I was just wondering, my piano teacher right now is giving me scales to learn: essentially just the major, minor, harmonic and melodic minor scales, arpeggios and chords (broken and solid) for each and every key possible (it's only about 12 major and 12 minor scales, so it's not too difficult). My question is this, I want to learn how to really break out of thinking of scales in patterns, so I was thinking if I mapped out the entire fretboard in every key, would that help me out?
Just to clarify, i'm not really into jazz or anything, I'm mainly interested in just focusing on basic rock and blues improvisation (soloing over one chord, with occasional changes), so modal improvisation isn't #1 on my list of priorities. Anyways, I'm just stuck in a rut with my playing and I'm trying desperately to figure a way out of it.
Steve-0
It would definately help as familiarity with your instrument is never a bad thing and it takes away more thinking (the less you have to think while improvising the better as it leaves you room to just focus on the improvising).
I tell this to everyone but the most important thing when it comes to lead guitar is a good understanding of melodies and the ability to play melodies from your head. That is what lead guitar is really about.
A hoopy frood knows where his towel is....
Yes, I think it would help to map out the fretboard, but if it was me, I wouldn't worry about all the keys and scales; just pick a favorite one - one that you might find yourself playing in normally - and find all the scale patterns (for now, just stick with major; the others will come later), up and down the neck. You know, all those 'boxes' or shapes of the scale patterns. And as you're doing this, you'll find all the 'connections' between the boxes so it all becomes one big scale from the bottom of the fretboard to the top (or near the top).
It's good to know the big pattern and be able to start a scale from any position on the neck and work up or down from there.
However, melody is not scales, as I think we all know. Melody is 'contained' within scales (and arpeggios), but a melody isn't a scale. In order to get to melody, the melodic ideas in your head, you have to almost forget about scales. In fact, it's better sometimes to work on melody away from your instrument. Away from any instrument. Go have a walk or a drive, and start humming the first thing that comes to mind. Doesn't matter if you know what key it's in or what scale you're doing. Instinctively, you will start humming in the key most comfortable to your particular voice. Just start humming, maybe just one single note, and then try to 'hear' inwardly, what the next note would be. Hum that, then the next and the next. And as you're doing this, you'll realize the notes aren't all metronomic; they vary in length, the take into consideration your breath; melody isn't all eighth notes going up and down a scale. Melody=melody; it's as simple as that.
That said, it's impossible to 'practice' melody, or melodic concept 'while' practicing scales and arpeggios. The two things, though related, are not the same thing, so one will not necessarily improve the other. Step away from the instrument and hum - or sing - and don't worry about whether it sounds good or the intervals are perfect, or even if your intonation is perfect. It's about connectingyour inner aural sense to the instrument that's easiest to 'play' - your voice. Make that connection - inner to outer - and you start to see how it's got to work. If there's nothing there inside, nothing but scales will come out. Luckily, we ALL have that inner music; it's just that most times it's not focused on, or even noticed. It's far too soft most times, to most people and gets covered over by other thoughts and ideas and worries and normal everyday thoughts and considerations. So you can 'practice melody' in a way; but it's practicing the connection between your mental music and bringing out aloud through your voice. With practice you can focus on what's already there and the music/melodic part becomes louder in comparison to the other, more mundane thoughts. It's like turning up that 'channel' and the other things fade into the background a little.
The main cool thing about practicing this way is you can do it anywhere, anytime. You don't need frets or keyboard keys or anything at all. Just you and your mind. Really portable.
And the thing is, it has immediate benefits; just a little bit of this purposeful focus and the next time you pick up your instrument, you realize you're hearing stuff; and then the scales and arps and everthing come back to mind and you can start to 'find' that melody on your instrument. Maybe you don't 'see' it laid out on the fretboard, but you'll hear a note, find it on the strings, hear the second one and 'know' that it's up a fret or two or down. And the more you practice it, hearing and then playing, you'll imagine larger intervals and 'know' that it's over on the next string or the third string over.
BUT, start hearing it first. Hear and Hum - without your instrument.
Hope this helps.
I like what andrewlubinus89 said. I think you have to spend a lot of time playing melodies. I mean all sorts of melodies. It is important to listen to all types of music as well.
Saying this, much Rock and Blues solos are not melodies at all, but phrases or ideas.
Take for example this lick:
e----------12---------12---------12---------12-
b------12----------12---------12---------12----
g--14^---------14^--------14^--------14^-------
d----------------------------------------------
a----------------------------------------------
e----------------------------------------------
There must be literally ten thousand Rock and Blues solos that have this common lick. You have heard it hundreds of times. But the way Chuck Berry played this lick and Jimi Hendrix might sound quite different.
But many Rock and Blues solos are built on "cliches" like this as I learned them. So there is almost no melody, just individual expressions of popular phrases or ideas. Many of these phrases or ideas are more "sonic" than musical or melody. They are used to express emotion. It's all about making the guitar SCREAM.
Very difficult to explain, but I hope you get the idea.
If you know something better than Rock and Roll, I'd like to hear it - Jerry Lee Lewis
Scales and arpegios are extremely important to good lead playing in any style. A very deep knowledge of those two subjects alone will put you ahead of 90% of the other players out there in terms of being able to play what you imagine.
"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
I agree with what wes said but the ability to play what you hear in your head still will help you play licks even if their not particularly melodic. But this is kind of a tangent. Basically I think we have so far map out the fretboard but also focus on the other aspects of lead playing.
A hoopy frood knows where his towel is....
Bottom line is: knowing what you can play when you can play it is good. What sounds good is a subjective matter and dependant on your personal creativity. Knowing what combinations will create tension or conclusion is just ammo for your ideas. That's where simple memorization all of a sudden becomes this wicked tool. That's why theory does truly rock and also why I suck so bad. :oops: Personally I don't think mapping out your guitar is necessarily a great Idea. Go ahead and memorize scales but music is supposed to be about listening. If you can hear theory, what you write down or visualize will a result of what you play instead of vice versa.
Thanks alot everyone, they are all good ideas. For now I'm going to really work on playing leads, starting off easy of course. I know my theory pretty well so that's not really a concern, I guess the more leads i work on, the better I will get.
Steve-0
