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→Whole-Half Patterns
* <tt>|o|-|o|-|o|</tt> or ''whole-whole'' or ''w-w''
We also said that each sequence occurs twice in the major and minor scales, and the w-w pattern occurs an additional time (so 3x total). Let's look at a C major scale using a hypothetical 10 strings -string guitar tuned all completely to Perfect perfect 4ths:
A---------------------------------------------------------2-3-5-h-w Fb--------------------------------------------------1-3-5-------w-w Cb--------------------------------------------1-3-5-------------w-w Gb--------------------------------------1-3-5-------------------w-w Db--------------------------------1-3-4-------------------------w-h Ab--------------------------1-3-4-------------------------------w-h Eb--------------------1-2-4-------------------------------------h-w Bb--------------1-2-4-------------------------------------------h-w F---------0-2-4-------------------------------------------------w-w C---0-2-4-------------------------------------------------------w-w
C D E F G A B C D E F G A B C D E F G A B C D E F G A B C D
Notice we end at the same exact shape we started with, and lo and behold the notes are exactly the same - although the strings are lower than the original 3 by one half step, we are playing 1 fret position higher now. From here, if we continue the scale, we will simply repeat the same set of patterns.
This is powerful stuff. Each w/-h pattern occurs in at least pairs of adjacent strings. If we know the 3 notes in our key on a single string, we know the string either above or below will have the same pattern. '''Ascending, we know that the w/-h patterns go in this order: 3 w-w, 2 h-w, 2 w-h, then repeat.''' When we change from w-w to h-w, we shift our index finger placement upwards 1 fret.
If we know the patterns for 2 adjacent strings, in all but 2 cases, we can derive all the patterns. For example, if we know this:
|o|x|-|o|-|
The * note moves up, but the ! note gets lopped off - there is no higher string to move to. '''The resulting shape is Pattern #2!'''
Where this logic fails is when we only know 2 strings but both strings use w-w patterns. Since there are 3 adjacent strings of w-w patterns, we cannnot determine which of the 2 possible sets of adjacent strings we are on relative to the pattern. We need just one more note to know where we are.