Universal Fingerings 1: Scales

I will admit it, this is not the most thrilling post I have ever written. But I think it is one of the most useful, so stay with me. Scale fingering is something a lot of guitarists are still wrestling with years into playing.

This is the chart I made for my students at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, for their exams and for everything that came after them. And, like Buzz Lightyear, I come in peace, so please do not fight me too hard on this one.

What universal fingerings are, and why they work

A universal fingering is one set of fingering choices that you learn once and then move to any key. You are not memorising a separate fingering for every key, you are memorising one shape and shifting it. That is what makes it stick, and it is what lets you call it up fast when you are under pressure, in an exam or in a performance, and there is no time to work anything out.

So you learn one set of fingers, and then you apply it across the fretboard to each new key.

No, Segovia. Just no.

Here is the controversial bit. Do not use the Segovia fingerings. They are outdated and, quite frankly, bizarre in places for the fingers they choose. They also give you different options for the same problem, stretched-out fingerings, and some very odd cross-string ideas. Take my advice and use these modern ones instead. They actually work.

The scales on the chart

• Two-octave scales: major, harmonic minor and melodic minor, starting on strings 5 and 6.
• Three-octave scales: major, harmonic minor and melodic minor.

What you do not get is TAB, and that is deliberate. Work from the fingerings written above the notes, keep an eye on the positions (the Roman numerals), and watch for where the shifts happen. They are usually signalled by the same finger turning up twice.

The same chart carries the arpeggios too, and they have their own post: Universal Fingerings 2: Arpeggios.

Get the chart

The universal fingerings chart is on my Patreon. Get the chart.

Which scale still trips you up? Tell me in the comments on Patreon and I will try and help you conquer it.