: What scale shape does Enter Sandman intro use? I am learning Enter Sandman. I know it's in E minor key. But How do I find out what scale shape does it use? Does it apply to the CAGED system? None of the online videos talks

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The notes in that intro are E, G, Bb, and A. There aren't enough notes here to form a standard scale or mode, but you could notice that E-G-Bb form a diminished triad and postulate an E Locrian mode. Given that F# makes an appearance later I might be inclined to consider E Locrian 2 (also called E Aeolian b5), which is the 6th mode of the G Melodic Minor scale. This might be a useful scale to use to improvise with in some parts of the song.

$A 7 $A 9 $A 10 $D 7 $D 8 $D 10 $G 7 $G 9

E Locrian 2 (E Aeolian b5)

Riffs are not always best thought of as derived from scales, though. The song as a whole is not in the Locrian 2 mode, but in the key of E minor. That Bb in the intro riff exists along side B as the song gets going, which is to say that both the b5 and the 5 of E minor are being used. It might be better to think of this riff in terms of chord tones and passing tones: The E and G are the root and 3rd of an Em chord, and the Bb is just a passing tone on the way to A. If you think of this A as the root of an A chord (or an A5) then this riff just follows a I-IV progression with a Bb passing tone.

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I think the reason that the videos you see don't teach you what scale shape it's in is because either it's not in one, or it doesn't matter. Suppose I create a riff that involves playing the low E, then the highest E on the high E string (suppose I've got a 24-fret guitar). Does it really matter what scale shape it fits into? Does it even fit into one?

Coincidentally, I'm in a band covering that song, so I can tell you that the song is written in E minor but uses B? and F a lot (like lots of songs, to sound darker). The F and B? don't fit into the E minor scale, but essentially the song uses whatever system of chord shapes you know for E minor, but sometimes adds in a note between A and B or between E and F?. That part where it goes into F?m is just like the other chord shape but up a whole step.