Scales scales scales

[Drop1]

Give me some scales!

You guys may have seen from some other of my post I never really bothered learning the notes on the neck. I made it 30 years without knowing that info. It kinda like not learning to read, but still being able to speak.

Now that I have, I've been playing with scales a bit. I'll work out the scales for every song I play, just so I know, but also have been playing with the scales themselves as well.

It's interesting to see how much I abuse certian scales when just playing. It's also kind of sad how little of cetian scales I've been using. Basically anything I deemed uncomfortable just didn't get used. Frequently jumping back and forth between 4 frets is a good example. I can do it, it's just not the path of least resistance, so it rarely gets done when noodling.

But now that I can see how things fit together, I find myself wanting and intentionally playing in less comfortable positions.
Some scales just sound so good. You almost don't even need to try. I really wished I had learned this stuff a long time ago. It's refreshing to have so many options.

Figured I'd ask, what scales do you guys find attractive/fun to just groove in? Any weird scales out there I should be looking out for?

 

[Bass]

Look at Pacmans method for practicing scales:

https://www.talkbass.com/threads/pacmans-sure-fire-scale-practice-method.50170/

Try this method, learn some scales, and learn notes on the fretboard at the same time.

 

[RyanOh]

Anthony Wellington has this approach to learning the entire neck.


It's not exactly what you asked, but modes are just major scale variations.

 

[enricogaletta]

Give me some scales!

You guys may have seen from some other of my post I never really bothered learning the notes on the neck. I made it 30 years without knowing that info. It kinda like not learning to read, but still being able to speak.

Now that I have, I've been playing with scales a bit. I'll work out the scales for every song I play, just so I know, but also have been playing with the scales themselves as well.

It's interesting to see how much I abuse certian scales when just playing. It's also kind of sad how little of cetian scales I've been using. Basically anything I deemed uncomfortable just didn't get used. Frequently jumping back and forth between 4 frets is a good example. I can do it, it's just not the path of least resistance, so it rarely gets done when noodling.

But now that I can see how things fit together, I find myself wanting and intentionally playing in less comfortable positions.
Some scales just sound so good. You almost don't even need to try. I really wished I had learned this stuff a long time ago. It's refreshing to have so many options.

Figured I'd ask, what scales do you guys find attractive/fun to just groove in? Any weird scales out there I should be looking out for?

Have you ever tried to work with open fingering and in vertical mode adding low and high extensions?

 

[Drop1]

Have you ever tried to work with open fingering and in vertical mode adding low and high extensions?

I dont even know what means. I may do it already and just not know it.

 

[FatStringer52]

In addition to Pacmans approach and the modes of the major scale, I would highly recommend that you acquaint yourself with the Harmonic and Melodic Minor scales. They will provide you with some unique scales within them as well as providing the much needed dominant fifth to achieve the perfect cadence in songs written in a minor key.

 

[mambo4]

before you go too far down the road of obscure scales:
can you harmonize a major scale?

understanding chords and chord progressions is more useful than understanding lots of scales

 

[noeinstein]

before you go too far down the road of obscure scales:
can you harmonize a major scale?

understanding chords and chord progressions is more useful than understanding lots of scales

I agree with @mambo4, and thought I'd share this brief explanation:

Harmonizing a major scale involves building chords on each degree of the scale using notes that are part of the scale. Here’s a basic way to do this for a major scale:

1. Identify the Scale: Determine which major scale you're using. For example, C major consists of C, D, E, F, G, A, and B.
2. Build Triads: Starting with each note of the scale, build a triad (a three-note chord) by stacking two more notes on top, each a third above the previous. In a major scale, you use only the notes within the scale. This results in:
   • I (Tonic) - A major chord on the first degree of the scale.
   • ii (Supertonic) - A minor chord on the second degree.
   • iii (Mediant) - A minor chord on the third degree.
   • IV (Subdominant) - A major chord on the fourth degree.
   • V (Dominant) - A major chord on the fifth degree.
   • vi (Submediant) - A minor chord on the sixth degree.
   • vii° (Leading Tone) - A diminished chord on the seventh degree.
3. Use in Progressions: These chords can be combined in various ways to create chord progressions that underpin melodies. For example, a common progression in the key of C major could be C (I) - F (IV) - G (V) - C (I).
4. Expand with Sevenths and Beyond: To add more color and tension, you can extend these chords to seventh chords or higher extensions like ninths, elevenths, and thirteenths, still using notes from the major scale.

This process not only creates a harmonically rich background but also provides a framework for improvisation and arrangement in various music styles.

 

[Phaidrus]

Currently and curiously I'm into post punk / goth, so Dorian, Phrygian, Aeolian, Locrian are the order of the day.

 

[bass12]

I would focus on the scales that you will actually make use of in the music you play. This way you'll narrow the field considerably and will be more likely to "hear" the scale as it relates to the music. Knowing your basics well will take you a lot further than having a casual knowledge of a bunch of "fancy" stuff.

 

[Elmstreet]

Following, I'm wondering the same. My practice is very unstructured

 

[TyBo]

I spent considerable time back in the day playing scales. I think it's useful as a way of organizing perceptions of the fretboard, building finger dexterity and muscle memory, etc.
That being said, I recall reading an interview with jazz guitar great Herb Eliis where he said that he wasn't sure he could play a scale if you put a gun to his head. Possibly exaggerating a bit, but his point was that he was very much based in chords and chord tones in his playing. That kind of stuck with me, as perspective. Herb was pretty good.

 

[KenD]

Play all your favourite scales two octaves descending only and name the individual notes as or before (not after) you play them. A little Rufus Philpot trick

 

[Phaidrus]

I spent considerable time back in the day playing scales. I think it's useful as a way of organizing perceptions of the fretboard, building finger dexterity and muscle memory, etc.
That being said, I recall reading an interview with jazz guitar great Herb Eliis where he said that he wasn't sure he could play a scale if you put a gun to his head. Possibly exaggerating a bit, but his point was that he was very much based in chords and chord tones in his playing. That kind of stuck with me, as perspective. Herb was pretty good.

But chords come from and make sense in relation to scales, don‘t they.

 

[KenD]

But chords come from and make sense in relation to scales, don‘t they.

Yes, and Herb used approach and passing notes that very often would have been derived from the scale from the which the chord in question was derived. That Herb was such a kidder

 

[DrayMiles]

Pac-Man practices scales? How extraordinary.

 

[Discount Bassy]

A simple place to start using the scales that you already have in your toolbox is to vary the fingering of familiar patterns. Start the scale fingering the pinky rather than your index on the root. Try two, three and four notes per string as you ascend and descend. Run scales on single strings to practice position shifts to a metronome. Say and sing the notes as you go to get a feel for the intervals and play the root in between each step. Start at the top and work down and up rather than up and down. Any arbitrary challenge that engages you will improve your familiarity.

Play a simple phrase, maybe four notes or an interval wider than any adjacent scale steps using notes in the scale and then shift the riff up and down the scale steps only using "in" notes and try not to shift position. Arbitrary limitations in practice can enhance your playing when there are none.

If there is a scale you want to know, give it a week and play one mode exclusively each day. Eventually, the mechanics of the patterns disappear and you are chasing flavors you enjoy, looking for scales that taste good as words to describe what you are feeling musically. Find your favorites. Learn how to describe them. Don't think of theory as some sort of unapproachable puzzle, but rather a method of communication between musicians using words. The best inspiration to learn a language is having something that you want to say to others.

TL;DR: Screw around and challenge yourself with arbitrary musical mind games.

 

[micguy]

Pac-Man practices scales? How extraordinary.

Pac man is a game centered on patterns and discipline. So are scales when applied to our instrument.

 

[JimmyM]

I know scales but I try like heck to avoid using them on gigs because it sounds like running scales.

 

[bassfuser]

Check out Mark at Talkingbass. He has many useful lessons, free and paid. If you have the bucks it would be worth your time to purchase his "Ultimate Theory for Bass" courses. He also has courses for chords and scales with a bit more detail.

He occasionally has sales for his courses.