C Natural Minor — 3NPS, Three Notes Per String
All 7 three-notes-per-string (3NPS) positions for the C natural minor scale, drawn on the neck between frets 1 and 16.
Tap any note on the neck.
Swipe the neck sideways to see the higher frets.
Three notes on every string gives the C natural minor scale exactly 7 positions — one starting on each note of the scale, 18 notes apiece, together covering frets 1 to 16. Each shape is placed at the lowest fret its starting note allows, which is why position 4 starts on F down at frets 1–6 instead of carrying on up the neck. Move any of them twelve frets and you have the same shape an octave higher.
Position 1 — frets 8–13
Shown above.
Position 2 — frets 10–15
Position 3 — frets 11–16
Position 4 — frets 1–6
Position 5 — frets 3–8
Position 6 — frets 4–10
Position 7 — frets 6–11
What is three notes per string?
A way of laying a seven-note scale on the neck so that every string carries exactly three notes. Do that from each note of C natural minor in turn and you get seven positions, each 18 notes, together covering frets 1 to 16. Because the picking pattern is the same on every string, 3NPS is the system behind most fast alternate-picked and legato playing.
The seven positions of C natural minor
Each position starts on a different scale degree, so position 1 starts on the root, position 2 on the 2nd, and so on. That also makes each position the natural fingering for one of the scale’s modes — it sounds like that mode when its first note is home, over that note’s chord or a drone on it:
- Position 1 — frets 8–13, starts on C — the C Aeolian shape
- Position 2 — frets 10–15, starts on D — the D Locrian shape
- Position 3 — frets 11–16, starts on Eb — the Eb Ionian shape
- Position 4 — frets 1–6, starts on F — the F Dorian shape
- Position 5 — frets 3–8, starts on G — the G Phrygian shape
- Position 6 — frets 4–10, starts on Ab — the Ab Lydian shape
- Position 7 — frets 6–11, starts on Bb — the Bb Mixolydian shape
3NPS vs the CAGED boxes
CAGED builds each position around a chord shape, so some strings carry two notes and some three, and the picking changes string to string. 3NPS ignores the chord and keeps three on every string, which is faster to play but easier to lose your place in. Same notes, two grids; most players end up using both. 3NPS vs CAGED, side by side.
How to practice C natural minor in 3NPS
- Loop position 1 at 60 BPM with strict alternate picking. With three notes on a string, the strokes flip at each string change: down, up, down on one string, then up, down, up on the next. The loop holds the shape and the tempo.
- Add five beats a minute when it is clean. The whole point of 3NPS is that the motion repeats, so speed comes from the pattern, not from effort.
- Move to position 2 on the same tempo. Then play 1 into 2 and back: the two shapes share frets, and crossing between them is how you leave the box.
- The whole C natural minor scale shows all seven on one neck.
Opens the Practice Loop on position 1. Switch positions there without losing your tempo.
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