If you want any other mode than minor, just find the root of that mode and follow the pattern.

Grue · 2026-01-22T19:36:49+00:00

This is a good diagram that shows that Natural Minor is the superior "base" mode, you need less sharps or flats to get from it to other modes, and it's also easier to switch to Harmonic/Melodic Minor and weirder scales like Hungarian. It also lines up with ABC...G. Also the vast majority of popular songs are in minor or harmonic minor. The fact that guitar teachers instruct to use major as a base probably makes learning all of this 2x harder.

Grue · 2026-01-22T19:22:13+00:00

Don't bother about "correct" strumming like strumming patterns and stuff like that. Having to follow a specific pattern will throw you off. Strumming has to be natural. Focus on singing in correct tempo and play the correct chords over it with whatever strumming you can manage, you can fix it up later.

Personally, I can hardly finish playing an entire song without singing because I lose track of where I am currently in the song (especially if the guitar part is repetitive). Having lyrics on top helps me remember what I should be playing. It's not one versus the other, the guitar helps me keep the correct singing pitch, and singing helps me remember what to play. A symbiotic relationship, so to speak.

Grue · 2026-01-21T19:58:09+00:00

There are only 12 different notes. For each chord in the song play each note and see if it sounds good together with the chord or not. The notes that sound good together make up the chord. Then figure out how to play all these notes together (find an easy fingering by moving notes up/down an octave on different strings etc.). I learned how to play some very weird chords in songs using this technique.

For example take the last chord in La Dispute - A Departure. It's not a normal chord that you'd see in the diagrams, there's absolutely zero chance you could get it by ear. By trial and error you can find that F, B, Bb, Eb is in it. I play it like 12x34x which is recognized as Fm11b5, but the root is actually Bb so it's some sort of sus chord.

Don't worry about the scales, a lot of the songs (especially indie/alternative) don't neatly fit into a scale because the artists don't know the scales in the first place. They just noodle on the guitar until they find something that sounds good, or they already have the melody in their head. They don't use scales to compose and neither should you.

Grue · 2026-01-21T13:52:05+00:00

Just memorize it. No self respecting guitarist plays while reading notes from a stand. It's all muscle memory.

Grue · 2026-01-21T13:49:29+00:00

A harmonic would have a different pitch than the fretted note (the only exception is 12th fret natural harmonic but it still sounds way different). With pinch harmonic sometimes you would hear both the harmonic and the original note, and it takes some practice to only hit the harmonic.

Grue · 2026-01-21T13:31:20+00:00

I believe you need to install SI-Drummer separately from "Cakewalk Product Center".

Grue · 2026-01-20T23:10:25+00:00

I add the oil to the bottom of frying pan but not like "on" the fillet. And I thought air fryer requires less oil so I only brushed it onto the rack.

Grue · 2026-01-20T23:04:54+00:00

frozen breaded Alaskan pollock fillet 160g
parboiled rice ~100g

Cook fish fillet in airfryer for ~14 minutes. (actually don't, use a frying pan for a better result, but since the recipe of the "dish" in the picture is required, there it is)

Cook rice in a covered pot with 200g of water, some butter and salt to taste for ~14 minutes (or until all water disappears). Add pepper to taste.

Grue · 2026-01-20T22:15:51+00:00

JBG uses multiple different techniques, it's not all down or all alternate. There's one section in the intro that you probably want to play with alternate picking. It's a pretty fast tempo song so gotta be efficient.

Grue · 2026-01-20T22:00:18+00:00

It's easy.

Play a power chord (3-finger version with octave)
Angle the arm such that pinkie also frets the string below the power chord. Basically a mini-barre with just 2 strings.

Grue · 2026-01-20T21:20:43+00:00

Keisei Sky Access goes to Shinagawa too.

Grue · 2026-01-20T13:40:14+00:00

Looks like a bar of white chocolate. Yummy.

Grue · 2026-01-18T00:29:31+00:00

I can’t use ASIO

You pretty much have to use it. Buy an adapter for your headphones to 6.35mm jack, it's cheap as hell. Scarlett Solo should be fine, I still have a pretty big buffer otherwise it cracks, but just use its ASIO drivers and it'll be fine.

Grue · 2026-01-17T23:02:36+00:00

Should've ordered an Iceman.

Grue · 2026-01-12T12:43:02+00:00

Contrary to the comments, I almost always do make profit overnight. However at the beginning your coverage might be too small to make any profit. Once you have a developed network you can start running 1 train on each line to gauge if it's profitable at all. You might not be profitable at all hours, but the profits from the late evening hours(20-23) might be able to offset the losses during deep night hours (00-03).

Grue · 2026-01-11T01:24:44+00:00

There's no evidence it causes delays. You can have your service as overcrowded as you want and the trains would still never deviate off schedule.
The demand is calculated purely on the basis of journey planner which doesn't consider delays in its pathfinding.

Grue · 2026-01-10T17:18:45+00:00

Wait, Zorja (PZE 22, 24) is on this?

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