I’ve noticed that most visitors to this site are interested in country guitar scales and practice exercises.
This is lesson #1 in our new country guitar scales series.
But do leave a question or comment at the end if you still have something on your mind. This is a vast topic and I really want to do my best to help ya’ll out. Ok?
So let’s answer the most common questions people have about guitar scales.
1) Why Should I Learn Scales?
When I first started playing guitar, scales were on the end of the list of things I wanted to learn. I didn’t have any clue about what they were and what they did. I wanted to play music and not some strange notes that I had to memorize. At least that’s how I saw it…
The more I got serious about being a good guitar player, the more I started hearing other good guitar players talk about scales and how great they are. But I simply didn’t get it.
What the heck is the big deal about them anyway?
A couple of years ago, I sat down with a lead guitar player at a local church and he told me that all he practices are scales. Over and over and over again. And this is when I knew that I needed to learn them if I wanted to be good like this guy is.
Once I understood what guitar scales are and how they work, I started beating myself up for not learning them sooner. Let’s further discuss scales in the simplest way possible.
2) What Is a Scale?
Quite simply, a scale in music is a group of chords that ascend and descend to form a melody. All of the notes in the group sound good together and can be used to create chords and harmony. They usually run in a pattern of some sorts and can vary in the number of notes.
You can even create your own scales when you reach an advanced level of understanding.
3) Why Are Guitar Scales Important?
If you are interested in being a lead guitar player, you will want to learn guitar scales so that you will have the ability to improvise. By knowing scales and how they work, you can figure out what notes to play (randomly) during a song and it will sound great.
You can also learn the scales that other lead guitar players use in your favorite songs and be able to play the same notes that they’re playing.
They are also great to practice as they improve your finger strength and dexterity which are very important.
4) Which Guitar Scales Should I Learn?
I am planning on making this a 3 or 4 part series about guitar scales so at the moment, I do not have a page up about the Minor Pentatonic Scale. That is the scale that I recommend you learn first because it is the easiest one to do and to explain.
I also recommend that you learn the major scale as this is the next important scale to learn. It has multiple forms and can be quite difficult to remember without practice.
I will be creating these pages soon and they will be up on the site shortly. For now, search google for those scales and (hopefully) you’ll find a good resource.
5) How Do I Start a Scale?
You start off playing a guitar scale on what’s called the Root Note. This is the lowest note in the pattern and usually starts on the 5th or 6th string (the fatter ones). Start by playing that note and moving your way up the scale.
You will be able to hear the harmonic tone and you’ll reach the next root note in the pattern. By playing from one root note to the next, you’ll have played the full pattern of the scale.
There’s plenty of other fun stuff to do with scales but for now, practice going from one root note to the next for the scale you’re learning.
6) Do Scales Move Around The Neck?
Yes! That’s why scales are so important to learn. You can play them anywhere on the neck. But they won’t always be the same name. Same pattern – but different name.
Remember the root notes I talked about above? Whatever note you play on the neck first is the root note for that scale. The root note determines the tonality.
Now keep in mind that the patterns for a scale stay the same. So the Minor Pentatonic Scale has the same pattern no matter where you play it. It always has a root note on the 6th string of the guitar.
Now where you decide to start the scale will determine the name of it. So if you start by playing the 6th string on the 5th fret, you will be playing the A Minor Pentatonic Scale because the 5th fret on the 6th string is an A note.
Quick refresher…
The pattern of a scale stays the same. But where you start the scale on the guitar neck determines whether it’s an A or G or C or whatever scale.
Now your mind may be overloaded if this is all new to you and that’s normal. Even I get confused by all of this at times. Music theory is difficult to learn for most people so don’t fret.
Now that you know scales can be moved around, the next step is to know what you’re playing on the neck. And it all comes down to the root note.
In order to know what the root note is, you have to actually memorize all of the different notes on the neck on the 6th and 5th string. This might sound like a lot of work, but once you know these notes you can virtually play any scale anywhere.
Which will enable you to improvise with any song.
Future lessons will cover these notes on those strings to give you a better understanding. I will use pictures as well to help you visualize. This was more of a basic understanding lesson. The next one will be hands-on.
I’d love to hear your opinion. What did you think of this lesson? How could it be improved? What other questions do you have about guitar scales? Comment below and get the discussion started.
