Hey guys,
I’m totally self-taught and I can play chords pretty well. I’ve just started trying to learn about scales and saw someone here mention doing about 10-15 minutes of scale practice daily. The problem is, I have no idea what scale practice actually looks like or what I should be doing. Could anyone suggest some good practices or share videos that could help me out?
Thanks!
Check out Scotty West’s Absolutely Understand Guitar video series on YouTube. It’s free and has great scale info. It starts around halfway through the series, but you’ll learn useful stuff from the start. The color-coded finger charts are really helpful.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJwa8GA7pXCWAnIeTQyw_mvy1L7ryxxPH
@Zen
Basically, start by learning the scale patterns and their positions across the fretboard. Focus on playing them cleanly (avoiding unwanted noise), and slowly speed them up using a metronome. As you get more comfortable, work on making them sound more musical by emphasizing the root note (tonic) and exploring how the notes relate to each other, like creating melodies or improvising. Understanding modes can also expand your scale use, allowing you to shift focus to other notes aside from the root. Over time, you’ll be able to apply these scales to your music.
Here’s a video of a warm-up routine that shows what scale practice can look like. Check it out!
Sam said:
Here’s a video of a warm-up routine that shows what scale practice can look like. Check it out!
https://youtu.be/Fnn3MaKknlM?si=llcIAyjL0m6oKk7f
LOL
@Kameron
Yeah, I practice that every morning, but Paul’s version is just a little too slow for me, so I speed it up a bit, of course.
/s
Sam said:
Here’s a video of a warm-up routine that shows what scale practice can look like. Check it out!
https://youtu.be/Fnn3MaKknlM?si=llcIAyjL0m6oKk7f
https://youtu.be/Aco04Rvg0tI?si=StFdiPkaTsmOo-OM – Another great teacher to check out!
Here’s a solid lesson on the five positions of the pentatonic scale. You might also want to check out his lesson on intervals (like root, 2nd, 3rd, etc.) and triads (how intervals make up chords).
https://youtu.be/jVzYUUHRaRw?si=WTMl3wn9fS00Oxgk
For a deeper understanding of scales, I recommend “Absolutely Understand Guitar” as a comprehensive guide.
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJwa8GA7pXCWAnIeTQyw_mvy1L7ryxxPH&si=_t23L5_A0oTPlHKT
Start by learning a major scale and getting familiar with the note names in that scale. Then, dive into theory, like how to form the pentatonic scale by removing certain notes and understanding the relative minor.
Learning the circle of fifths is also really helpful. For example, in the key of C major, the 5th note is A (the relative minor). So, if you learn the C major scale (CDEFGABC), you’ll see that the A minor scale uses the same notes (ABCDEFGA), just starting from A. Now you understand both the major and minor scales.
I’m a pro player and this is a great question. You’re right to focus on scales in your practice. It will make a big difference. You’ll need to practice other areas as well, but scales and arpeggios are key for syncing your hands, improving your ear, helping your tone, and learning the most important patterns on the neck. It’ll remove a lot of confusion and make you feel less lost, so definitely include them.
Two good resources:
“Absolutely Understand Guitar” is a free course on YouTube that covers important concepts, and you can listen to it anywhere. It’s theory-focused but accessible.
The Guitar Daily Workout is the best method I’ve found. It starts with essential scales and arpeggios and builds from there. It helps you deeply engrain concepts into muscle memory, which is crucial for executing what you learn. You can go as far as you want with the 12 books in the series. Even completing just the first book will help you see the neck in a new way.
The test on the site will help you determine if it’s the right fit for you at this stage.
@Jovi
I bought the first book for the Guitar Daily Workout, but honestly, I was disappointed. It’s just tabs and YouTube videos, and I didn’t feel like I got my money’s worth. Especially since it’s not cheap.
I’m just starting to get into modal scales, and I’ve enjoyed how it’s built on everything I’ve learned before. First, the pentatonic scale, then the major scale, followed by Ionian/Aeolian, Dorian, and Mixolydian modes. It’s been really useful to relate everything back to the pentatonic scale and its roots, especially for improvisation.
“Absolutely Understand Guitar” is great, but I really got scales down with “Breakthrough Guitar.” It’s $37 per month, so it’s not ideal long-term, but it has a couple of modules that really focus on scale shapes and modes. If you go hard at it, you could learn a lot in a month.