I'm looking for a suggestion on a few scales to practice. I'm an acoustic player who strums/fingerpicks over open chords. I don't have a particular desire to solo but I'm sure I could benefit in the area of finger dexterity by some scale work. I'd probably spend 5-10 minutes a day on it.
Any thoughts?
IMHO you should start with the major scale trying out all key possibilities. Most everything else relates to the major nicely and will be easier to understand after you have it down pat.
Also, when you practice it, try doing it different ways... I.E.:
1. one day, say, "Whole, whole, half, whole, whole, whole, half" while doing it.
2. another day, say, "C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C" (this obviously is for the key of C).
3. another day, count the numbers, "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8" (this is especially helpful for other scales, e.g. minor goes "1, 2, flat 3, 4, 5, flat 6, flat 7, 8")
4. another day name the interval from the root, "root, major 2nd, major 3rd, perfect 4th, perfect 5th, major 6th, major 7th and octave" (like 3, this one works really well on other scales e.g. Dorian goes "root, major 2nd, minor 3rd, perfect 4th, perfect 5th, major 6th, minor 7th and octave")
Do a different version each session... I find that #2 is the most important for fretboard memorization and I practice this way the most.
I hope this helped,
Rip
Author of "Survivor" - http://www.vaughnripley.com
IMHO you should start with the major scale trying out all key possibilities. Most everything else relates to the major nicely and will be easier to understand after you have it down pat.
Also, when you practice it, try doing it different ways... I.E.:
1. one day, say, "Whole, whole, half, whole, whole, whole, half" while doing it.
2. another day, say, "C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C" (this obviously is for the key of C).
3. another day, count the numbers, "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8" (this is especially helpful for other scales, e.g. minor goes "1, 2, flat 3, 4, 5, flat 6, flat 7, 8")
4. another day name the interval from the root, "root, major 2nd, major 3rd, perfect 4th, perfect 5th, major 6th, major 7th and octave" (like 3, this one works really well on other scales e.g. Dorian goes "root, major 2nd, minor 3rd, perfect 4th, perfect 5th, major 6th, minor 7th and octave")
Do a different version each session... I find that #2 is the most important for fretboard memorization and I practice this way the most.
Most important, you should learn your scales horizontal and vertical... I.e. stay on one string for horizontal and play the entire scale up and down. Then, work in on finger position (box) and play the scale moving up and down each string (vertical).
I hope this helped,
Rip
Author of "Survivor" - http://www.vaughnripley.com
