Three note per string scale patterns are especially useful to players who wish to hone their
techniques such as alternate or economy picking or even legato. The consistent number of notes
on each string really facilitates the use of these techniques and is why these patterns are
the choice of so many great players, especially shredders such as Paul Gilbert. Think about
it – if each string has 3 notes, its a lot easier to get into a rhythm of playing a constant
number of notes then moving to a new string, than it would be with any of the CAGED shapes
with their mix of 2 and 3 notes per string. Three note per string scales are great to use
when playing triplets as you will be playing all the notes on any one string for each triplet
which helps a lot with the timing.
example 1
|——————–|————–1-2-3-|–2-3-4————-|——————–|
|——————–|——–1-2-3——-|——–2-3-4——-|——————–|
|——————–|–1-2-3————-|————–2-3-4-|——————–|
|————–1-2-3-|——————–|——————–|–2-3-4————-|
|——–1-2-3——-|——————–|——————–|——–2-3-4——-|
|–1-2-3————-|——————–|——————–|————–2-3-4-|