If you consider that there are 7 shapes to every 7 note scale, e.g. Major & its modes, melodic minor + its modes & harmonic minor + its modes. You end up with 147 scales. Lots of these are repeat shapes, but it’s still absolutely daunting!
My suggestion is to learn one major scale pattern and move it around to the key you desire. Get to where you can bust that out in any key.
So let’s start in the key of G.
6th string – 3-5-7
5th string – 3-5-7
4th string – 4-5-7
3rd string – 4-5-7
2nd string – 5-7-8
1st string – 5-7-8
So obviously – If we move our starting fret up one we are in Ab Major. If we move down one we are in Gb Major. So this pattern can be moved to accommodate all 12 keys. Learn this shape so you can play it in your sleep!
Now understand these same notes apply to all the modes of G Major: the Am Dorian, B Phrygian, C Lydian, D Mixolydian, E Aeolian & F# Locrian. So bust this scale out over an A Dorian jam and road test it. The secret is to sound like you’re playing in A Dorian minor and not G Major. This is done by targeting Am notes as your landing notes. (A, C & E) So start on your 2nd note which is A and noodle a bit. Mix in your Am Pentatonic scale and you should come up with some cool stuff.
OK. When you’ve done all that, then learn the G Major scale shape starting on the 7th fret. (B Phrygian)
6th string – 7-8-10
5th string – 7-9-10
4th string – 7-9-10
3rd string – 7-9-11
2nd string – 8-10-12
1st string – 8-10-12
Same notes as the G Major scale. We’re just starting on B. So now add back in your original scale. Tie them together and jam in G Major for a bit. Then using these 2 scales, add back in your Am Pentatonic scale in between and jam in Am Dorian.
Lastly, we will add in the 5th position of the G Major scale (D Mixolydian) and then tie them all together. Play in G Major and A Dorian.
6th string – 10-12-14
5th string – 10-12-14
4th string – 10-12-14
3rd string – 11-12-14
2nd string – 12-13-15
1st string – 12-14-15
So you have only learned 3 shapes (assuming you already knew the Am pent scale) – but you are playing from the 3rd fret on the low E string – all the way up to the 15th fret of the high e string. That’s the whole neck! It just repeats after that. So now you can navigate the entire neck in G Major and A Dorian.
(You can actually do a lot more with this – but I’ve probably confused you enough for one day.)
In time, you can go back and fill in the other positions you’ve skipped. But this gets you up and running with full neck coverage in a practical way.
Obviously this can be done with melodic minor & harmonic minor as well.
THE REAL POINT OF THIS LESSON IS THAT IT’S BETTER TO MASTER A SMALL AMOUNT OF USEFUL INFORMATION THAN IT IS TO BE MEDIOCRE AT EVERYTHING.