Scales are an important part of music.In almost every style and genre, they provide important building blocks for composition.The difference between an average player and an excellent one can be made by the time taken to master the most fundamental scales.Learning scales for the guitar is mostly a matter of practicing.
Step 1: Take a look at the guitar fretboard.
The front of the guitar is called the fretboard.There are raised metal bumps on the fretboard.Scales are formed by playing notes on different frets, so it's important to be able to identify them.The guitar's frets are numbered from the tip of the neck.The fret at the end of the neck is the first fret and the second fret.Holding down the string on a certain fret and strumming the strings over the guitar's body plays a note.The higher the notes get, the closer the frets are to the body.The dots on the fret are just for reference, they make it easier to know where you're putting your fingers.
Step 2: You can learn the names of the notes.
Every single fret on the guitar has a name.The names just repeat over and over.There are some notes that have two different names.The notes start at A again and again.If you need help learning the positions of the different notes, check out this helpful article.
Step 3: You should call the guitar's strings by their proper names.
It's easier to talk about scales if you know the strings' proper names.When you don't press any frets, the strings are named after the note that they play.The strings on a normal guitar are thick and thin.
Step 4: To figure out the whole and half steps, use a scale.
A scale is a sequence of notes that sound nice when played in order.Scales are built from patterns of whole steps and half steps.A half step is a distance of one fret up or down.If you move one fret up, you'll get a C# (A string, fourth fret).C and C# are half a step apart.The distance is two frets and a whole step is the same thing.If we start on C and move two frets up, we'll play a D.C and D are not the same.
Step 5: Name the degrees of the scales.
Scales have special numbered names called "degrees" to help you identify them since they are supposed to be played in order.The second note is called the 2nd, the third the 3rd, and so on up through the seventh note.The eighth note can be called the 8th.You can either start over again from the second or keep going until the ninth.The note after the octave can be called the 9th or the 2nd, but it's the same note either way.tonic for the 1st and 8th notes, supertonic for 2nd, mediant for 3rd, dominant for 4th, and so on.
Step 6: Pick the root for your scale.
Many other scales are based off of the major scale, so learning it first is a good idea.Pick a note below the 12th fret on the low E or A string.There is plenty of room to move up and down the scale if you start on one of the lower strings.Start on the low E string.Scales are named after their root notes, so you'll learn how to play a G major scale.
Step 7: The pattern of steps should be memorised.
Scales can be written in patterns.Many other scale patterns are derived from the step pattern for a major scale.If you start on G, move up one whole step to A.Move up another step to B.Continue up the scale, playing D, E, F#, and ending on G after that.
Step 8: The fingering pattern should be practiced for a major scale.
You can play a whole scale on one string, but it's not usually done by guitarists.As you play your scale, it's more common to move up and down through a few different strings.This reduces the amount of motion that you have to make.Start on the 3rd fret of the low E string.On frets 5 and 7 of the E string, play A and B.Hit C on the 3rd fret of the A string.Hit the frets 5 and 7 of the A string.Hit F# on fret 4 of the D string.Hit G on the 5th fret of the D string.Just stretch your fingers and change strings, you don't have to move your hand up or down.
Step 9: Take a look at the step and fingering pattern.
The major scale pattern should start at G and end at D.
Step 10: This pattern can be slid up and down.
The major scale fingering pattern can be played anywhere on the neck if you start on a low E or A string.If you want to play a different major scale, just shift the notes up or down by the same number of frets.Move up the neck to the 7th fret of the low E string to play a B major scale.If you want to play the scale like this, use the same fingering pattern as before.
Step 11: The scale goes up and down with you.
Scales aren't always played in one direction.Once you reach the major scale, try playing it back down again.You can play the same notes in reverse order.The B major scale can be played up and down with these notes.If you want to go up to the ninth, you have to hit the octave twice.The right number of notes for the scale will be given by this.
Step 12: The major and minor scales are different.
A minor scale has a lot in common with a major scale.Like a major scale, it's also named for its root note.The notes are the same.The minor scale has a flat 3rd, 6th, and 7th degrees.
Step 13: For a minor scale, the step pattern should be put into memory.
The step pattern from the major scale is changed by having a flat 3rd, 6th, and 7th in a minor scale.As you get familiar with the new pattern, it can be helpful to remember it.A minor scale has a step pattern starting from the root.To make a G minor scale, start with a major scale and move the 3rd, 6th, and 7th degrees down a half step each.A minor scale is: G, A, B, C, D, E, F#, G.
Step 14: You can study the fingering pattern.
You can slide up and down the neck to play different minor scales with the same pattern of frets.The minor pattern is the same if you start on the low E or A string.If you want to play a minor scale, slide the 3rd, 6th, and 7th degrees down one fret.
Step 15: The scale is played up and down.
Minors are usually played going up, then back down again.Again, you're playing the same sequence of notes in reverse order.If you want to play an Eb minor scale up and down, you should play F#, Ab, B, Db, and Eb.If you want to get the beats to line up with a 4/4 beat, you can either add the ninth or play the octave twice.
Step 16: Scales for form and speed are used.
The degrees are a half step apart in this scale.A scale can be made by going up and down the frets.Pick one of the guitar's strings and do the exercise.Start with a steady beat.The sting should be played as a quarter note, then the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd frets.Don't stop playing the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th frets.Play the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th frets.Continue until you reach the 12th fret, then go back down.If you're playing on the high E string, your exercise would look like this.
Step 17: There is a 5-note scale.
The minor pentatonic is a popular scale in rock, jazz, and blues music.There are five degrees in the minor pentatonic: root, flat 3rd, 4th, 5th and flat 7th.It is a minor scale without the 2nd or 6th.If you start on the low E string, the A minor pentatonic scale is: A (fret 5), C, D, and G.
Step 18: The blues scale is the next step.
It's very easy to play a related scale called the "blues scale" once you know the minor pentatonic scale.Adding the flat 5th scale degree to the minor pentatonic is all you need to do.You can turn the A minor pentatonic into a blues scale by playing the low E string.
Step 19: Work on the two-octave versions of the scales.
You don't have to go back down if you reach a scale's octave.The same step pattern can be used to play a second octave.It's easier to fit 2 whole octaves in the same area if you start on one of the bottom 2 strings.You can use a 2-octave scale in G major.Start with low E string: G, A, B, C, D, and F#.