If you could name the 3 most important guitar scales to know. what would they be?

Question

This question applies for the genres of Jazz and rock.

Answer 1

The major scale and the pentatonic scale are really the only two guitar scales you should worry about. Learn them and you will be able to jam with almost anybody in almost any style.

If you want to get up and running the fastest, learn the Pentatonic Scale. This guitar scale is so important that if you only choose one scale to learn, let it be the pentatonic. It can be played over a major and minor key with ease and since it only has five notes, there are only five unique positions to learn.

But if you really want to be play guitar with flare and truly understand the intricacies of guitar scales you really should learn the Major Scale. The pentatonic scale is derived from the major scale pattern it's a relative minor. But more on the relative minor later on.

( These aren't my words its from the site below.  I wasn't exactly sure and I didn't wanna give u c**p info er anything.)

Hope this helps!  The site also teaches you how to play these scales too and best techniques to learn them.  It seems pretty legit and covers a lot on scales.

Answer 2

The 3 most commonly used in popular american music would be

1) major /ionian mode

2) minor/ aeolian mode

3) blues scale