Better Way to Learn Scales

In this blog post, I will go through some basic music theory to help navigate the fretboard with scales using logic, not memory. This serves as a memo to myself and in honor of Anthony Wellington’s “MILLPAD” method of learning the 7 basic modes, with my own “Manhattan Movement” addition.

After I wrote this blog post, a fellow human enlightened me by sharing Michael Pillitiere’s series about this exact concept. However, I believe that the original core concept still belongs to Anthony Wellington, as he posted on April 13, 2020 on Facebook about it, stating he came up with it almost 25 years ago. Michael published his book about this in 2002, but he explains the same things I’ve figured out on my own, so I wasn’t the first one to discover this. The rest of the blog post remains unedited regarding this, so keep this in mind.

I have been learning to play bass for almost 2 years now, very passively though, and only for myself. Overwhelmed by all the scales, I tried to find a more efficient way to learn them, for me at least. I stumbled across Anthony Wellington’s lecture about the modes, and it blew my mind. It explains the modes in a completely new way. In addition to reading this blog post, I highly recommend you check out the lecture. It is one hour long and totally worth it, even if you already know all the basic scales. You can watch the lecture from here. I have been using and studying the method for a while now, and I’ve started to notice further patterns within this master scale. Without further ado, let’s dive in.

The Scale Chart

You should probably try to forget everything you’ve learned about modes while learning this. This method suggests that all the basic modes are just a part of one master scale; you just start playing it from a different starting point, which is actually the truth. Here is the gist of it:

 Num. | Sequence          | Mode
——————|———————————————————|——————————————
 ii   |   | • |   | • | • | Dorian
 vi   |   | • |   | • | • | Aeolian
 iii  |   | • | • |   | • | Phrygian
 vii  |   | • | • |   | • | Locrian
 IV   | • |   | • |   | • | Lydian
 I    | • |   | • |   | • | Ionian
 V    | • |   | • |   | • | Mixolydian
        ^

How does it work? Pick any one of the modes, represented by the rows of dots, and play three notes per string, moving upwards the chart; the cycle repeats forever. When cycling from Dorian sequence back to Mixolydian, you stay at the same fret. The first note of the first sequence you play is your root note. It seems like a very brief explanation, but what can I say, there is nothing more to it.

Beginner Info

Scale and mode mean the same thing, and there are more than seven of them, but this method only works for those seven basic ones.

Moving two frets is often called a “whole step”, and moving one fret a “half step”. I won’t be using this terminology here much, maybe twice, but it is important to know regardless since it is common practice. So, for example, the starting sequence for the Aeolian scale could be communicated as: whole step, half step, or even just W-H.

If you have heard someone talking about the major scale or the minor scale, they are referring to the Ionian as major and Aeolian as minor, even though there are a number of different major and minor scales. Those are the defaults, though, for some historical reason, I guess.

Example

In case you haven’t figured it out yet by the chart and the brief explanation of mine, I hope that this clarifies things. Here, we’ll play the Gm (Dorian) scale using the chart.

    1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9  10  11  12  13  14  15  16  17  18  19  20
G  ———|———|——o|———|——o|———|——o|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———
D  ———|———|——o|———|——o|———|——o|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———
A  ———|———|——o|———|——o|———|——o|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———
E  ———|———|——o|———|——o|——o|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———

First, we play the Dorian sequence starting from G, since we want to play the G Dorian scale. After that, we change strings and hop from the start of the chart to the end of it and play the Mixolydian sequence. Please note that even though I am referring to the sequences by their names, we are still playing the Dorian scale and nothing else. Then we just move upwards the chart in the same manner.

The Manhattan Movement

With the MILLPAD method, you can potentially navigate the whole fretboard with any scale, moving three notes at a time in any direction. This is the part I’ve figured out myself and haven’t seen anywhere else, which I am quite proud of, even though it is simple. This should be much easier for most people, since it uses logic, not memory. First, let’s see how we can play a scale on one string using the chart.

One String Scale

You can follow the sequences but just do not switch strings; there is only one rule for doing so. Before cycling back to the Mixolydian sequence or starting any minor scale sequence, insert a half step. This single adjustment maintains the scale integrity on a single string. In case you don’t already know which scales are major and which are minor, look at the chart. Scales are numbered with Roman numerals, minors are marked with lowercase letters, and majors with uppercase; this is a common practice. You can also switch between the multiple and one string method, see the examples.

Examples

Here, we’ll play the Gm (Dorian) scale again, but move throughout the fretboard by switching between the normal and one string methods.

    1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9  10  11  12  13  14  15  16  17  18  19  20
G  ———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|——o|——o|———|——o|———|———|———
D  ———|———|———|———|———|———|———|——o|———|——o|———|——o|———|——o|——o|———|——o|———|———|———
A  ———|———|———|———|———|———|———|——o|———|——o|———|——o|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———
E  ———|———|——o|———|——o|——o|———|——o|———|——o|———|——o|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———

Here, as a second example, we’ll play the C (Ionian) scale in the same manner.

    1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9  10  11  12  13  14  15  16  17  18  19  20
G  ———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|——o|———|——o|——o|———|———|———
D  ———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|——o|——o|———|——o|———|——o|——o|———|——o|———|———|———
A  ———|———|——o|———|——o|———|——o|——o|———|——o|———|——o|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———
E  ———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———|———

Any Direction

Now, we know how to move to upper strings and move down the neck using the one string method, and that’s not all. We can use those in reverse and be able to navigate the whole fretboard with any scale in any of the four cardinal direction (up, down, left, right) in sequences of three notes. If you understand how the stuff above works, I am sure you can figure out how to reverse those, and this is where the money is at. It is an unbelievably powerful addition to the MILLPAD method, even if I do say so myself.

How About Guitar?

I play bass, so I’m writing this from that perspective, but everything above works on guitar too. However, we need to add one more rule to adapt for the standard tuning interval difference between the fourth and the last two strings. The rule goes like this: before switching strings from G to B, insert a half step; similarly, when moving from the Lydian to the Locrian sequence (see the chart). That’s it, nothing more than that.

Other Scales

Of course, there are also other scales which are not part of the master scale. For example, pentatonic, harmonic, and I think even more for the guitar. There might be some similar tricks to these, but I haven’t found any, and decided to learn them just the old regular way; through shapes. For harmonic minor, I came across this Reddit post. I haven’t looked much into it, but it seems to work in the same way as the regular MILLPAD chart. By the way, I found an awesome set of tools that can be used, such as finding a scale for your spontaneously made riff. It’s called Musmath — check it out and see how you can use it when learning the scales.