Members Siwash Posted April 11, 2008 Members Posted April 11, 2008 I play basic folk, folk rock and country and bluegrass stuff. So I'm mostly strumming chords. But I'd like to add some lead runs over things, between verses or as a kind of instrumental. What good are scales? Where do they fit into things? I'm under the impression that scales are mostly used by heavy metal players, for shredding. If you can illuminate me, shine a light. Thanks. Signed,Clueless
Members jonfinn Posted April 11, 2008 Members Posted April 11, 2008 I play basic folk, folk rock and country and bluegrass stuff. So I'm mostly strumming chords.But I'd like to add some lead runs over things, between verses or as a kind of instrumental.What good are scales? Where do they fit into things? I'm under the impression that scales are mostly used by heavy metal players, for shredding.If you can illuminate me, shine a light. Thanks.Signed,Clueless Nah. Scales are used all over the place. Shredder do talk about them alot tho. I hope my answer doesn't seem flip because I don't mean it to be. But you've asked some pretty big questions that will take time for you to wrap your head around. There are no "good" or "bad" scales. Scales are simply a group of notes that, taken together, create a certain sound. I tend to think of them like letters in an alphabet. There are so many scale possibilities! If you're a complete beginner looking for a place to start, you can try these: -Major -Natural Minor-Pentatonic Major-Pentatonic Minor I'm not sure it matters where you start actually. But those are pretty commonly used by players of almost any style. Best of luck! Jon (PS: if anyone here has the inkling, maybe someone can post an example of each. It might make a good "beginner" resource!)
Members Siwash Posted April 11, 2008 Author Members Posted April 11, 2008 Thanks. I've done a lot of scales on the piano. I'm just not certain about how to stick them into guitar playing. Do you strum two or three chords, stop and do a scale, then hit another chord?
Members mosiddiqi Posted April 12, 2008 Members Posted April 12, 2008 Thanks. I've done a lot of scales on the piano. I'm just not certain about how to stick them into guitar playing. Do you strum two or three chords, stop and do a scale, then hit another chord? Rather than think of scales, think of melody. Remember that the chords you strum are nothing but notes of a scale played together. Think of a simple melody and then try pick it out on the guitar. Some common scales as suggested by jonfinn are below in C in one position. C Major, C natural minor, C Major Pentatonic and C minor pentatonic |---------------------------------7-8-|------------------------------------8---| |----------------------------8-10-----|-----------------------------8-9-11-----| |---------------------7-9-10----------|----------------------7-8-10------------| |--------------7-9-10-----------------|-----------------8-10-------------------| |-------7-8-10------------------------|---------8-10-11------------------------| |--8-10-------------------------------|-8-10-11--------------------------------| |-------------------5-8-|--------------------------8-11----| |---------------5-8-----|---------------------8-11---------| |-----------5-7---------|----------------8-10--------------| |-------5-7-------------|-----------8-10-------------------| |---5-7-----------------|------8-10------------------------| |-8---------------------|-8-11-----------------------------| An example could be something like the below if you were changing from Cmajor to Aminor. The "lead bit" is a simple melody joining the two chords and the notes are taken from the Cmajor pentatonic: |-----8------------------|-5----| |-----8---------5--------|-5----| |-----9---------5h7-5----|-5----| |----10-----5h7----------|-7----| |----10-5h7--------------|-7----| |--8--8------------------|-5----| For me, the master at mixing chord/lead playing in a rock context was Jimi Hendrix..check out "little wing" as a perfect example. Hope this helps!
Members Ian Hand Posted April 14, 2008 Members Posted April 14, 2008 Good stuff from jonfinn and mosiddiqi. As you play folk, country and bluegrass I would suggest looking at using 'Alternate Bass Notes' (Such as C and G for an C Major chord or A and E for an A Major chord). You could also look into Single note bass runs and fills. The Tab below shows how you could link a 'C Chord' to an 'F chord' and then another 'C Chord' |---0-----0-----0--------|---1--------1--------|---0-- |---1-----1-----1--------|---1--------1--------|---1-- |---0-----0-----0--------|---2--------2--------|---0-- |---2-----2-----2--0--2--|3--------3--3--2--0--|---2-- |3-----------3--3--------|------3--------------|3----- |------3-----------------|---------------------|------
Members gennation Posted April 14, 2008 Members Posted April 14, 2008 The I-IV-V progression is used a lot in Bluesgrass...here's a sample... || G | G | C | C | G | G | D | D || Not sure that's really a song or not, but you can use it to play some scales over. Major scales are used all the time in Bluesgrass, and being able to play them, and a couple of variations of them, will take you a long way in Bluesgrass and Country in general. Some common ones are the open position scales: G Major Scale - played over the G chord... E---------------------------------------0--2--3- B------------------------------0--1--3---------- G------------------------0--2------------------- D---------------0--2--4------------------------- A------0--2--3---------------------------------- E---3-------------------------------------------- A common scale variation/pattern used over a G chord in Bluegrass and Country is this: G or G7 E--------------------------------------------0--1--3- B-------------------------------0--1--2--3----------- G---------------------0--2--3------------------------ D---------------0--2--------------------------------- A------0--1--2---------------------------------------- E---3------------------------------------------------- That's nothing more than a variation of a G Major Scale played in the open position. The scales in open positions are used all the time in tradition Bluegrass, many of the "flatpickers" favor it. They tend to play a few different variations of the scale, like the first one I showed you. Here's the C Major scale in the open position - play this over the C chord: E------------------------------0--1--3------------ B---------------------0--1--3--------------------- G---------------0--2---------------------------- D------0--2--3------------------------------------ A---3-------------------------------------------- E----------------------------------------------- Here's a Bluegrassed variation of C Major: E----------------------------------0--1--2--3--- B-------------------------0--1--3--------------- G---------------0--2--3------------------------- D------0--1--2---------------------------------- A---3------------------------------------------- E----------------------------------------------- Here the D Major scale - play this over the D chord: E---------------------------0--2--3-- B------------------0--2--3----------- G------------0--2-------------------- D---0--2--4-------------------------- A------------------------------------ E------------------------------------ Here's a variation of the D scale: E--------------------------------0--2--3-- B--------------------0--1--2--3----------- G--------------0--2----------------------- D---0--2--3-4----------------------------- A------------------------------------------ E------------------------------------------ Have fun!
Members mcmurray Posted April 16, 2008 Members Posted April 16, 2008 Rather than think of scales, think of melody. Remember that the chords you strum are nothing but notes of a scale played together. Exactly. By themselves, scales are nothing more than a collection of notes you can use played in sequence. The goal is to play the melodies you hear in your head, hopefully this discussion will help you: http://www.jsguitarforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=56336
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