Hey Andrew- it's your biggest theory fan again !

So i've finally learned all the pentatonic postions and labelled them 1, 2 3 etc in my mind.
Stage 2 should have been learning the 3nps major minor patterns- but im waaay to lazy. No matter how much i try to force myself- i dont want to learn it, my brain goes into sleep mode...

However...a breakthrough?

If i were to learn the first 3nps pattern of every mode of - for example C (D dorian, E phrygian etc) - and linked them together this would also be C major all over the fretboard? (ofcourse i would have to pay special attention to where the Cs are in the boxes so that i know where the root note is)

I want to learn it this way- and my (? ultimate ?) theory knowledge tells me it makes sense but i thought i'd ask you first.

I guess i want to learn it this way because i'm killing two birds with one stone- and as i play each position i'll be thinking of it as a mode- so i'll be more interested in learning it. I tried the way that Pavel shows us in his shred lesson but my mind didn't want to click.

And by the way this is purley for exercise purposes.

EDIT: i meant for the title to read BOX patterns lol sorry
Thanks for your help.

Yes, that's theoretically sound, provided you are careful, but you covered all the gotchas!

One additional thing to add for others reading this - Deep Root's strategy will only work for 3nps. If you try and use this with regular Major scale boxes you will get horribly confused. Why? Because we traditionally use 5 boxes for major scales, when in fact there are really 7 (2 of them are really close to other boxes so we tend to ignore them). 3nps (3 Note Per String) scales are looking at the neck as a whole, and don't work so much with boxes, or if you do split them into boxes you would usually use 7 boxes. The result of this is that there are no missing notes to get you out of sync with your modes.

So, yes, learn the root box of (for instance):

C Ionian
D Dorian
E Phrygian
F Lydian
G Mixolydian
A Aeolian
B Locrian

And you have also covered all 7 boxes of a major scale Good thinking batman!

Now, a suggestion that might make this easier ...

Whether you perceive a scale as a particular mode or a major scale starting on a different note is all in the mind since the notes are identical. You need to be very conscious of which you are doing at a particular time. So, I suggest you make 2 or more backing tracks as follows:

1. Modal Backing track - pick a key, the right speed, and a number of repetitions, and for each mode, the backing track plays the modes root chord (could be a piano or strings or anything):

C Ionian - C
D Dorian - Dm7
E Phrygian - Em7
F Lydian - F Major 7
G Mixolydian - G7
A Aeolian - Am
B Locrian - Bm7b5 (or B diminished)

2. Major Backing Track - do the same but just play C major all the way through - this trains you to hear the boxes as major.

3. Added Bonus - focus on each mode by putting together a backing track that uses the characteristic chord for that mode, e.g. Am - Aeolian. That of course gives you Major and Minor for free Then you can work each mode individually by going through all the boxes - the chord trains your ear to hear the modes correctly.

Go ahead, and let us know how it works out!

Thanks Andrew , that backing track idea sounds pretty great. I'll be trying that out this weekend!

DeepRoots