What scales do you practice the most?

[jr_vw2]

When you are Practicing what are your go to scales that you practice the most?

[Flintc]

I try to spend time working on all 7 major scale forms, not just playing scales but taking a few dozen simple melodies and playing all of them in every form to learn the patterns and intervals.

 

Also the basic 5 pentatonic forms, which are the same for major and minor except for where the roots are.

 

And a certain amount of time practicing the basic diminished (whole-half-whole-half) and whole-tone scales. But these are used basically for runs and arpeggios while chords are changing.

[DaleH]

#2 ^^^

[Rekel]

 

When you are Practicing what are your go to scales that you practice the most?

 

 

I don't practice scales.

[CoqBelliqueux]

I tune the guitar and I start playing.

[IamBurnout]

I don't practice scales.

 

Fretboard memorization took care of that.

 

Techniques, however....

[kirs]

I rarely practice scales. It made me play too linear and boxy. Now-a-days I just throw on a backing track and practice/create phrases and melodies for that key.

[jr_vw2]

I'm glad to know I'm not the only one that doesn't practice scales. I usually just plug up and play. Try to come up with new riff ideas.

[jhorne]

scales?

 

practice?

[profgalen]

I usually practice over some chord progressions recorded into a RC2 looper pedal. Lately I've been practicing two modes of the Melodic Minor Scale ( a major scale with a flatted 3rd ). The fourth and seventh modes. The fourth works over any dominant chord ( 7th, 9th, 13th, etc. ). For example play the F MM over a Bb13th chord, making Bb the root. Play the seventh mode over any altered chord ( b5, #5, b9, #9 ). For example Bb MM over A7b9 chord, making A the root. As a rule these scales change with the chord, so the trick is keeping everything sounding melodic. Fretboard memorization is just the beginning. I hope this isn't to confusing.

[scuzzo]

mostly just melodic ideas.. no scale practice.. should but dont..

[DavidMgT]

I don't really favor one scale over the other. I've been working on Harmonic minor scales and their modes lately. This week I have been experimenting with A harmonic minor - the chord voices and arpeggios you can get are very dissonant, but in a very melodic way

[mister natural]

dorian & be-bop scales

[Doctor49]

At the moment, any scale form that can be played off a full barre.

 

 

Just out of interest I am seeing if I can improve my second third and fourth finger skills by only playing off a barre..............and it seems to be working.

[twotimingpete]

"scales" and "practice" is so NOT punk rock

[Scott Abene]

Modes... all positions all keys...

[Ferdinandstrat]

Pentatonic, blues, minor harmonic, phrygian, arabic and some seriously made up {censored}.

[profgalen]

Another very cool scale I recently pick up is called the Indian Pentatonic. Play a Minor Pentatonic but make the minor third a major third. Like A-C#-D-E-G over an A major chord. You can hear George Harrison use this in a lot of songs. Also in my band we do a cover of Pepper by The Butthole Surfers and this is THE scale.

[cratz2]

Playing string instruments, I practiced scales until they made me want to puke.

 

If I'm noodling around and stuck in a scale, it's very often A Harmonic Minor. I feel it's a little more versatile than the E Harmonic Minor for a single guitarist, because you can do the 'down a 4th to open E' for a bold accent.

 

Nothing wrong with playing scales like a mad bastard though. It gets you playing, but muscle memory being what it is, I feel it definitely leads to VERY scalar playing. Said another way, Rhoads and Malmsteen probably practiced scales absolutely non stop. Gilmour and Knopfler probably very rarely. I love Rhoads and Malmsteen but I'd much rather sound like Gilmour or Knopfler.

[guitarman3001]

I've been playing for over 20 years and know a whopping 4 box patterns. Two for pentatonic and two for major/minor scales.

 

Not much point in practicing them. I don't know much but I get by ok with what I do know.

[Roy]

i'm lookin for ways to come up with something new. i like how jazz let's you replace normal chords with weird ass stuff but i like how rock n roll has more balls, so i've tried to combine the two.

 

i usually hang out in mixo with lots of quick trips to minor pent. for flavor, i'll throw in a whole tone scale. lately i've been screwing with the whole/half symmetric scale, what a bitch. still tryin to figure out some easier pents on that one.

[robertkoa]

I usually play shapes and vertical stuff to come up with interesting motifs and play across the strings and skips to try to come up with maybe something we haven't heard 100 times before and I have a simple way to pick these which is NOT sweeping though people think that's what it is.

 

But I noticed since I rarely play scales, I've recently had to practice pentatonics again (!) to have proper chops on 'em, but for actual playing even ripping a pentatonic , I feel like I have to try to end on some cool notes, like a triad which makes the listener interpret what key the pentatonic was in.

[the_gunslinger]

What I practice day to day changes all the time. I know all kinds of scales scales and arpeggio's but here's my take on scales if anyone care's.

 

My calculus teacher once told me that all the algebra I learned throughout school was the easy stuff, and he often referred to it as 'back pocket algebra'. That's also how I personally look at scales too. For me, diatonic and major and minor pentatonics are the basics, the easy stuff, so I often refer to them as 'back pocket' scales. This is the stuff that should be so ingrained into your brain so you can find your way around the neck with ease.

 

One of my favorite scales is the harmonic minor scale, and Japanese pentatonics. The Hirojoshi scale is very similar to the harmonic minor scale. It mixes very well with the harmonic minor, and I love ending phrases with it as it sounds very exotic, which is what I strive for personally in my playing, which leads me to another point: You can learn all the scales you want, but the most important thing is learning to phrase with them. Phrasing, in my opinion is the most important part of learning how to solo, as this is where you define who you are and what you sound like.

 

Sorry, bit of a CSB, but just my two cents.

[metallica_00]

None, I try to forget about scales and let my ears take me to the notes I want.

[Rekel]

None, I try to forget about scales and let my ears take me to the notes I want.

 

The only scale I use sometimes is this one: