I forgot to tell you that in some circumstances, you might find it easier to arrange some of the notes differently than what the tab states in certain sections. As long as you are playing the exact same notes, it is totally fine to rearrange the positions on the fret board in order make it easier for you to play. The tab is just a suggestion for where the notes should be played.

The following content is related to the June 2013 issue of Guitar World. For the full range of interviews, features, tabs and more, pick up the new issue on newsstands now, or in our online store.

I remember someone telling me that George Lynch once said he heard B.B. King say something that instantly improved his guitar style. It went something like this: “If you play a wrong note, play it again like you mean it and it’ll sound like the best note you played all night." The dubious origins of this gem aside, I've always found this to be an almost religious concept to strive toward, where any note can work anywhere if it is done with purposeful conviction.

Used by modern players such as Allan Holdsworth, whose playing first inspired me to check out these fingerings, four-note-per-string scales can help bring a more modern flavor to your lines, expand your knowledge of the neck and allow you to cover a large amount of fretboard real estate with just one scale shape, which are all beneficial to players looking to explore non-traditional scale fingerings in their playing.