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Learning The High Notes
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As soon as you've got a handle on playing a major scale, you can begin applying that knowledge to the upper part of the neck, above the 12th fret. At the 12th fret you'll find the same notes as your open strings, but up an octave. So if you can play a closed-position major scale in IInd position, you can do the same at the XIVth position.
In this example, the C major scale is played in IInd position, fingered 2,4; 1,2,4; 1,3,4. Then it shifts to the XIVth position -- 12 frets up -- and does the same thing an octave up.
You'll notice that the frets are closer together above the 12th fret, so you'll need to adjust your hand shape. Make sure that your left elbow is away from your side, and pivot your left hand on your thumb to reach the notes. Don't let the joints of your hand collapse -- you want to maintain a nice rounded position, with the fingers gently curved. As you reach across the neck, your thumb anchors the hand, and your elbow moves forward to allow your hand to reach the notes.
The exercise then proceeds to the same scale in descending form. The fingering is the same. Notice that as you play the high C of the scale, your elbow should be pulled back, allowing the heel of your left hand to come behind the neck. The fingers of your hand should be flat against the neck when you are playing the notes of the scale on the g string.
Once you have physical mastery of the scale, begin naming the notes as you play them. For each closed position scale you learn in the lower positions, master its octave repetition, and soon you'll know the upper reaches of the neck as well as you do the lower positions!
