I still remember watching a rock guitar video in my early teens and wondering how someone could play a scale so fast for so long when they only have like 20 notes!

It might have been Yngwie Malmsteen. He was playing this line so fast, but it seemed to last forever. I really couldn’t figure out what was going on. I thought: “the scales I know, they’ve got like 16 notes. If I play them that fast, they’ll be over in no time!”

It seemed kind of funny that I couldn’t hear what he was doing. It was early days, I guess, and he was playing it so fast that I couldn’t hear that he was using the melodic sequence technique.

I’ve heard similar testimonials from students over the years. If you’ve wondered that too, I’m glad you’re here! Today’s lesson is all about melodic sequences and how to make the best out of them.

Now let’s get stuck in and check out what’s on our plate!

What are Melodic Sequences

Melodic Sequences are number sequences that we apply to scales. We’ve been using them for centuries. Every guitar player uses those sequences, and they sound great.

If you're following my Intermediate Guitar Course, you’ve learned how to play your first melodic sequence in Grade 4! Remember when we learned to play scales in 3rds? That’s a Melodic Sequence, and they can get a lot more fun. :)

When you play a scale, think of numbering the notes starting on the root note. Then, you’ll simply apply the math sequence to the scale numbers, and you’re away!

Here are some of my favorite sequences.

Melodic Sequence #1: 4 In a Line

A nice Major Scale to start with is one I call 4 In a Line. You’d probably have done stuff like this back in high school. The number pattern would look like this:

1 2 3 4 - 2 3 4 5 - 3 4 5 6 - 4 5 6 7 - 5 6 7 8 etc.

It’s essential to understand the math behind what you’re playing. Also, try to memorize a simplified pattern that you can remember so that you don’t have to look at the tab. This one I would describe as “playing up four steps from each note of a scale.”

You can play it as 2 or 4 notes per metronome click, but I recommend starting without the metronome, do it slowly and carefully and then try to get the speed consistent without the metronome first of all.

Let’s try it out using Pattern 1 of the Major Scale.

Take a look at the following chart:

Remember that you need to practice scales right and slowly! Don’t be in a hurry, and do not practice any mistakes. It’s also essential to remember what note you started on and start thinking about the next note you’re going to start from, then the next one, and the next one...

To descend the scale, you can reverse the number sequence or re-number the scale. Either way, you decide to think about it, you should play four notes down from each scale degree.

Sometimes, playing the top note twice will make more sense, something I don’t recommend for regular scale practice. With something like 4-In-A-Line, if you play the top note once, you end up with the start of each group of 4 falling off the beat which feels pretty awkward.

Again - remember: the key thing here is to get this down accurately. Speed will come with time when you get things right in the first place!

🚨 You might encounter a problem: you’ll need to roll your little finger when playing this melodic sequence. Check out the video lesson for a quick look at it, or explore my Technique lessons.

Now let’s check out one more sequence.

Melodic Sequence #2: 3-In-A-Line

Another great pattern to explore is 3-In-A-Line. You can probably guess that you’ll play up three notes from each scale degree when ascending. :)

Grab your guitar and give this one a go!

If you find this one a little trickier to play than 4-In-A-line, don’t worry - most people do! But it feels better under the fingers after a bit of practice.

Practicing Melodic Sequences

You can take this to crazy levels and make up your sequences! You can go as long and complex as you want, but I suggest starting with these and seeing how you get on. I’ll recommend some more fun ones in the Ultimate Scale Workout later in this module!

Start just in Pattern 1, and once you feel confident, you might like to try them in all the patterns you know. Remember - practice makes permanent!

🚨 Each sequence in each pattern is likely to cause some fingering problems, and part of your journey is to sort that out! Most are pretty obvious and have just one fingering solution, but sometimes, they’re all awkward, and you have to make a call which awkward you like best. :)

Melodic Sequence #3: Reverse 4-In-A-Line

When you’re feeling confident with everything else we’ve learned so far, try this out. It’s just to give you a headache - and this one is also my favorite one! :)

A fun thing to try is playing the 4-In-A-Line but reversing each block. You’ll end up with the following number sequence:

4 3 2 1 - 5 4 3 2 - 6 5 4 3 - 7 6 5 4 - 8 7 6 5 - etc.

This one requires a bit more thinking, but remember that the goal is not having to think about it! You’ll likely need quite a bit of repetition to get these into the memory bank.

Reverse 4-In-A-Line is also technically a lot more challenging to play. It has some string jumps, so you might need to think more about how you play it. And you’ll need to start slower. Accuracy over speed, ok?

Practice these melodic sequences until you’re comfortable with them. Playing scales in 3rds is a great way to warm up for a practice session on this lesson. Have fun in the process, and don’t rush it.

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