Introduction

In part 1 of this series we covered a basic fingering for the Kumoi scale (aka Hawaiian scale). In this tutorial we will look at two good ways to practice the scale.  This will help you to improve your guitar technique and also give you some melodic patterns you can use in your solos.

Melodic Patterns

There are many different ways to practice scales. One of the best is to use melodic patterns.

“Melodic patterns” are often simply called “patterns”.  The patterns we will look at in this tutorial are easy to understand conceptually.  However, depending on your skill level on the guitar, you may find some sections of these melodic patterns to be a bit challenging.

Melodic Pattern 1:  The Kumoi Scale in 3’s

If we were to assign a number to each note of the Kumoi scale, here is what we would have:

1-2-3-4-5

An important point here is that we are assigning numbers to the notes in the scale based on the order in which each note occurs in the scale.  We are not considering the true intervallic relationships of the notes in the scale.  This will keep things relatively simple.

In this first pattern you will play the Kumoi scale three notes at a time.

So you will play the first, second and then the third note of the scale.

Then you repeat the pattern starting on the second note of the scale. In other words, you play the second, third and fourth notes of the scale.

Next, you repeat the pattern starting from the third note of the scale.

So the ascending pattern of three notes at a time would be:

• 1-2-3
• 2-3-4
• 3-4-5
• 4-5-1 (When we get to 1 here, we simply play the first note in the scale an octave higher. This will make sense when you play the tab that follows.)
• 5-1-2
• etc.

Here once again is the fingering for the C Kumoi scale and also the first bit of the pattern in tab:

For a printer-friendly PDF of the Kumoi Scale in 3’s ascending and descending, click here.

Melodic Pattern 2:  The Kumoi Scale in 4’s

In the next melodic pattern, we will play the Kumoi scale four notes at a time:

• 1-2-3-4
• 2-3-4-5
• 3-4-5-1
• 4-5-1-2
• 5-1-2-3
• etc.

Here’s what the pattern looks like in tab:

Here is a PDF of the Kumoi scale ascending and descending in 4’s.

The Next Step

Once you are comfortable playing the C Kumoi scale with these ascending and descending patterns, transpose them to different keys.  Remember, you can easily move the Kumoi scale fingering up or down the fretboard to produce any desired Kumoi scale.  See part one of this series (Kumoi Scale – How to add a Fresh New Sound To Your Guitar Solos Part 1) to learn more about how the moveable fingering for the Kumoi scale works.

Recommended Resource

In this tutorial, we continued our look at the Kumoi scale. For a more in depth look at guitar scales including the Kumoi scale, check out my complete guitar scale course:

The World of Scales: A Compendium of Scales for the Modern Guitar Player.