efficient scale practicing. part 1

4/5/2015 EfficientScalePracticing.Part1|GuitarLessons@UltimateGuitar.Com

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Efficient Scale Practicing. Part 1, date: august 23, 2013

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Efficient Scale Practicing. Part 1author: daniel.kPL date: 08/23/2013 category: scales

Practicingscalesisoneofthemostpowerfulexercises,butonlywhendoneproperly.So,whatcanyoudotoachievethebestresults?Inthisseriesoflessons,Iwilltrymybesttoshowyouallthewaysofpracticingscalesthatshouldaidyourmusicaldevelopment.Startingfromthesimplestones,tothemostcomplexandtechnicallytough.Let'sgo!

GoodoldAMinorScalewillbeagreatreference.HereisthetabthatshowstheAMinorScaleinthefifthposition.

E|578B|568G|457D|57A|578E|578ABCDEFGABCDEFGABC

1.TheoryFirst

Scale(fromlatinscala,ladder)isaprogressionofnotesinaspecificorder.Tomakeitclearhowthescalesareconstructed,youhavetounderstandthesetwobasicmethodsofbuildingthem.

1.1.IntervalFormula

LookatourexampleAminorscale.Now,startthinkinginintervalsscalestartsatAnote,andtherefore,everyothernotecanbedescribedasanintervalfromA.So,thescaleformulainthiscasewilllooklikethis:

formula:12b345b6b78result:ABCDEFGA

Easyasitis.

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LESSONS

4/5/2015 EfficientScalePracticing.Part1|GuitarLessons@UltimateGuitar.Com

http://www.ultimateguitar.com/lessons/scales/efficient_scale_practicing_part_1.html 2/5

(ifyoudon'tfeelfullycomfortablewiththeintervals,readmy3lessonsonintervals,startingfromthisone)

1.2.StepPattern

Thispatternheretellsyouhowmanystepstomovefromonescaletonetothenext.AbbreviationsWandHareforWholeandHalfsteps.Allyouhavetodoistostartonanynoteandmoveupasthepatterntellsyou.Rememberthatthewholestepequalstwofrets,andhalfstepequalsonefret.

formula:WHWWHWWresult:ABCDEFGA

Easyasitis,justlikeanythingthatneedssomepractice.Sofromnow,everytimewhenyouplayascale,trytofigureoutallthethreethingsthatdescribethescalesteppattern,formula,andthenoteswithin.Gotit?Let'scontinue.

2.Let'sStartwithaWarmUpFirstWayofUsingScaleShapes

Scalesaregoodforbuildingchopsaswellaswarmingup.Juststartwiththebasicscalepositionandwarmupyourfingers.Remembertousethemetronomeandstayintime.Thetempoismoreimportantthantiming!Usealternativepicking,andbesuretomakeeveryfingerofyourlefthandwork,bystayinginpositionasoftenaspossible.Goupanddown,easyandslow.Dothisfortwotothreeminutes.Now.

Tab:

E|57875|B|568865|G|457754|D|5775|A|578875|E|578875|ABCDEFGABCDEFGABCetc...

Repeatfor23mins.

3.LegatoPlaying

Howconfidentareyouwithyourlegato?Usescaleshapestobuildupyourstrengthandaccuracy,onestringatatime.Besuretoplaytheclearestwaypossible.Keeptherhythm,don'tmindthespeed.AndstickONLYtothescaletones!

Here'sanexample.

E|5h7h8p7p5|B|5h6h8p6p5|G|4h5h7p5p4|D|5h7p5|A|5h7h8p7p5|E|5h7h8p7p5|

Contunuedownwards,orplaytheshapesseparately,especiallytheoneswhichcauseyourtrouble.Ifsomethinggoeswrong,slowdown.

4.StringSkipping

Skippingstringsisalwaysanissue,especiallyforthebegginers,especiallyathighspeeds.Thisishowyoucanuseascaleshapeforastringskippingexercise.Tryalsobiggerjumpsskip2,3,4or5strings...Everythingspossiblewithgoodamountofpatientpractice.

4/5/2015 EfficientScalePracticing.Part1|GuitarLessons@UltimateGuitar.Com

http://www.ultimateguitar.com/lessons/scales/efficient_scale_practicing_part_1.html 3/5

+ Creative Scale Practice Building Up Speed and Technique Scales 03/19/2014+ Getting Better at Guitar A Correct Way to Approach Big GoalsCorrect Practice 02/12/2014+ Improving Your Tapping With Sequences Guitar Techniques 12/10/2013+ Using Chord Leading in Songwriting Songwriting & Lyrics 10/21/2013+ Refresh Your Soloing Tapping the Pentatonic Fifths Soloing 09/02/2013+ Learn Something New Everyday Egyptian Scale Correct Practice 07/10/2013

+

Example.

E|578|B|568|G|457|D|57|A|578|E|578|ABCDEFGABCDEFGABC

Continuedown,altertheskiprange.

5.ImprovisingOveraBassNote

Putonavamp,thatconsistsofagrooveandonlyonebassnoteA,inthisexample.Now,improviseusingthisscale,andlistenforthesoundthateverydifferentnotecreates.Thismayseemkindaboring,butkeepforcingyourearstofindandidentifyallthescalequalitiesthatarethere,andenjoytheresults.

And...

Thisisallfortoday'slesson.Goaheadandpracticeinmorepositions,trynewandoldscales,andexperimentwiththeexercisesgiven.Learn,butmainlyhavefun!Seeyouatthenextpart,whereIwillshowyoumorecomplexwaysofpracticingscales.Don'tforgettolikemyFacebookprofile.Peace!

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commentspolicy14 commentsposted

Decentarticle.Butsurelythat'sanAminorintheFIRSTposition?(intro)

postedonAug23,201309:50am#Maeblade

Positionreferstothelowestfretonewouldusei.e.startingonthe5thfret,lowEstring,wouldmakethis5thpositionstartingwithanopen5thstringwouldmakeitopenposition,etc.Anotherdefinitioniswhereonewouldplacetheirindexfingersameconcept.

But,I'mgladyoubroughtyouthisup,becausetheBonthe3rdstringisplayedonthe4thfretwhichisn'texactlya"true"5thposition(eventhoughIthinkthatishowmostplayerslearnthescaleinthispattern).Atrue5thpositionwouldmovethatBtothe9thfret,Dstring(stretchthatpinkyupthere!)soastokeepthe5thfretthelowestfretonewouldgo.

Hopethishelps.Daniel

postedonAug23,201310:57am# +4Voodooman79

Agreewitheverythingyousay.Butusingtheterm"position"ismisleadingatbest.It'sthefirstpositionoftheAminorscale.Startingonthe5thfretofthelowE.The5thpositionwouldeffectivelybeaphrygianmode.Foundatthe12thfret.

Hopethishelps.

postedonAug23,201311:35am#Maeblade

noitwouldn't

mpostedonAug24,201305:13am# +1stevenseagull

4/5/2015 EfficientScalePracticing.Part1|GuitarLessons@UltimateGuitar.Com

http://www.ultimateguitar.com/lessons/scales/efficient_scale_practicing_part_1.html 4/5

Comments

Howexactlywoulditbethephrygianmodeagain,especiallysincewe'renoteventouchingontheintervalsofthephrygianscale?

postedonAug24,201312:37pm#crazysam23_Atax

Maeblade

Ithinkyouareconfusingscale"DEGREE"withposition.Yes,ifwestartedwithan"E",thefifthDEGREEofanAminorscaleonthe12thfretasyousaid,thenwewouldhaveaphyrgianmode.Ifwestartedonthe2ndfret,Dstring,wewouldalsobestartingonthe5thdegree,butinthe2ndpositionbecausePOSITIONreferstothelowestfretonewoulduse.

Trustmebud.Beenplayingalmost30yearsandteachmusic(highschool)fulltime.

Hopethishelps!Letmeknowifyouneedmoreclarification.Allthisnumbertalkcangetconfusing!

Daniel

postedonAug25,201305:42pm# +1Voodooman79

Iwasalsotaughtthatfirstpositionwouldbestartingonthefirstdegreeofthescale,secondpositiononthesecond,etc,whenIwaslearningpentatonics.Backthen,itwasjustboxshapestome,though.Iwillkeepthisinmind,though,thatitcouldmeanthelowestfretyouwouldstartwith.Maybecallingitpositionhelpspeoplewhoarefirstlearningscales,whichatthetimeIwas.

postedonAug27,201309:40pm#spdonalds311

Ineverplaylessthan3notesperstring.

postedonAug23,201307:03pm# +2Poopoonachos

Nicearticle,buttherearefarmoreefficientwaystoplayaminorscale(forexample,exchangingthefourthfretonthegstringforthe9thfretonthedstringsoyoudon'thavetoshiftyourhand)

postedonAug23,201309:52pm#Wintersentinel

Decentarticle,andthecommentshavebeenequallyhelpful!

postedonAug27,201311:33pm#florence007

ivideowouldhavebeenniceiliketowatchhowtheguitaristwouldshifthisfingersectect

postedonSep28,201305:05pm#6strngsdown86

awesomeinfo!

postedonMar10,201406:28pm#puremusic84

hicouldyouclarifywhatb3,b5meansinthisformula?formula:12b345b6b78,couldntfinditinyourpreviouslessons.Thankyouforthegreatinfothought.

postedonApr08,201411:52am#chalupa13

Thisisnotforbeginners!AndWTFisaPhrygianmode?

postedonSep15,201403:21pm#jimi23hendrix

B I U :)