Scales and Modes for Guitar

Let’s look at hexatonic scales. Like the blues scale, hexatonic scales are any scales that have six notes.

A lot of blues music is played by adding one note to the regular pentatonic scale. This “blue note” is what makes the blues music sound the way it does.

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Believe it or not, scales are your friend. There is no reason scales should scare or confuse guitar players and with Tom’s help we’re going prove that.

Nick Minnion shares his secrets of working out the CAGED system on guitar in these two videos he’s made.

In Part 4 of her series on understanding modes, Beth Isbell looks at each of the seven modes and gives examples of how they are used in songs you may know.

There’s a very simple reason a lot of solos sound more like someone playing scales rather than solos and it all comes down to how you practice. Learn how to solo by learning how to practice soloing.

In Part 3 of her series on understanding modes, Beth Isbell gives practical tips on how and when to use any mode to either an entire song or a chord progression.

In Part 2 of her series on “A Simple Way to Understand Modes,” Beth Isbell walks us through the use of modes to specifically outline simple chords.

Everyone seems to have his or her own “Aha!” moment when it comes to modes. Guitar Noise welcomes Beth Isbell, who kindly shares her modal method with our readers in this multi-part series

Scales are simply notes and, as notes, can be found all over the fretboard. While guitarists tend to learn these scales in set patterns, it’s possible to go beyond those basic patterns and create new ways to get around with your scales. Chris Juergensen shows you how in this terrific article.

In our latest lesson in this series, we look at a basic rock progression and examine the choices we can make in terms of scales for soloing. Plus we get a look at the Mixolydian mode as well as discovering a new use for the Dorian.

Before moving onward with modes, it’s important to grasp the concept of “target” notes as well as to understand that a target note doesn’t have to be a part of the chord in a chord progression. Here we’ll look at how single notes can used to create far more interesting solos than simply using “safe” notes.

Knowing a single major scale opens the world of modal soloing to you, if you know how to read the signs. We’ll take a look at how to recognize when to use the Dorian scale, and also take a moment or two to compare and contrast it with the minor pentatonic scale.

It only takes a single note to change the minor pentatonic scale into the “blues scale.” And what a world of difference that one note can make! As in the previous lessons in this series, we’ll provide you with MP3 sound files in order to help you create your own solos.

Last time out we sampled the different flavors the major and minor pentatonic scales offered us as tools for soloing over blues progressions. While each had its owns merits, we can create an even more tasteful (not to mention useful) solo when we combine the major scale with the blue note elements of its own minor pentatonic. Come listen!

While it’s vital to use a chord progression to help you decide on a scale, knowing the style or feel of both a song and a scale is just as important. This lesson focuses on the minor pentatonic scale and why it is used so much for blues (and other genres) in major keys.

After spending our last lesson looking at all the notes in a scale, this time we’re going to just look at a few. One of the best things you can do to get going as a soloist is to minimize the number of notes you use in a solo. Focusing on one, two, three or four notes will help you on both rhythm and phrasing, which make a solo a lot more interesting than just stringing as many notes together as fast as you can.

This page answers your questions about scales and includes some examples of how you can use them to spice up your playing.

Putting together solos is not easy for a lot of people, and the conventional teaching (“just use your scales”) doesn’t always make sense when you’re just starting out. In this, the first of a series of articles, we take a listen to the differences in tonal color between the major scale and the major pentatonic.

Guitarists tend to be somewhat comfortable with note names in open position, but become disoriented and frustrated when they attempt to move up the neck. Dr. Morris, Coordinator of Guitar Studies at California State University presents five scale patterns, which, when combined with a basic knowledge of the Circle of Fifths, will allow you to play in any key over the entire neck of the guitar.