Learning How To Use Guitar Scales - Some Practice Tips

How the heck do I learn to use guitar scales? That’s a question I hear from a LOT of guitar players. And it’s a really valid question. It’s a big jump to go from initially memorizing a guitar scale fingering, to actually being able to solo with it musically. And some guitarists never make that jump! They never learn to use guitar scales in a musical way. With that in mind, let’s have a look a few tips…

Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Before I get to the tips, I’ve got to be really blunt here. Mastering scales will take a LOT of work. If you don’t learn a guitar scale to the point of mastery, the chances of ever using it musically are slim-to-none. There is no magic pill that you can take that will magically make you a guitar scale guru. It takes time, effort and practice. But you probably already know that right?

OK. Enough tough talk! Here are three practice tips that I feel will help you a lot…

Guitar Scale Tip #1: Learn Each Scale To The Point Of Mastery

Please check out the picture below…

I call this the Scale Mastery Wheel. Ok…I know it’s a funny looking wheel. But I’m a guitarist, not an artist.

So what does it mean? Please take a few minutes to contemplate that now…

All finished? Great! I’ll explain everything now…

Ears:

This means that you have internalized the sound of the scale. You know exactly what each note of the scale sounds like. This involves doing things like ear-training and transcribing guitar solos by ear.

Eyes:

This is your ability to visualize the scale over the entire fretboard. With this ability you do not have to think in terms of scale patterns. You can see all the notes of the scale everywhere without having to think.

Fingers:

This is your technique. It is your ability to actually physically play the scale anywhere on your fretboard. Mastering this element requires practicing things like scale exercises and exercises that use melodic patterns.

Intellect:

This is your theoretical understanding of the scale. At the very least you should understand three things…

1. What notes are in the scale.
2. What scale degrees the scale uses.
3. Where the scale can be used.

Applications:

This is your ability to actually using the scale in a musical way. Examples might include…

• Being able to play licks, melodies and solos.
• Improvising over backing tracks.
• Jamming with friends.

 So what does all this mean?

If you are lacking in even one area…you don’t really know the scale. It has not yet been internalized and mastered. This means that you will probably have to think when you play this scale as you solo.

You might be thinking now…come on Craig…you’ve gone off the deep end here! Does it really matter if I have to think when I solo? Well let’s try an experiment…

IMPORTANT: Please actually do this experiment. I know it’s tempting to skip it…but you’ll learn something by doing it.

Step One:

Please start talking about something that you know a lot about. Just pretend you are talking to a friend about it. Spend a couple of minutes doing this.

Step Two:

Continue talking, but this time think of the spelling of each word as you say it. Try to see the spelling in your Mind’s eye as you talk. Continue this for a couple of minutes.

So…what did you notice? Did you find it harder to talk fluently when you actually had to think a lot? Did you find it frustrating.

Most people slow down to a snails pace when they do Step Two. And do you know what…

This is exactly what happens when you think too much when you improvise. Having to think when you solo using a scale is the death of musical soloing.

Guitar Scale Tip #2: Schedule A Regular Scale Practice Time

This is a super-simple tip but it is very powerful. This involves making your scale practice part of your lifestyle. You probably eat every day right? But do you do disciplined scale practice daily?

If you don’t, then please do the following…

1. Get your diary (or whatever you use to keep track of appointments etc).
2. Decide on how much guitar scale practice you will do on a daily basis.
3. Decide exactly when you will do it. If possible, choose the time of day when you are most alert and energetic
4. Schedule your scale practice into your diary. Treat it like an appointment that you can’t and won’t miss.

Even the most organized and effective guitar scale learning system in the world won’t help if you don’t develop the discipline to practice scale regularly. This tip helps build your “discipline muscle”.

Guitar Scale Tip #3: Ear Training

I believe that one of the biggest hurdles in learning how to use guitar scales musically is a lack of pitch awareness. If you can’t clearly hear melodies and notes in your head, then musical soloing becomes almost impossible.

Learning to internalize the sounds of scales is a vital skill. This means that you should be able to hear what each scale degree of a scale sounds like clearly. If I asked you to sing the sixth note of a particular major scale, could you do it without thinking? If the answer is no, then ear training will really help you.

If you don’t know how to do ear training, I am currently giving away a special report for free. It’s called “How To Master The Sound Of ANY Scale”. You can grab a free copy of it from: Ear Training Report

That’s all from me for now. I hope you enjoyed this lesson. If you would like to learn an effective way of internalizing guitar scales, then I recommend checking out the Guitar Scale Mastery membership website.