How to Practice Guitar Scales
Start every practice session with 10-15 minutes of scales., Practice with consistent rhythm and speed, avoiding mistakes., Skip strings as you play to build speed up and down the neck., Play with triplets and quarter-note sets., Try "down and backs"...
Step-by-Step Guide
-
Step 1: Start every practice session with 10-15 minutes of scales.
Scales are an incredible way to warm up, and they are essential to becoming a good guitarist.
You need to make scales a priority in your practice time, so put aside a set amount of time to practice them each day.
Turn on a timer and work through every scale you know, playing them each on multiple sections of the guitar.Baseball players hit batting practice every day on a variety of pitches, artists doodle in a sketchbook, and writers free-write.
Scales are the basic skill behind guitar theory and playing, and you need to devote time to practicing them. -
Step 2: Practice with consistent rhythm and speed
Do not rush through your scales, hitting 1-2 bum notes or missing a string here and there, just because you want to get faster.
Speed means nothing if you're not hitting notes cleanly, so always practice with an ear for perfection.
Once you've got the scales and exercises down at a certain tempo, then you can gradually increase your speed.
It may be frustrating now, but it will make you a better guitarist in the long run.It is highly recommended that you play with a metronome for the best practice sessions. , Once you have the scales memorized up and down, it's time to kick your practice into the next level.
Very rarely do you play a scale straight up and down, so you shouldn't always practice like that.
Try the following string skipping exercises to master any scale.
Play all the normal notes on your scale.
Start with the 6th string (your thickest string), then skip to the 4th.
Play the notes on the 4th string, then come back up to the 5th.
Skip to the 3rd string, then come back to the 4th, moving up and down like this until you can hit them all in rhythm Skip from top to bottom, playing the 6th string, then the 1st.
Then play the 5th string, followed by the 2nd, etc.
After each string, return to the 6th string again so that you repeat the root note after every string.
Once you've gone up and down like this, start repeating the 5th string, then the 4th, etc., This is a fantastic way to increase your speed both up and down the neck, and to add a bit of spice to your normal scale runs.
Basically, you play the first note in a scale, then the next three in quick succession.
You then return to the 2nd note in the scale and play the next three in quick succession.
From there, you repeat the pattern all the way down, until you've done a set starting with every note in the scale.
Try to string this together rhythmically
-- not worrying about speed just yet.
While you'd never play a full solo like this, you can adapt parts of this lick into your playing once you get better., This simple little exercise is a great way to comfortable speeding up and down the fretboard during solos.
To do it, simply play your scale like normal.
However, once you hit the fifth note, turn around and re-play the last three notes you played.
Work through the whole scale like this
-- five notes down, three notes up, and then reverse it once you hit the bottom.
As you get comfortable, adjust the numbers.
Try going four down, two up.
How small can you make the intervals and still move comfortably through the scale? For an added challenge, try it with repeating notes.
Once you get to the fifth note, play it twice, then move only two notes back.
Repeat this note as well.
This is a good way to work on your picking speed., Start playing your scales randomly, to the rhythm.
Set a metronome to a comfortable pace, then hit a note on every single beat.
Pick notes at random, but make sure they are all on the scale.
As you get better, move up and down the neck.
How many unique notes can you play before messing up? This is invaluable practice for improvisation because it teaches you to find the right note anywhere on the guitar at the drop of a hat., Not all practice has to be rote.
Once you've worked through the technical exercises, bring it all together by improvising a few solos with your scales.
You can search for practice tracks online by typing "Key + Your Scale + Instrumental Track," Such as "A Minor Dorian Scale Instrumental." You can also train your ear by putting on your favorite songs, then finding the key and scale by yourself.
Ultimately, all the scale practice in the world means nothing if you can't use them in a song, so have some fun and start jamming.
Though jams are more free-form, you should still be focusing on technique.
Challenge yourself, but don't sacrifice quality of play for a few faster, sloppier notes. -
Step 3: avoiding mistakes.
-
Step 4: Skip strings as you play to build speed up and down the neck.
-
Step 5: Play with triplets and quarter-note sets.
-
Step 6: Try "down and backs" to learn to change direction quickly.
-
Step 7: Skip notes
-
Step 8: but make sure you only play notes in the scale.
-
Step 9: Improvise solos in your favorite scales.
Detailed Guide
Scales are an incredible way to warm up, and they are essential to becoming a good guitarist.
You need to make scales a priority in your practice time, so put aside a set amount of time to practice them each day.
Turn on a timer and work through every scale you know, playing them each on multiple sections of the guitar.Baseball players hit batting practice every day on a variety of pitches, artists doodle in a sketchbook, and writers free-write.
Scales are the basic skill behind guitar theory and playing, and you need to devote time to practicing them.
Do not rush through your scales, hitting 1-2 bum notes or missing a string here and there, just because you want to get faster.
Speed means nothing if you're not hitting notes cleanly, so always practice with an ear for perfection.
Once you've got the scales and exercises down at a certain tempo, then you can gradually increase your speed.
It may be frustrating now, but it will make you a better guitarist in the long run.It is highly recommended that you play with a metronome for the best practice sessions. , Once you have the scales memorized up and down, it's time to kick your practice into the next level.
Very rarely do you play a scale straight up and down, so you shouldn't always practice like that.
Try the following string skipping exercises to master any scale.
Play all the normal notes on your scale.
Start with the 6th string (your thickest string), then skip to the 4th.
Play the notes on the 4th string, then come back up to the 5th.
Skip to the 3rd string, then come back to the 4th, moving up and down like this until you can hit them all in rhythm Skip from top to bottom, playing the 6th string, then the 1st.
Then play the 5th string, followed by the 2nd, etc.
After each string, return to the 6th string again so that you repeat the root note after every string.
Once you've gone up and down like this, start repeating the 5th string, then the 4th, etc., This is a fantastic way to increase your speed both up and down the neck, and to add a bit of spice to your normal scale runs.
Basically, you play the first note in a scale, then the next three in quick succession.
You then return to the 2nd note in the scale and play the next three in quick succession.
From there, you repeat the pattern all the way down, until you've done a set starting with every note in the scale.
Try to string this together rhythmically
-- not worrying about speed just yet.
While you'd never play a full solo like this, you can adapt parts of this lick into your playing once you get better., This simple little exercise is a great way to comfortable speeding up and down the fretboard during solos.
To do it, simply play your scale like normal.
However, once you hit the fifth note, turn around and re-play the last three notes you played.
Work through the whole scale like this
-- five notes down, three notes up, and then reverse it once you hit the bottom.
As you get comfortable, adjust the numbers.
Try going four down, two up.
How small can you make the intervals and still move comfortably through the scale? For an added challenge, try it with repeating notes.
Once you get to the fifth note, play it twice, then move only two notes back.
Repeat this note as well.
This is a good way to work on your picking speed., Start playing your scales randomly, to the rhythm.
Set a metronome to a comfortable pace, then hit a note on every single beat.
Pick notes at random, but make sure they are all on the scale.
As you get better, move up and down the neck.
How many unique notes can you play before messing up? This is invaluable practice for improvisation because it teaches you to find the right note anywhere on the guitar at the drop of a hat., Not all practice has to be rote.
Once you've worked through the technical exercises, bring it all together by improvising a few solos with your scales.
You can search for practice tracks online by typing "Key + Your Scale + Instrumental Track," Such as "A Minor Dorian Scale Instrumental." You can also train your ear by putting on your favorite songs, then finding the key and scale by yourself.
Ultimately, all the scale practice in the world means nothing if you can't use them in a song, so have some fun and start jamming.
Though jams are more free-form, you should still be focusing on technique.
Challenge yourself, but don't sacrifice quality of play for a few faster, sloppier notes.
About the Author
Raymond Phillips
A passionate writer with expertise in organization topics. Loves sharing practical knowledge.
Rate This Guide
How helpful was this guide? Click to rate: