Guitar Scale Patterns

Lead Guitar Scales – Which to Choose?

Of all the lead guitar scales that are available to choose from, which one should you choose to solo in?

Well, for starters, there may be fewer lead guitar scales to choose from than you might be thinking there are! Many guitar teachers will tell you that you need to learn all seven modes, and learn how to solo in each of the seven.

Now I’m not going to argue that the modes are a valid way of looking at guitar scales; because clearly many great players have used this approach successfully.

However, I DO think that approaching the guitar with a modes-based mentality is outdated, and that there is a more efficient way.

Modes came out of classical piano theory, and they work great on the piano.

The problem comes when people go about applying piano theory to guitar theory…

Clearly, the guitar fretboard is a vastly different environment than the piano keyboard. So, picking lead guitar scales to play with should work differently as well.

In the Guitar Scale Patterns course, I teach just three main positions to solo from, and by using these three positions (patterns) you can very effectively cover the entire fretboard in every key.

Specifically, the two most important scales off the 6th string (I call this Root 6): the major scale and the relative minor scale. The third pattern I use is nearly identical to the Root 6 relative minor, it is the Root 5 relative minor. You’re actually playing the exact same notes as the relative minor scale, you’re just starting in a different place.

I don’t know about you, but personally I far prefer only having to remember three lead guitar scales than seven!

Lead Guitar Scales – Which to Choose?

So, let’s get back to the original question: which of the lead guitar scales should we use when soloing?

With just three options to choose from, this becomes a much simpler question to answer. Typically, I will make my selection based on where I want to be playing on the fretboard. If I want to start off the solo in the lower range, then I pick the relevant pattern that is represented in the lower part of the fretboard, and often towards the end of a solo, I will end up in the higher regions, in a different pattern. There are various ways of connecting these scales, which I get into in the course.

My all time favorite of the lead guitar scales is the relative minor pattern (root 6); the minor scale is simply beautiful on the guitar both for its sound and how the fingerings line up. The minor scale is easier to solo with than the major scale, even though many people teach you to solo using the major scale.

If you find the fretboard complicated and confusing, then you really need to checkout the Guitar Scale Patterns course. Choosing lead guitar scales does not have to be a complicated process; it can be intuitive and straightforward, if you approach it right.

[content_box_blue_50Percent]Jonathan,

Just a quick note to let you know that I have enjoyed both of your videos immensely.

I have been struggling with the theory aspect of guitar for almost 40 years now.

For the first time in my life, I am starting to make sense of the scales, chords, modes, intervals and how they all relate to one another and work together to make music a fun and enjoyable experience once again.

I have never considered myself to be a person of inferior intelligence, but the confusion that I had with these concepts has led to an endless amount of frustration on my part.

Thank you for taking the time to put this together, and explain it in a way that the average person can understand.

For the first time in my life, every aspect of my playing is improving faster than I ever thought was possible.

Please keep up the good work and keep me informed of any future projects.

Sincerely,

Dave Wedra, South Carolina
www.FortMillPhotography.com
[/content_box_blue_50Percent]

If you want to know what Dave is talking about, you can find the Guitar Scale Patterns course here. You’ll never approach lead guitar scales the same again!

Guitar Scale Patterns

The Pentatonic Minor Scale

The pentatonic scale is the first scale any guitar player should learn. It is the easiest, and also the most important, of all the guitar scales. Even if you never learn another scale in your life, if you master the pentatonic scale, you’ll go far — it’s that important!

Am Pentatonic Scale

The scale in this video is the minor pentatonic scale, and the scale pattern for it is below. The numbers represent your fingers; index being 1, pinky being 4. The red note is the root, and the others are octaves of that same note.

E: |–1–|—–|—–|–4–| — 1st string
B: |–1–|—–|—–|–4–|
G: |–1–|—–|–3–|—–|
D: |–1–|—–|–3–|—–|
A: |–1–|—–|–3–|—–|
E: |–1–|—–|—–|–4–| — 6th string

The tab starts at the 5th fret (Am Pentatonic position)

You can see the whole fretboard in the diagram on the right. The red notes are the root notes. Try to get used to seeing how the scale repeats itself. Every time you see a red note, that’s the octave, and it means the scale is starting over again.

The Next Step

If this pentatonic scale has shown you a small glimpse of what is possible with scales and patterns on your guitar, then go checkout the Guitar Scale Patterns lesson.

Before you stop and say “But a 2 hour lesson on scales?? B-O-R-I-N-G!” consider that plenty of people have written to tell me that these patterns are making a difference in their playing that they never though possible before.

Once you begin to see how the guitar works, it becomes far from boring to learn about the fretboard – in fact, I bet you become as amazed at the fretboard as I am!

Click Here For The Scale Patterns Guitar Lesson

Guitar Scale Patterns

Pentatonic Connecting Run

You may or may not be familiar with the different box patterns in which you can play scales on your guitar. That’s something I get into in a lot more detail in my Guitar Scale Patterns lesson.

To explain these very simply; the boxes you see on the free cheat sheet you downloaded indicate different places where you can play the scale.

In the video below, I demonstrate a connecting pattern that you can use to move in between three different box patterns. This connecting pattern, or run, is super handy because you can start your solo down in the lower registers, then move it up the neck to really build things up. It’s easy to play, and sounds really cool.

In the Guitar Scale Patterns lesson I teach this particular run in much more detail than you’ll see below, but I wanted to give you an idea of what you can do with the patterns.

Click Here To Get The Guitar Scale Patterns Lesson Now

Guitar Scale Patterns

The Octave Pattern (8th)

The octave is one of the simpler patterns you’ll find on the fretboard, but it is nevertheless incredibly handy in helping figure out specific note names. I use it all the time.

When you’ve got this pattern stuck in your brain, it saves you the need to memorize all of the notes on the fretboard, which, to be honest, is a fair amount of memorization.

Why not take advantage of the pattern, and do less than half the work?

As you’ll see in this short video, that’s very possible.

The octave pattern is just one of the many patterns that I teach in the full Guitar Scale Patterns lesson. In that lesson you’ll learn how the entire fretboard is covered in patterns, and how you can use those patterns to speed up your guitar playing, and reduce the brainpower needed to create licks and solos! Playing by pattern is much easier than reading music!

Questions? Comments? Leave one below the video….

Click Here To Get The Guitar Scale Patterns Lesson Now

Guitar Scale Patterns

The Fretboard in the Key of E (Cheat Sheet)

As promised, here is the download link to the cheat sheet that has all the notes in the key of E.

As you can see, there are four different scale patterns shown in boxes. E major is shown both in open position as well as at the 12th fret in the standard box shape.

In orange you will see all of the E’s marked on the fretboard. Pay close attention, because this is an important gaming pattern (the octave).

Download the Cheat Sheet

(Right click on the link and select ‘Save Target As’)

Basically, each box represents a spot where you can play the scale in the key of E. These are all diatonic – not pentatonic. I’ll explain the difference there in another post.

Click Here To Get The Guitar Scale Patterns Lesson Now

IMPORTANT:

If you’re just getting started with guitar scales, its quite possible this cheat sheet might be a bit over your head. I go into quite a bit of detail on the patterns on this sheet, as well as many more in the Guitar Scale Patterns lesson. It is over 2 hours of video, going into detail on the online gaming different patterns that are on the guitar fretboard – why they’re there, how to find them, and most importantly, how to use them.

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Click Here To Get The Guitar Scale Patterns Lesson Now

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