rreffner
Well-known member
What is it supposed to do?
What are the reasons for playing scales?
- Thread starter rreffner
- Start date
brickerenator
Well-known member
Couple of benefits I've seen:
1. Fingers are more nimble. Playing scales is a good way to work on your finger-picking.
2. Increased familiarity with your uke. Ever watched a good ukulele player do an improv?
That being said, I don't play nearly enough scales (they sound horrible on Mahalos).
1. Fingers are more nimble. Playing scales is a good way to work on your finger-picking.
2. Increased familiarity with your uke. Ever watched a good ukulele player do an improv?
That being said, I don't play nearly enough scales (they sound horrible on Mahalos).
retrozombi
Well-known member
The repetition moves the finding of notes for a given chord from a conscious search to a reflex.
freedive135
Well-known member
Finger exercises
Not having to look at the fretboard
I wondered the same thing when I first started the Uke and never bothered to learn/play the scales as all I did was strum songs.
Now that I am learning Guitar and picking notes in songs we are learning scales as part of the class and now I am learning the Uke scales too.
The thing is you need to learn not just the scale shapes but what the names of the notes and where they fall on the sheet music staff. It will help with what is called sight reading a piece of sheet music and with doing jam session solos too.
Not having to look at the fretboard
I wondered the same thing when I first started the Uke and never bothered to learn/play the scales as all I did was strum songs.
Now that I am learning Guitar and picking notes in songs we are learning scales as part of the class and now I am learning the Uke scales too.
The thing is you need to learn not just the scale shapes but what the names of the notes and where they fall on the sheet music staff. It will help with what is called sight reading a piece of sheet music and with doing jam session solos too.
Ukulele Jim
Well-known member
Does anyone have any good resources for learning scales? Preferably something really simple for people with no music theory training.
Susie A
Well-known member
Brad Bordessa
Well-known member
Scales themselves are really only good for finger exercises. But what studying the scales allows you to do is know the notes in a certain key (in the key of F the notes are: F G A Bb C D E F, etc...). This is important for many theory things, but probably most importantly for solos (impov, pa'ani). If you know the notes, you can stay "on the road" when you do a solo and not hit "unwanted" sounds. Just playing a scale is not a solo. You have to play a unique note and rhythm order for it to constitute as a solo.
Ukulele JJ
Super Moderator
If you just want to be able to play a major scale, then you can't get much simpler than this:
- If you don't already know what a major scale sounds like, rent "The Sound of Music" and listen to the "Do-Re-Me" song a few times.
- Pick any note on your ukulele. That your starting note ("do").
- Find the next note ("re"), then the next, and so on. Sure, I could tell you that the next note is such-and-such frets higher, etc. But you don't really need me to do that. It's actually not that hard to tell when you've picked correctly and when you haven't, once you're familiar with how the major scale is supposed to sound. Sing along if necessary (no kidding!)
- Repeat as needed, using different starting notes and trying different fingerings/strings.
Congratulations, now you know how to play scales!
Now if you want to know the names of the notes you're playing in all those different scales, or if you want to learn about modes and chords and other fun stuff, then that's going to take some study of theory. But just picking out a major scale is something anyone could probably sit down and do right now.
JJ
