In another way than just up and down from the root, in a way that makes musical meaning.
I now about how scales is build, i know the fretboard notes, but i cant seem to connect the two.
Im in a rut here, and inspiration is dropping.
Help is appreciated :-)
Comments
Try to have fun and make some music! Inspiration will follow.
In addition to improvising using the different scale positions, I've had some good luck using patterns as a way to run through scales without simply just going up and down.
For example, working on a major scale, placing it over a loop of Gmaj7 to G6, and a swing feel - if that's what I've been working on. I'll aim to play the scale in time and in tune, with the feel
that I've settled on. Then working within that feel with different note values, eight notes, sixteenth notes, etc. If there's time, then moving on to intervals up and down (e.g. thirds, sixths, etc.)
or beginning the scale and ending the scale on different degrees. Doing this for all of the major modes for a given tonal center helps. I wish I had more time to do this sort of work out, because
it can be fun. Playing the scales with different numbers of fingers on each string (e.g. three notes per string), or different starting fingers (e.g. pinky on the root on the sixth string, pinky on the
root on the fifth string) also helps. Thanks for the question, because it reminds me of how much cool stuff can take place in a warm up, and I need to pay more attention to that. Sooner or later,
I'm usually wandering away to improvising over the chords at hand, which devolves into noodling or evolves into inspiration. When I notice that, I just head back to the scale at hand. I need to do this
more often. God knows it's warranted.
I would suggest these two....
All Blues SAMPLE CLIP
A "solo" guitar version of the Miles Davis Classic that includes tons of improvisational ideas. Simple "jazzy" blues scale licks, modal playing, scale exercises, arpeggios, and more. With over a dozen mixolydian scales to work on this is an in-depth scale workout that can keep the student challenged for months.
Difficulty: 5–10 High Intermediate – Advanced. Proceed to Blues in F, How's it Going?, Not Much, Bill Jennings' Solo on Bill Doggett's "Big Boy", Bryants Bounce, I Got Rhythm Changes.
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Arpeggios As Exercises SAMPLE CLIP
Learn arpeggios (major/minor/diminished/augmented) with application tips and helpful exercises. Learning arpeggios is a great way to develop speed, improve strength and dexterity while simultaneously helping you to internalize and memorize chord tones. This is a great "long term" lesson that the intermediate and advanced student can work on in conjunction with other songs/lessons. Guaranteed to take your playing to the next level and applicable to all genres and styles of music.
Difficulty: 4–10 Intermediate–advanced. Proceed to Proceed to Understanding Progression and Voice Leading Intermediate / Advanced
Luie
Thanks for asking a great question. I do agree with everything that Jim, Tonyw, and Doc have suggested in their responses, but I am curious as to what your current playing background is...and what you are looking to accomplish both short and long term. Are you looking to learn new scales as well incorporate scales you already know? Are there any specific scales that you would like to target immediately? Do you have your pentatonic/blues scales down? And, are you comfortable playing over changing chord progressions? I think that you if you could answer some of these questions we could all probably give even better insight.
Based on what you gave us so far, here are my initial thoughts. When I learn a new scale and am trying to ingrain it in my head, I try to play it slowly back and forth (over and over) until I can play the shapes without too much thought. Then I like to play the scale in every position on the neck (and randomly jump around - play the Major scale in A, then C, then F etc.). Another thing that I try to do is sing the notes as I play them. This helps get the "melody" of the scale into my head. Playing with a metronome like Doc suggested is a great idea as well!
So, once I have the scale shapes down and comfortable and the notes in my head I will then try playing the scale over a single chord that is repeated a whole bunch of times (record it on a looper or garageband or a tape recorder - i still like using my old tape recorder the best!). Once you have a chord playing behind the scale I think that musical ideas start to pop up really quickly. Play your scale up and down over and over....for a long time. And, when you get really really good at it, start breaking the scale into smaller fragments - descending, ascending, repeat note, adds slides between notes, hammer on's & pull off's etc. Once you are comfortable playing over a single chord, then try to play over a chord progression. Record something simple and make sure that it repeats for a long time - I have one backing track that is 30 minutes of an uptempo A, D, E, shuffle that I play over when I am working on rockabillly style phrases. For me, repetition is the name of the game!
That being said, there are a bunch of great Lessons by Mail that really helped me to both learn a bunch of very useful scales as well as learning how to apply the scales. For starters, I think that both Playing the Blues, and Playing the Blues Nailing the Changes are really great lessons if you want to not just ingrain the blues scale but to learn it going up and down the neck in a very practical manner. Nailing the Changes gives invaluable insight into into how to play great sounding phrases based on internalizing chord tones to play over a changing chord progression. If you are already comfortable with this type of playing, you would probably do well to check out B flat Blues. Of course, if you are looking more to expand the number of scales you know, then All Blues and Arpeggios as Exercises (both recommended by Jim) are just what the doctor ordered. The arpeggio lesson teaches over a dozen arpeggios to be played over various chord forms and gives examples on how to practice same. And All Blues (over a dozen scales and what feels like few thousand improvisation ideas) will give you enough improvisation ideas/examples to last for...years? Oh, and another really fun lesson that actually incorporates how to improvise using the Major scale is the Chet Song lesson. While not a straight "technical" lesson, I do think that it has enough of a technical aspect that it would be worth checking out for your purposes.
Again, thanks for the question, and hope this response helps. Also, feel free to shoot us a few more details regarding your playing and what you are looking for and I am sure we can give you a more "pinpoint" response.
Happy playing!
CJG @ My current level of playing is a bit hard to define. Its a bit messy :-). I have some theoretical knowledge as scales, chords and fretboard notes. Every day I get better, but im struggeling connecting the dots - adapt it in to my playing.
But I have finally accepted its a marathon, not a sprint :-)
My goals is to be able to play what I want on the fly! Now I have some ideas on the structure I can put in my practice :-)
Thanks
Just keep at it & enjoy the journey. In my experience, dots were connecting when I wasn't paying attention to my progress (or what I felt, at times, was a lack thereof), the next thing you know, you realize that you're applying some concept you didn't think you understood. Or you are reading an article and understand what the people are talking about & KNOW you would have been completely lost reading the same article not that long ago.