Guitar Scales??? Help!?

Question

Ive been playing about a year and a half. A guy came over who lives in my neighborhood and said he's been playing about that long. He knows all these really cool sounding licks, scales, and harmonics. I don't know any of this stuff. He made me look like a beginner. When I had lessons, he wrote me down scales but I never practiced them. I thought they didn't do m any good. So now, I need to know a few things

1. Why learn scales?

2. When can i start playing those cool licks guitar players play?

3. Where/How can I learn scales?

And anything else would be great! Thanks a lot!

Answer 1

you should learn scales cuz they will help u write, improvise, and jam with other musicians. You will be able to play cool licks when you can either write your own or learn them from tabs. you can learn scales from a book you can get at guitar center or other music shop.

Answer 2

lessons i do not recommend  Tabs are good (you teach yourself.) oh and playing by ear makes you like a bad ***. Scales will probably come on there own (and when they do you will know more then your friend because you learned it from your heart [unless he did the same]) im in a band now and trust me playing with artistic ability is way better then playing out of a book.

this is just what i think

Answer 3

Scales are essntioal to good guitar playing, everyone can learn tabs but the key is knowing the scales and chords and knowing the keys. If i song is played in the key of G major you can use any g scale such as the G major scale the G Blues major scale etc to solo with during that song. this helps because when you jam with your friends all you need to know is the chords they are playing to find the key and use the appropriate scale to solo. Why learn scales? well every song has its own key. If you figure out the chords to a song and therefore know what  key it is in, you can tab the solo or little riffs  yourself by ear. you can easily figure out what guitar scale it is in form the key and go through the notes to tab out solos for songs. Scales have to be learned to solo. Start off by learning pattersn of the "major scale" so learn the g major scale from there you can shift root note pattern of the scale to different frets to create different note scales. I would learn a minor scale as well such as pentatonic minor. The cool licks that the guitar pros play are in these scales but that isnt your first priority, you have to understand where the music is coming from before you play the song. Once you understand where the music comes form you can use those licks in your soloing and improvisation. You can go on ultimate-guitar.com to lessons search scales and learn even more scales there it will also explain the scales in depth and how they are created. You tube has some great lessons on scales as well. Hope this helps o and also when you practice scales use alternate picking meaning up down up down in terms of strokes. If you master and the scales and all the chords, all with alternate picking,  you will be better than your friend who can play his little pinched harmonics.

Answer 4

Harmonycentral.com has tabs lessons and a lot of other stuff to help you but the only way to play like the big boys is practice Practice PRACTICE

Answer 5

understanding the theory behind a scale is a very long story, but knowing what it does is very easy.

A scale is a collection of notes that are spaced apart that give you a certain mood. for example, you want to sound happy, you play a major scale, you want to sound sad you play in a minor scale.

heres an example of a scale, its called A Harmonic minor.

e-----------------------------

b----------------------------

g-----------------------------

d----------------------6-7-

a-------------5-7-8--------

e-----5-7-8----------------

the notes being played are: A, B, C, D, E, F, G#, A

you can extend this scale on a higher octave

now here is natural A minor

e-----------------------------

b----------------------------

g-----------------------------

d----------------------5-7-  

a-------------5-7-8--------

e-----5-7-8----------------

notes being played are A, B, C, D, E, F, G, A

notice the difference at the 7th note between the two scales (Harmonic Minor = G#, Natural Minor = G)

now experiment with the two notes to understand the difference.

there are many sources to learn scales, like books. go to borders or barnes and noble and look for guitar scale books there.

Or online, like www.ultimate-guitar.com

The best source is an experienced teacher coz this stuff can get complicated, especially if you study the theory behind it.

there isnt a specific timeline of when exactly you should start playing or practicing anything. the more you practice, the sooner you can play more advanced things.

Answer 6

Scales are good...they really are the backbones of riffs like 'Mississippi Queen' and 'Crazy Train'.

So if you want to learn to play good music then it's probably best that you learn scales.

There are lots of scales like Blues scales or Rock scales like D minor scale. You can get scales off google. Just type Free Guitar Scales.

Answer 7

1) Scales are a vital part in learning how to play guitar because that's what solos are made of. Also they help develop your ear so you can figure out songs (by knowing common note progressions). You improvise using scales as well.

2) Once you know the scales inside and out, then you can try those cool riffs. I'm guessing you're past basics and things, and that your left and right hands are strong. If not, riffs are going to be h**l for you.

3) Do you still have the paper with the scales on them? If not, check out cyberfret.com and click on Guitar Scales (on the left hand side of the page).