Jazz Guitar Scale Studies

If you are learning jazz guitar, you probably know one fact very well…you need to know your guitar scales! There is no way around it. To solo fluidly you need to know your scales. Unless you are a freak of nature who can immediate improvise what you hear in your head that is. But how many of us are like this? Not many.

Jazz guitar scale studies allow you to absorb guitar scales on a very deep level. This is really important, because if you have to consciously think of the scales you play, you will struggle with fluid improvisation. Over-thinking is the killer of musical improvisation! (That’s a big call, but I’ve found it to be true in my experience).

There are literally hundreds of jazz guitar scale studies. But they usually have one major  thing in common…

They usually train your fingers to play the jazz scale in ways other than straight up-and-down. For example, here’s a scale study using the A Lydian mode that focuses…

So, what do you notice about it? Here are a few observations…

• Practicing this scale study would really help your alternate picking technique. The string skipping makes it a great workout for your picking hand!
• It would help train you to make larger interval jumps in your playing. If you never practice large interval skips when practicing, how can you expect to play them when improvising?
• It helps you learn a useful six-note picking pattern. Once mastered, this picking pattern could be applied to ANY jazz scale that you know.

OK…enough talk. Get to work, and learn the scale study!

Members of The Guitar Scale Mastery membership website gain access to MANY scale studies like the one above. If you are truly serious about absorbing jazz guitar scales, you can get more info from HERE.