Two One Octave Minor Scales

When I start to teach students about scales I begin with one octave shapes.

From my experience of teaching I have found that students often learn one octave shapes quicker and with greater ease than two octave forms. This seems to have three distinct advantages; it makes the shape easier to play easier to memorize and also makes the connection from horizontal explanation (the theory) to vertical application (performance) easier to demonstrate and understand.

I often present these two scale shapes at first because they fit comfortably under the fingers due to the absence of position shifts. I move each shape up and down the fingerboard in half steps as a warm up then apply them over a minor blues or minor ii-v-i.

Once the two shapes can be played accurately it’s time to connect them to make a two octave A minor scale. This makes for an easy introduction to position shifts and longer improvisational phrases.

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