Anders is away for a it so thought I would try this question here. In one of his blues lessons he talks about finding the root note in the places in the A minor blues scale and how you can (should?) start and end your lick on the root. While he shows us where the root is in the spots on the scale, I am wondering how to find it in other scales. Is it always found by ear (will be hard for me) or is it always a certain number of intervals (not sure thats the right term) away from the first root?

Not really sure what you are asking. The root note is always the first note. In a C major scale, the root is C.

You can start and end licks on the root note. You can start and end licks on other notes, too. It's a good idea to practice starting and ending licks on all scale degrees so you get used to where they are and most importantly how they each sound.

Look at the image on the lesson page under the text that shows the fretboard patterns of the pentatonic minor scale pattern in this tutorial:

http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=185

See the numbers? Those are scale degrees. Every circled number 1 is the root note of the scale (the note A).

So just start on the first pattern, the first "box" we all start with. Go to lesson 3 in that tutorial & practice that box up & down & in 3s. Look & listen for the root note. Ending a lick on the root note has a very solid, stable sound because it is the main note of the chord you are using to solo over.

Now, listen to how all the other notes sound, too: 3rd, 4th, 5th, 7th. Each note will have it's own unique, distinctive sound.

After you get used to that try these tutorials that show you how to play scales to target chord tones as the chords in a progression change.

http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=876
http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=483
http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=491

And here is the same idea for specifically for blues:

http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=217
http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=232
http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=826
http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=244

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Christopher Schlegel
Guitar Tricks Instructor
Christopher Schlegel Lesson Directory

all of the roots are going to be exactly an octave away from one another every time. There are two important octaves to remember. One is two frets and two strings up from the original note, like the open low E and the E on the 2nd fret of the D string. The other is three strings up and three frets down, Like the G on the low E string, 3rd fret, and the open G string. The other octave is directly across the fretboard on the other E string. These miniature "shapes" are of course changed by one fret up every time there is an octave that goes across or onto the B string.

It is helpful to map out all of the octaves of a particular note across the entire fretboard as a visual aid. If you do, you will notice that it has a certain Kite-like shape, with a "diamond" and a "kite-string". If you memorize this pattern, you will never have any problem locating any roots anywhere on the guitar once you know where one is, because they will always adhere to this shape.

Thanks guys...very useful