Free · in Adam's Academy
The Scale Trainer
Every scale, in every key, in the positions Adam teaches them in — played back at your tempo while the neck shows you where you are.
Try it in the Academy → How to use it
A scale is not a list of frets. It is a place your hand sits, and the notes that fall under it there. The Scale Trainer is built on that: twelve positions up the neck, each carrying five keys a fourth apart — which is the order they are learned in.
Pick the scale, pick the position, press Play. The notes sound at your tempo and light as they go, so the ear hears the shape while the eye finds it. Then cycle the keys and the same box turns into five scales without your hand moving.
Who it is for. Anyone who knows one pentatonic box and wants the other eleven — and anyone learning the major scale properly, in position.
What opens it. One position is free to everyone. Every key and position comes with the membership.
How to use it
- 1
Choose the shape: Position, or Three per string
Position keeps the whole scale inside one four-fret box, which is how Adam teaches it first. Three per string plays three notes on every string and shifts up the neck, which is the shape for speed later. Start with Position.
- 2
Pick a position and one of its five keys
Position 1 is frets 1 to 4. Its five keys are a fourth apart — A♭, D♭, G♭, B, E — because that is the order they turn up in as you learn the neck. Pick one. The neck draws the box with the root in red.
- 3
Pick the scale
Major, natural minor, major pentatonic, minor pentatonic and blues. The pentatonics are the major scale with two notes removed, and the trainer spells every note the way the key would write it, so you learn the names as you go.
- 4
Set the tempo and direction, then Play
Up, down, or up and down. Start on the lowest note or on the root. Press Play and the notes sound and light in turn; the metronome link opens the Metronome at the same tempo if you want a click under your own playing.
- 5
Cycle the keys
Cycle the keys plays the same position in all five of its keys, one after another. Your hand stays where it is; the scale changes under it. That is the moment the neck starts to make sense.
- 6
Share the drill
Share makes a link carrying the key, scale, position, tempo and direction. Open it on your phone, or send it to a student.
Adam's tips
- Learn one position in all five of its keys before you learn a second position. Positions are the skill; keys are free once you have it.
- Say the note names aloud as they light. Two weeks of that and you read the neck.
- Slow enough to be even beats fast enough to be impressive. Even first.
- When a position is solid, switch to Three per string in the same key and notice which notes moved.
Questions people ask
- Why five keys per position and not twelve?
- Because a four-fret box holds five keys comfortably and the rest need a different box. Twelve positions times five keys covers every key everywhere, in the order a hand meets them.
- Where are the modes?
- Major and natural minor are here, and the pentatonics that come from them. The modes are taught inside the courses, where they have a context.
- Is there a click?
- The playback is even and at the tempo you set. The metronome link beside the tempo opens the Metronome at the same speed for your own playing.
Try it now
One position is free to everyone. Every key and position comes with the membership.
Open Scale Trainer in the Academy → What the membership includes
Already a member? Go straight to the tool.
Share this guide
The caption and the teaser below are written to be lifted as they are.
One four-fret box, five keys, no hand movement. The Scale Trainer plays every scale in every position at your tempo and lights the notes as they sound. Then cycle the keys and watch the same box become five scales.
One box, five keys
The Scale Trainer is built the way Adam teaches scales: twelve positions, each holding five keys a fourth apart. Pick a position, press Play, cycle the keys, and the neck starts to make sense. Here is how to use it.
The video walkthrough
Coming — it follows this script, about 1.6 minutes.
- 10sOpen. Tools, Scale Trainer. Position — all of it in one box.
- 20sA position and its keys. Position 1, frets 1 to 4. Five keys, a fourth apart. Pick A flat. Root in red.
- 20sPlay. Set 80, direction up, press Play. The notes light as they sound. Say the names.
- 20sCycle. Cycle the keys. Your hand does not move. The scale changes under it. That is the whole idea.
- 15sThree per string. Same key, switch to Three per string. See which notes moved. That is the speed shape, for later.
- 10sInto the Academy. One position is free. Every key and position comes with the membership — along with the Nucleus Patterns, which is where the pentatonic really lives.
The other tools
Nucleus PatternsAdam's five boxes and the joins between them, in every key — the spine of The Best Minor Pentatonic Course.
The Triad TrainerTriads everywhere on the neck — every key, every inversion, closed and open voicings, and along a single string.
The Interval TrainerEvery interval, in every key, lit up everywhere it falls on the neck at once — ear training with your fingers.