Three note per string scale shapes are hard

[Napthol]

I have always had a hard time playing three note per string scale shapes. For me, they're tough. Although I do believe I have gotten better over the last few years, I have had to put a lot of work into them to get the speed up a little and make them sound smooth especially when changing strings.

And these shapes seem so common and heavily used.

Is there anyone else who finds them difficult?

 

[Chistopher]

I've posted something about this before, but the best and worst part of guitar is that you can master any element of playing if you do it enough

 

[GuitarStv]

Try playing around with different ways of picking.

I came to them from basic two note per string pentatonic shapes. The pentatonic stuff was very easy to alternate pick quickly because you're always doing the same thing. Going from the Low E to the high e . . . DU-DU-DU-DU-DU-DU. But then the three note shapes screwed up that easy alternate picking rhythm and you end up (Low E to high e) with DUD-UDU-DUD-UDU-DUD-UDU. That meant that every other string you've got the pick going a different way as you're changing strings - super hard to get smooth and working at high speeds. Economy picking was the answer. It's way easier for three note shapes . . . then you get back into an easy right hand rhythm of DUD-DUD-DUD-DUD-DUD-DUD. Much harder to screw up because you're always making the same motion while changing strings.

 

[Napthol]

Yes economy picking is the way to go. I'm doing that. But the way you have to hold your hand and stretching your fingers out doesn't exactly feel comfortable. I am experimenting with different ways to pick too.

I'll keep working on them slow and a little faster.

 

[Mincer]

These are 90% of the scale shapes I use, and always economy picking.

 

[GuitarStv]

Yes economy picking is the way to go. I'm doing that. But the way you have to hold your hand and stretching your fingers out doesn't exactly feel comfortable. I am experimenting with different ways to pick too.

I'll keep working on them slow and a little faster.

The other way I've seen people do it if you don't like economy picking is to mix a tiny bit of legato into the lines. This lets you get away with the exact same picking you use for pentatonics and can be pretty fast too. Going from low E to high e just do DUHammer On - DUHammer On - DUHammer On - DUHammer On - DUHammer On - DUHammer On. (Just do pull offs in place of the hammer ons when going the other way.)

If you watch Yngwie closely, you'll see that he does a combo of the two . . . economy picking while ascending and mixing in the legato while descending. It's a little weird, but I've found this approach works really well once you get used to it.