I’ve been a huge fan of 4NPS (four-note-per-string) scales ever since I first saw them on the Allan Holdsworth REH DVD back when it was a video cassette in the late 90s. If you’ve ever seen Holdsworth play, you’ll probably…
Category: 4NPS Scales
How to Find Scale Patterns That Work For You
Nowadays, I play in fourths tuning (EADGCF) around 75% of the time because I love it, and the rest of the time I use standard (covers gigs, teaching, etc.) because it’s just more practical. However, one of the things I…
Fretboard Motion: 3NPS + 4NPS Scales (Part 2)
In Part 1, we looked at dividing the fretboard up into string pairs in order play horizontally up and down the neck. In Part 2, we take the symmetry idea a little further by creating diagonal patterns across the string…
The Holdsworthian Approach to Diminished Scales
In honor of the passing of one of my most influential guitar heroes, Allan Holdsworth, and perhaps one of the most innovative guitarists of all time, I’d like to look at his use of diminished scales; in particular, the half-whole…
How to Own the Fretboard When Improvising
One of the great things about the guitar is the myriad of ways to play the same thing in various places on the neck, with different combinations of strings, as well as in different octaves. Admittedly, this does create a…
Scale Patterns, Optical Illusions, and the ‘Breaking Out’ Myth
Our latest eBook, ‘Shred Guitar Mechanics: Fretboard Dexterity through 4NPS Scales’, is the product of extensive research into the benefits of learning four-note-per-string (4NPS) scales on guitar, especially as regards shred playing or fast dexterous playing in any style. I’d…
Shred Guitar Secrets: 3NPS Meets 4NPS
Earlier this month we looked at 4NPS (four-note-per-string) scales as used by the likes of Allan Holdsworth in this article. There’s an interesting correlation between 3NPS and 4NPS patterns, in particular the fingering, which is good to realize early on…