28.3 · Movable Shapes
The scale as a shape
On the keyboard, W-W-H-W-W-W-H told you which keys to press. On the guitar the same formula freezes into a fingering pattern: one finger per fret, four frets wide. Learn the pattern once and it plays the major scale in every key.
G major, in position
The pattern sits at frets 2 to 5: finger 1 owns fret 2, finger 4 owns fret 5. The badges number the fingers; the rings mark G, the root. Two full octaves without moving your hand.
Slide it: A major
Move every finger two frets up and nothing else changes. The formula travels with the shape, so the same pattern at frets 4 to 7 plays A major. On the keyboard a new key meant new black keys; here it's the same hand.
Quiz
1 / 3How do you change key with a fingering pattern?