Oen Reason You Need to Learn your Scales

SweetWaterBlue

SweetWaterBlue

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We get the question, "Why do I need to learn scales?" here a lot. There are multiple reasons, but here is probably the best one. When you get together with a group in a jam session and you don't all play together every day its nice to be able to just do a jazz solo like Ken and the boys do here. What more motivation do you need?

 
Great example SWB! These guys know their way around the fretboard. Actually a bit intimidating...

Much simpler solos (fewer notes, slower pace) can also work well. And to your point, they all start with knowing the scale.
 
Here is another way to do it that doesn't even require you to know the scales. It relies only on knowing alternate chords up and down the neck. As long as you play only the notes in that chord in your solo, it will sound in tune with the others.

[video]http://ukuleleunderground.com/2009/08/uke-minutes-57-easy-blues-solos/[/video]

See also Aldrine's videos on boxing chords, where he shows you how to see what all the notes in the scale are for any movable chord.

Hope this helps someone struggling to figure out how these guys can wail away like they do without necessarily knowing the song being played.
 
thanks for thsi!!
 
dktoller said:
Much simpler solos (fewer notes, slower pace) can also work well. And to your point, they all start with knowing the scale.
Click to expand...

Very true! Simple solos can work really well, as long as you are playing some right notes. Often slow solos actually sound better than fast one.
 
I've been playing the guitar on and off for years and never really got past learning chords. Recently I decided to take a few lessons and my teacher taught me an A minor scale, put on a blues backing track and told me to just play random notes up and down the scale. I was astounded at how cool it sounded and have now made it my mission to learn the scales, and the notes on the neck, of both guitar and uke.
 
Are there online sources that are good for learning scales? I haven't researched this at all, so this might be a dumb question.
 
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