Scales
are the key to advanced-level guitar playing.
Here are the steps to mastering your scales and
turning them into shreddin' lead guitar:
1)
Learn and memorize each of the five pentatonic
and seven diatonic scale patterns. Needless to
say, this isn't going to happen overnight. Play
each pattern straight from the lowest note of
the pattern to the highest note of the pattern
and back again. Don't do anything tricky with
the pattern. Play each pattern starting as low
on the neck as possible (open string or first
fret), play the pattern across all six strings
and back, then move up one fret and repeat the
same pattern. Continue to move up one fret at
a time until you've played the pattern at every
fret you can comfortably play. Consider this one
"round" of playing a pattern. It may
take you 10 or 20 or more rounds to even begin
to become fluent with the pattern. Personally,
I put in hundreds, probably thousands, of rounds
of each scale pattern over the course of a few
years in my teens and early twenties. In all honesty,
that's what it takes.
2)
Then start working on the patterns using exercises
– the kind that have you play sequences
of scale notes that are not just playing straight
from the lowest note to the highest note. Exercises
like this can be found on the net, and there are
dozens of them in my course, Logical Lead Guitar,
demonstrated on DVD and written out in tab and
notation. These exercises help you to become fluent
playing the scale patterns in a non-scale-like
fashion. And this is the all important bridge
to actually being able to play lead guitar.
3)
Next, begin doing what I refer to as "puzzle
locking exercises." Scales fit together in
one key up and down the neck like puzzle pieces,
so you have to work on sliding from one scale
pattern into the next pattern without going to
the wrong fret. That's why I suggest these "puzzle
locking exercises." There's a ton of them
in Logical Lead Guitar, on DVD and in tab and
notation.
4)
Learn a melody – something really easy and
familiar, such as "Twinkle, Twinkle Little
Star" – in each of the scale patterns.
No matter which melody you choose, you'll find
that it's probably easier to play that melody
in some scale patterns than others. After you've
attempted enough different melodies, you'll usually
find that there are certain melodies that work
best in each of the five pentatonic or seven diatonic
scale patterns, and not quite as well in the other
patterns. And at first you might think that there
are only a couple of patterns in which most melodies
can be played very easily, and most of the other
scale patterns are not so useful. But with time
– and with the exploration of more melodies
– you'll find that every one of the patterns
has its strong points.
5)
"Noodle around," as I call it, in each
of the scale patterns. Plan on doing a lot of
this, if you really want to become fluent at improvisation
– creating your own unique solos –
instead of simply knowing how to play other guitarists'
solos. By noodle around, I mean that you should
spend five or 10 minutes straight playing any
and every simple, or even silly riff or melody
that you can find in one pattern. Then choose
another scale pattern and do it again for five
or 10 minutes. You can easily do this unaccompanied,
or you can put on a CD of some song by your favorite
artist and play over the top of them. Really,
you should use both techniques to really learn
your chops. Actually, after you've done this a
few times and have begun to feel comfortable doing
so, it becomes kinda fun!
6)
After doing plenty of noodling around in each
of the patterns, you should have begun to find
specific licks that work really well only in one
specific pattern. You need to catalog these licks,
at least in your mind, if not by writing them
down (in tab or sheet music) or even by recording
them so you can refer back to them in the months
ahead.
7)
Begin learning solos from your favorite artists,
as close to "note-for-note" as you can.
Use any resource you must to get the solo correct
in the beginning – free tab off the Internet
(many, if not most of these, are incorrect, however);
the very accurate songbooks published by companies
such as Hal Leonard, Mel Bay, Warner Bros., etc.;
DVDs, such as the awesome Signature Licks series
by Hal Leonard; or even from a teacher or friend.
And here's a hint: If you are closer to beginner
lead guitarist than expert, don't waste your time
trying to run before you can walk. Whether you
want to or not, you really need to learn simple,
slower solos before you're going to be able to
tackle something by Joe Satriani or Eddie Van
Halen or Metallica or Avenged Sevenfold. Don't
bother trying to fool yourself, you're just wasting
time. Learn a couple of simple solos, then move
up to intermediate solos, then start working on
the harder stuff.
By
Adam St. James
