Guitar Scales for Idiots??

[mikemorgan]

All that stuff is true and is total bullshit. If you want to learn your way around a fret board, play one note and then any other note. That is an interval.

Just like you trained your ears to recognize chords, you must train your ears to recognize intervals. Once you can recognized two note intervals by sound, you'll be a lot farther than most guys who play scales all day.

Every book you ever bought explains theory to the nth degree, and it means absolutely nothin to a guy who plays by ear. Music theory discussions only lead to arguments which proves that no one really "gets it".

Al Dimeola gets it, Robert Fripp gets it, but most people just play the right notes because it sounds right.

 

[metalhead28]

All that stuff is true and is total bullshit. If you want to learn your way around a fret board, play one note and then any other note. That is an interval.

Just like you trained your ears to recognize chords, you must train your ears to recognize intervals. Once you can recognized two note intervals by sound, you'll be a lot farther than most guys who play scales all day.

Every book you ever bought explains theory to the nth degree, and it means absolutely nothin to a guy who plays by ear. Music theory discussions only lead to arguments which proves that no one really "gets it".

Al Dimeola gets it, Robert Fripp gets it, but most people just play the right notes because it sounds right.

I will go along with that, and that's what I meant earlier when I said learning intervals is way more important than learning proper note names.
If you know intervals, you can build a melody without needing to acknowledge what scale you're playing from. Also you can build chords faster, and build off of chords faster. Guitar playing is all about intervals.
That's the same reason that I think it's kind of funny when people get hung up on naming accidentals and all of that malarky. Every key involves the same intervals and whether it's a sharp key, a flat key, a natural key, whatever....it's the same intervals on a guitar, you find the right notes the same way. It's nice to know, but it doesn't have anything to do with actual playing. It's only useful when you want to talk about it....and what good is talking about music?

 

[HapiCmpur]

I have bought books, DVD's, online lessons and I still can't get my head around scales. All lessons start out great, then they say shit like you can color the scale with diminished this, or sharp that. At that point I go blank.

If your'e not having any luck with the books, DVDs, online lessons, etc, etc, then I strongly recommend getting a good teacher. In my opinion, a few live-and-in-person sessions with a good teacher is much more valuable than books, DVDs, etc. (And it's a hell of a lot more fun than working alone.) A lot of people shy away from it, though, because they're locked into the idea that lessons have to be weekly and that music teachers have to be old and stodgy. Find somebody you're comfortable with and take a lesson every two or three weeks for a little while. That's my two cents.

 

[metalhead28]

Hapicmpur also has a good point. I used to give lessons on a very informal basis, and often 2 or three lessons got people going in a direction that they never would have hit upon on their own (or at least it would have taken them alot longer)

 

[ggunn]

If your'e not having any luck with the books, DVDs, online lessons, etc, etc, then I strongly recommend getting a good teacher. In my opinion, a few live-and-in-person sessions with a good teacher is much more valuable than books, DVDs, etc. (And it's a hell of a lot more fun than working alone.) A lot of people shy away from it, though, because they're locked into the idea that lessons have to be weekly and that music teachers have to be old and stodgy. Find somebody you're comfortable with and take a lesson every two or three weeks for a little while. That's my two cents.

And in a related story...

Don't be afraid of learning a little music theory. A lot of musicians shy away from it because they think that somehow that that knowledge will contaminate them and turn them into stodgy chart-readers. It ain't so; learning some theory merely establishes a common vocabulary which allows you to communicate with other musicians about stuff you already understand viscerally.

 

[travelin travis]

The idiot in this case is me.. I have played guitar for years and am fairly adept with chords, but when it comes to leads I am lost. I can play some by ear, but I really have no freakin idea what I am doing.

I have bought books, DVD's, online lessons and I still can't get my head around scales. All lessons start out great, then they say shit like you can color the scale with diminished this, or sharp that. At that point I go blank.

Is there 1 essential set of scales I can start with to just get a basic understanding of WTF I am doing?? Please help...

all you essentially need is in the pentatonic scale. learn how to use it over both minor and major progressions and you can cover ALOT of ground. the pentatonic scale is 5 notes.

what you are describing is information overload. imo, when your playing warrants learning more music theory, you will know. you'll be playing around with certain note sequences and without knowing it, using scales. don't try to shove more info down your own throat than you can immediately make use of. it will frustrate you.

keep in mind too that the 7 modes of the diatonic scale only contain 7 notes. the real trick is learning the fretboard and being able to automatically see the notes on the neck. it's not as hard as it sounds.