Fretboard scale generator

**Mattg** · Oct-12-2006, 2:24pm

All

I stumbled across a great website by a bass instructor but it is useful for all stringed players. I hope it is OK with the Cafe to post links but here it is:
www.studybass.com.
It has alot of good resources and applies to the mandolin just fine.

The tool I found most useful is a fretboard scale generator that generates a graphic showing note positions for every key and for dozens of scales and chord notes for most stringed instruments in many different tunings. It is under:
http://www.studybass.com/tools/chord...-note-printer/

I'm trying to learn D Minor Swing and was looking for some minor scales. This helped. I know I should be able to figure it out (flatten the third) but this was faster. I'm a visual learner so graphics help too.

Usual disclaimer, I have no connection with that site, commercial or otherwise, I just thought y'all would like it. By the way, the owner of the site is monitoring and responds quickly to his comment page. Seems like a good egg.

Matt

**PhilGE** · Oct-12-2006, 9:27pm

Very nice! Thanks, Matt

**JeffS** · Oct-19-2006, 12:16am

Great site. It's really handy to see the scales mapped out on the fretboard like that with the root notes highlighted. I pulled up the E minor blues scale, plugged in my Mandobird, dialed my GDEC to Chicago Blues and jammed for about an hour up and down the neck, then switched to my acoustic mando and kept the backup track going on my amp and played for 30 more minutes.

**groveland** · Oct-19-2006, 11:42am

It's nice to see chord shapes. It's nice to see scale patterns. But it's most important to see how the chords and scales intersect - That is, what chords are in this scale? What scales do I play over these chords? That's where the rubber meets the road. Context is everything. Scales and chords are interrelated to the point that, in the final analysis, they are truly indistiguishable from one another.

**jmcgann** · Oct-19-2006, 4:45pm

Read, and reread, what our friend groveland says above- I put it this way:

chords are the key to life in music (that is unless you are in the middle east or india etc.) Understand chords and scales and their very important relationship, and you'll understand the very fabric of western music (that is, until you start thinking about rhythm...) from bluegrass to bach to beatles to whatever...

**Rod Freeland** · Oct-19-2006, 5:25pm

I have a nifty little freeware program on my Palm Pilot that does most of this (except print) called "FretBoard" by a Dave MacLeod. #It can be obtained by going to http://www.eurocool.com/author/?author=123 and looking for "FretBoard." #Highly recommended . . . usual disclaimer, etc.