Five Stage Scale Practice Routine

Stage 1. Up And Down
The first stage should be to be able to "cycle" the scale. That is to play it up and down over and over without stopping. This should be done with a metronome to be sure that the timing is even. Try also to focus on the volume of the notes that you play and try to keep it consistent. Be able to play the scale 4 times perfectly, without stopping before you move on.

Stage 2. Random Direction Changes
Once you can cycle the scale it is time to start changing direction at random. Start this slower than your speed for stage 1 and make sure that you play continuously. Don't pause, stop or start soloing (going off on one...). Try and stick to it being scalular (don't skip notes).

Stage 3. Random Notes
Now it is time to explore the scale. Play random notes from the scale, be very careful to ONLY play notes from the scale. Play it slowly and get it right. It is easy to rush this one and make mistakes. DON'T MAKE MISTAKES. Ever. There is no point in practicing the wrong thing. Keep the notes evenly timed, explore skipping strings, jumping from very low to very high, generally explore the scale. You will find that this really tests your knowledge of the scale shape.

Stage 4. Play in 3rd's
As you may know, chords are built up in intervals of a 3rd. This means that by playing notes that are a 3rd apart they will tend to sound good together. Often melodies use chord tones, so after some time practicing this pattern, your improvising should start sounding more melodic. You can think of 3rds as playing a note, then missing the next scale step and playing the next. Then go back to the note you missed, and go up a third again (skip a note...). This is a great exercise and I would highly recommend spending a good amount of time on this exercise and getting it really solid, so that it will come out naturally, without you having to think about it.

Stage 5. Four In A Line
Another good pattern to get down is called four in a line. Start on the first note of the scale and play up four notes. Then start on the second note and play up four notes again. Continue this pattern up the scale and then back down. This is a good way of developing a "way out" of a scale, because you are playing four notes of a scale and then skipping.

Then get using it... :)

Read More

What is a scale? And The CAGED system

When I started on guitar, no one really explained to me why I should learn scales, and so I was convinced that they were some kind of torture device used by music school teachers to make kids hate music! Eventually I got sick of people taking about them and being embarrassed about not having a clue what they were or how they were used, so I asked my teacher to explain them. Once I got it I was kicking myself for not learning them sooner.

In this lesson I want to explain the very basics about scales and how they are used. This lesson stemmed from a great topic on the forum that alerted me to the need for this lesson. Some of these answers are simplified to help make things clear for noobs.

What is a scale?

A scale is a group of notes that sound good together. That's it! It is a group of ascending and descending notes that are used for the creation of melody. They are also the building blocks for harmony, and chords can be built from scales. There are no set rules about the notes, or number of notes, some people even make up their own scales (although that is very advanced material, and should not be approached by beginners!)

Why should I learn scales?
There are a few reasons you should learn some scales. Firstly, they are good for your fingers as a physical exercise, and will help develop your fingers strength and dexterity. Secondly, they will help you improvise (make up solos) and understand solos that you might learn, help you understand why people play the notes they do.

What note do I start on?
Always start and end on the lowest root note (usually on the thicker strings). This will help get the harmonic content of the scale in your head, so you hear the correct tonality of the scale. Later you can learn about Modes and learn other ways to use the scales, but starting and ending on the root note is very important.

Many of the scale shapes on this site would appear to start on the 2nd fret, but they don't! You must start the pattern on the root note for the scale you want to play (see below).

How do I move scales around and what is the root note (R) on all the scales?
The root note of a scale defines the scales tonality. For example, in the Minor Pentatonic Scale (Position 1) there is a (R) root note on the 6th string, played with the first finger. Where you place this root note will give you the name of the scale. For example, the scale I show in the Beginners Course is the A Minor Pentatonic Scale. To play this scale in Position 1, you need to put the (R) root note on the note A, which is found at the 5th fret of the 6th string. If you wanted to play the C minor Pentatonic Scale, you would place the (R) root note on the 8th fret of the 6th string. The scale can be played anywhere, you just need to place that 1st finger (which is on the root note of the pattern) on the note you want!

Can all scales be moved around?
All scales (and chords for that matter) that do not use open strings can be moved anywhere on the neck. You need to know the root note though, so you know what scale you are playing!

Start by getting into the idea that your Minor Pentatonic Scale can move around the neck.

What are Positions and what is all this CAGED stuff?
Positions (also called Shapes or Patterns) are different ways of playing the same scale. Because of the make up of the guitar, there is nearly always more than one way to play any scale, chord, lick or whatever.

I think the best way to learn this is to take a blank neck diagram from the Blank Papers are and then copy down onto it the notes from the A Minor Pentatonic scale (A, C, D, E, G) onto the whole neck (hint: every note will be found at least once on every string). A simpler alternative is to put red circles around those notes once you print off the Notes On The Neck diagram...

Once you can see all the notes on the neck notice the way that the same group of notes can be arranged into the 5 Patterns shown on The Minor Pentatonic page. I think that should clear up a lot of things...

Then m,aybe you should try and do the same for the notes of the D Minor Pentatonic (D, F, G, A, C) and notice that exactly the same patterns are formed but are on different frets. That should help you get the concept of the root notes, patterns and way that scale patterns can be moved around the neck to fit in different keys!

The CAGED system explain the relationships between the notes on the guitar and breaks them down into five shapes. C Shape, A Shape, G Shape E Shape and D shape. The relate to the only five shapes that exist on the guitar. Every scale or chord fits into one of these "Shapes". Find more at this link: THE CAGED SYSTEM - but beginners might find this a little tricky. Don't be trying to get this until you can play and use your position 1 of the Minor Pentatonic and the Major scales.

What about the Harmonic and Melodic Minor Scales?
These are advanced scales that are not used much unless you want to play classical (or neo-classical rock) or if you want to get into jazz. As a beginner you should not waste your time learning these. Spend your time learning things that you will use! Learn things when you need to...

Guitar For Girl.

Read More