I've been taking guitar lessons for about 6 weeks now and I still haven't learned any scales yet. Mainly have been focusing on chords as well as fingerpicking. Does this sound about right, or should I be learning some basic scales by now?
Ask your teacher, I'm sure they'd be willing to give you scales if you wanted. I wouldn't say that scales are absolutely necessary for the first few weeks but it's not a horrible thing to do.
Steve-0
I agree with Steve - they're not essential at your stage, especially if your main focus is going to be learning acoustic fingerstyle pieces without much improvisation.
Apart from improvisation, scales are useful for various techniques such as left and right hand co-ordination, precise fretting, fluid finger movements, ear training, and understanding how chords are made.
But it's 'early days' yet and your teacher will probably gradually introduce them when he or she feels the time's right.
Ask your teacher, I'm sure they'd be willing to give you scales if you wanted. I wouldn't say that scales are absolutely necessary for the first few weeks but it's not a horrible thing to do.
OK, thanks, I just wanted to make sure it isn't one of those "OMG, you've been taking lessons for a month and a half and your teacher hasn't even taught you scales yet?!? Get a new teacher ASAP!" type thing.
Different teachers do things in different order... there's no standard pedagogy for guitar, the way there is for piano or orchestral instruments. One teacher may start with reading, another with chords, and either approach is valid IF they both get around to covering all the bases in a reasonable amount of time.
But that lack of a standard approach means students can't evaluate a guitar teacher as well as they could a teacher of another instrument.
Most of my students don't get any scales until about 2-3 months into lessons, although some get them at lesson 1 (it depends on their prior musical experience - whether they play other instruments, already read standard notation, etc.)
On the other hand, your concern is valid - and very, very good! You recognize there's a part of music education you're not getting yet, and you should definately ask about it. You don't want to end up shortchanged - and I've seen a lot of students who have been shortchanged over the years. I could give you horror stories (one's fresh in my mind from a new student this week), but I won't bore you with the details.
Guitar teacher offering lessons in Plainfield IL
well, if you are playing chords then you are , in a way, playing scales.
a chord has the essential notes of the scale.
so segue into them by taking your chords into notes that you can name.
your teacher should be able to start you off.
at your stage focus on the chords and forming them cleanly and making the changes sharp and clear.
but it never hurts to know the name of the note under your your finger.
heck, you already know the names of the strings.
Noteboat said it very well.
But you also have to ask yourself where you are with the instrument.
Do you know how to finger and read an 8 note range yet? If not, then it's going to be hard to play any scale at all.
If your 8 note range doesn't run from a C to another C, then you have to know how to read sharps and flats as well.
If you already have that information, then you should be learning a scale. But if you don't, then there's probably a very valid reason why you haven't gotten any yet.
Of course, my own method of teaching is that I require the student to read the music, not memorize patterns. I really try and get my students to figure otu for themselves that patterns exist, then when they've discovered them on their own, we start expanding them together.
"The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side." -- HST
Hi globetro, When I first took lessons my guitar teacher added variety along the way to keep my interest.....there were chords, reading standard notation, the c major scale in first position and the c major pentatonic in fifth position. And to really make it FUN would have us improvise or give three chords to make a song with it. My biggest problem was tension. But that is another subject. Having fun is important, as long as what you are being taught is being taught correctly you will benefit. Don't worry, be happy. NoteBoat gave sound and accurate advise.I just thought I would add my 2 cents. :P
Life pushes hard. Push back.
I would suggest that it depends on what you want to get from playing the guitar.
I have been playing for nearly a year and can play lots of scales but can't actually play any songs yet, which was the point of learning for me! :(
