Meat and Potatoes Scales and Arpeggios

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MEAT & POTATOES
SCALES & ARPEGGIOS
FOR LOW G TUNED
8-STRING GUITAR

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Dino Cazares

Divine Heresy

Dino Cazares

Dino Cazares is the 8-string guitarist with Californian Metal band Devine Heresy.

Ibanez produce the RG2228 which is the standard production version of Dino Cazares's custom made 8-string .

Ibanez RG2228


A natural minor scale box shapes for 8 string guitar

The manufacturers recommended tuning for an eight string guitar is F# B E A D G B E - which is designed to allow power chords (F#5, G5, A5 etc.) to be played on the 8th and 7th string pair. As the F# on the eighth string is the same pitch as the note on E string of a 4-string bass at fret 2 the results can be pretty dire and you will definitely be stepping on the bass players toes. So why not tune up a further semi-tone (half-step) to G?

Tuning to G has the advantage that strings 8, 7 and 6 (G, B, E) will now all be exactly two octaves lower than strings 3, 2 and 1 (G, B, E) - plus all the scales, arpeggios and chords located on strings 1, 2 and 3 will now be directly transferrable onto strings 6, 7 and 8 respectively.

The other alternative tuning for an 8-string B E A D G B E A - where you have a 6-string guitar with an extra treble string tuned to A and an extra bass string tuned to B - has the disadvantage that the 8 string cannot be played as a standard guitar for chords using only strings 1 to 6. The reason being is that the high A string throws a spanner in the works. Hence the CAGED octaves recommended tuning for an 8-string guitar is as follows:-

String No.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

Tuning

E

B

G

D

A

E

B

G

The disguised CAGED octaves method for the A natural minor scale on 8-string guitar now follows:-

ZZZZZ octaves logo

The 8-string guitar CAGED octaves sequence is shown for A natural in the diagram that follows:-

ZZZZZ octaves A natural

GuitarPro6 A natural octaves

The diagram that follows shows all of the A natural minor scale notes plotted over the 8-string guitar's fretboard in the CAGED octaves style:-

ZZZZZ octaves A natural minor notes

GuitarPro6 A natural minor scale

As always a more long term solution to fretboard navigation is to see scales/arpeggios as INTERVAL shapes rather than note names - as these are universal to all scales, arpeggios and chords rather than specific to one particular root note - with this in mind the intervals for the A natural minor scale are detailed below for the 8-string guitar in the CAGED octaves manner:-

ZZZZZ octaves A natural minor intervals

The table and tabbed panel below details all five box shapes for the A natural minor scale for the 8-string guitar in the CAGED octaves style.


8-string guitar A natural minor scale box shapes

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Dino Cazares

Impossible is nothing ..............Zon Brookes

Bleed the Filth


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