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

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Efficient Scale Practicing. Part 1

date: 08/23/2013

category: scales

Practicingscalesisoneofthemost
rating: 9.4 / votes: 11
powerfulexercises,butonlywhendone
properly.So,whatcanyoudotoachieve
Vote
Rate
thebestresults?Inthisseriesoflessons,I
willtrymybesttoshowyoualltheways
Like 233
Tweet
ofpracticingscalesthatshouldaidyour
musicaldevelopment.Startingfromthesimplestones,tothemost
complexandtechnicallytough.Let'sgo!
GoodoldAMinorScalewillbeagreatreference.Hereisthetab
thatshowstheAMinorScaleinthefifthposition.
E|578
B|568
G|457
D|57
A|578
E|578
ABCDEFGABCDEFGABC

1.TheoryFirst
Scale(fromlatinscala,ladder)isaprogressionofnotesinaspecificorder.Tomakeit
clearhowthescalesareconstructed,youhavetounderstandthesetwobasicmethodsof
buildingthem.

1.1.IntervalFormula
LookatourexampleAminorscale.Now,startthinkinginintervalsscalestartsatA
note,andtherefore,everyothernotecanbedescribedasanintervalfromA.So,the
scaleformulainthiscasewilllooklikethis:
?

formula:12b345b6b78
result:ABCDEFGA
Easyasitis.

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(ifyoudon'tfeelfullycomfortablewiththeintervals,readmy3lessonsonintervals,
startingfrom thisone)

1.2.StepPattern
Thispatternheretellsyouhowmanystepstomovefromonescaletonetothenext.
AbbreviationsWandHareforWholeandHalfsteps.Allyouhavetodoistostarton
anynoteandmoveupasthepatterntellsyou.Rememberthatthewholestepequalstwo
frets,andhalfstepequalsonefret.
formula:WHWWHWW
result:ABCDEFGA
Easyasitis,justlikeanythingthatneedssomepractice.Sofromnow,everytimewhen
youplayascale,trytofigureoutallthethreethingsthatdescribethescalestep
pattern,formula,andthenoteswithin.Gotit?Let'scontinue.

2.Let'sStartwithaWarmUpFirstWayofUsingScaleShapes
Scalesaregoodforbuildingchopsaswellaswarmingup.Juststartwiththebasicscale
positionandwarmupyourfingers.Remembertousethemetronomeandstayintime.
Thetempoismoreimportantthantiming!Usealternativepicking,andbesuretomake
everyfingerofyourlefthandwork,bystayinginpositionasoftenaspossible.Goupand
down,easyandslow.Dothisfortwotothreeminutes.Now.
Tab:
E|57875|
B|568865|
G|457754|
D|5775|
A|578875|
E|578875|
ABCDEFGABCDEFGABCetc...
Repeatfor23mins.

3.LegatoPlaying
Howconfidentareyouwithyourlegato?Usescaleshapestobuildupyourstrengthand
accuracy,onestringatatime.Besuretoplaytheclearestwaypossible.Keepthe
rhythm,don'tmindthespeed.AndstickONLYtothescaletones!
Here'sanexample.
E|5h7h8p7p5|
B|5h6h8p6p5|
G|4h5h7p5p4|
D|5h7p5|
A|5h7h8p7p5|
E|5h7h8p7p5|
Contunuedownwards,orplaytheshapesseparately,especiallytheoneswhichcauseyour
trouble.Ifsomethinggoeswrong,slowdown.

4.StringSkipping
Skippingstringsisalwaysanissue,especiallyforthebegginers,especiallyathighspeeds.
Thisishowyoucanuseascaleshapeforastringskippingexercise.Tryalsobiggerjumps
skip2,3,4or5strings...Everythingspossiblewithgoodamountofpatientpractice.
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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,butkeepforcingyourearstofindandidentifyallthescale
qualitiesthatarethere,andenjoytheresults.
And...
Thisisallfortoday'slesson.Goaheadandpracticeinmorepositions,trynewandold
scales,andexperimentwiththeexercisesgiven.Learn,butmainlyhavefun!Seeyouat
thenextpart,whereIwillshowyoumorecomplexwaysofpracticingscales.Don'tforget
tolikemy Facebookprofile.Peace!
More daniel.kPL lessons:
+ Creative Scale Practice Building Up Speed and Technique
Scales
+ Getting Better at Guitar A Correct Way to Approach Big GoalsCorrect Practice
+ Improving Your Tapping With Sequences
Guitar Techniques
+ Using Chord Leading in Songwriting
Songwriting & Lyrics
+ Refresh Your Soloing Tapping the Pentatonic Fifths
Soloing
+ Learn Something New Everyday Egyptian Scale
Correct Practice

14 commentsposted

03/19/2014
02/12/2014
12/10/2013
10/21/2013
09/02/2013
07/10/2013
+ view all
commentspolicy

Maeblade postedonAug23,201309:50am#

Decentarticle.Butsurelythat'sanAminorintheFIRSTposition?(intro)

Voodooman79 postedonAug23,201310:57am#

+4

Positionreferstothelowestfretonewouldusei.e.startingonthe5thfret,lowEstring,wouldmake
this5thpositionstartingwithanopen5thstringwouldmakeitopenposition,etc.Anotherdefinitionis
whereonewouldplacetheirindexfingersameconcept.
But,I'mgladyoubroughtyouthisup,becausetheBonthe3rdstringisplayedonthe4thfretwhich
isn'texactlya"true"5thposition(eventhoughIthinkthatishowmostplayerslearnthescaleinthis
pattern).Atrue5thpositionwouldmovethatBtothe9thfret,Dstring(stretchthatpinkyupthere!)so
astokeepthe5thfretthelowestfretonewouldgo.
Hopethishelps.
Daniel

Maeblade postedonAug23,201311:35am#

Agreewitheverythingyousay.Butusingtheterm"position"ismisleadingatbest.It'sthefirstpositionof
theAminorscale.Startingonthe5thfretofthelowE.The5thpositionwouldeffectivelybeaphrygian
mode.Foundatthe12thfret.
Hopethishelps.

stevenseagull
mpostedonAug24,201305:13am#

+1

noitwouldn't

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crazysam23_AtaxpostedonAug24,201312:37pm#

Howexactlywoulditbethephrygianmodeagain,especiallysincewe'renoteventouchingon
theintervalsofthephrygianscale?

Voodooman79 postedonAug25,201305:42pm#

+1

Maeblade
Ithinkyouareconfusingscale"DEGREE"withposition.Yes,ifwestartedwithan"E",thefifth
DEGREEofanAminorscaleonthe12thfretasyousaid,thenwewouldhaveaphyrgian
mode.Ifwestartedonthe2ndfret,Dstring,wewouldalsobestartingonthe5thdegree,but
inthe2ndpositionbecausePOSITIONreferstothelowestfretonewoulduse.
Trustmebud.Beenplayingalmost30yearsandteachmusic(highschool)fulltime.
Hopethishelps!Letmeknowifyouneedmoreclarification.Allthisnumbertalkcanget
confusing!
Daniel

spdonalds311 postedonAug27,201309:40pm#

Iwasalsotaughtthatfirstpositionwouldbestartingonthefirstdegreeofthescale,
secondpositiononthesecond,etc,whenIwaslearningpentatonics.Backthen,it
wasjustboxshapestome,though.Iwillkeepthisinmind,though,thatitcould
meanthelowestfretyouwouldstartwith.Maybecallingitpositionhelpspeoplewho
arefirstlearningscales,whichatthetimeIwas.

Poopoonachos postedonAug23,201307:03pm#

+2

Ineverplaylessthan3notesperstring.

Wintersentinel postedonAug23,201309:52pm#

Nicearticle,buttherearefarmoreefficientwaystoplayaminorscale(forexample,exchangingthe
fourthfretonthegstringforthe9thfretonthedstringsoyoudon'thavetoshiftyourhand)

florence007 postedonAug27,201311:33pm#

Decentarticle,andthecommentshavebeenequallyhelpful!

6strngsdown86 postedonSep28,201305:05pm#

ivideowouldhavebeenniceiliketowatchhowtheguitaristwouldshifthisfingersectect

puremusic84 postedonMar10,201406:28pm#

awesomeinfo!

chalupa13 postedonApr08,201411:52am#

hicouldyouclarifywhatb3,b5meansinthisformula?
formula:12b345b6b78,couldntfinditinyourpreviouslessons.Thankyouforthegreatinfo
thought.

jimi23hendrix postedonSep15,201403:21pm#

Thisisnotforbeginners!AndWTFisaPhrygianmode?

Comments

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