Zebra Music

Rather than aimlessly practicing guitar scales, you want to
become laser focused. What are the most important and practical
guitar scales to learn? What guitar scales you need to learn, in
order to play the style of music that you love.

A major reason why many guitarists never master guitar scales is
that they try to learn too many at once. If you want to develop
top-class guitar scales and improvisation skills, then you will
need to learn and master certain scales. In fact, you will have
to know your scales so well that you “own them”. Until you “own”
your scales you can’t use them effectively.

Learning scales and deciding on what are the most important and
practical guitar scales to learn seems a mind-boggling task. No
doubt, you have heard people say: the more scales you know, the
wider variety of songs you will be able to play and enjoy.

Scales mastery is the combination of several “micro-skills”:

(a) learn the names of the notes in the scale,

(b) know their scale step numbers,

(c) study the unique harmony created from that scale,

(d) know the names of the notes over the entire fretboard

(e) learn the scale in all twelve keys.

Mastery of scales, modes, and improvisation is not difficult,
once you break these complex subjects down to small pieces.

First decide what music you want to play: rock, jazz, country,
bluegrass, metal, each style of music has certain preferred
scales associated with that music.

Most important and practical guitar scales to learn for rock
music: minor pentatonic, blues scale.

Most important and practical guitar scales to learn for country
music: major pentatonic scale, blues scale.

Most important and practical guitar scales to learn for bluegrass
music: major pentatonic scale, major diatonic scale,

Most important and practical guitar scales to learn for jazz
music: major diatonic scale and it’s modes, harmonic minor scale
and it’s modes, minor pentatonic scale, blues scale, major
pentatonic, whole tone scale, chromatic scale.

Scales create patterns on the fretboard which players visualize
and memorize. The important thing to remember is to learn the
notes on your guitar fretboard, so you are not just playing a
pattern, that’s the key to good guitar playing, knowing the names
of the notes over the entire fingerboard!

Good knowledge of the fretboard will enable you to: improvise
better, learn songs quicker, learn more chords and scales, read
music and most importantly it will help you to create your
own music not merely copy someone else.

I definitely recommend memorizing or becoming familiar with the
fretboard. If you memorize the notes on the fretboard, you will
be able to connect scales and locate the root of keys that you
are playing in while soloing, easily. Especially if you want to
know that scale over the entire fretboard AND be able to
improvise fluently with it.

Many guitarists main focus is entirely on the physical aspect of
playing scales the musician/guitarist understands the
intellectual aspect of learning scales.

The ability to use artfully the unique “colors” of each different
note in a scale. The ability to play instantly and effortlessly
any scale in any key, anywhere on the fretboard. The ability to
know instantly and effortlessly what scale and mode to use on any
chord.

Practicing guitar music scales is one of the key elements to
learning the basics of guitar.

Once you decide on the most important and practical guitar scales
to learn for your music you will be on your way to successful
guitar music playing in no time.

About the Author:

When learning to play jazz guitar, you’ll have to master learning the scales. Most players are led to believe that all they need to do is learn how to finger the scale and that’s where their learning ends. When it comes time to play solos and improvs, they get frustrated because they find it hard to just play. The real problem is not that playing an improvisation is hard or beyond their skill. The real problem is that they haven’t learned to master the scales as they thought they had.

Basically, there are five skills that need to be mastered because they set the foundation for your improvisation and solo play. If you don’t master all five skills in your lessons, then you will have a difficult time doing the improvisation because you don’t truly know the scale and as a result won’t have a feel for the scale. The five skills are: ears, eyes, intellect, fingers and application. Let’s see how they can work for us.

How-to #1: Learn to hear the sound of the scale so that when you hear a tune, you know what notes they are. This is an amazing skill that most people don’t develop because they rely on music sheets, fakebooks and their teachers.

How-to #2: Learn to see the scale on the fretboard. Your eyes will help you develop technically correct hand and finger positioning technique when playing the scale.

How-to #3: Learn to play scales from any position on the fretboard. Know your gypsy jazz guitar inside and out. Once you learn the finger positions for a scale, practice playing the scale starting from the different notes.

How-to #4: Learn the music theory behind the scale. Know the notes, the tones and where the scale can be played in an improv.

How-to #5: Learn to use the scale in a musical way. Many players don’t know where a tune might fit into a short improvisation. Mastering this area definitely will take some work, finding out what works and what doesn’t.

People can play music, but there are many people who don’t know how to feel their way around a fretboard. They get lost without a music sheet and you and I both know that these players can’t perform a solo at all. Instead of focusing on which amp to buy, work on honing your craft and working more closely with mastering the scales. Once you’ve thoroughly learned this technique, you’ll be playing improvisations and solos like you’ve always dreamed of doing!

About the Author: