Many kinds of music features solos on the guitar. Rock, classical, jazz, folk, and blues music have guitar solos in them. These might be performances of previously rehearsed phrases of music, or they might be improvised during the performance. In any case, soloing is made easier for anyone who takes the time to learn guitar scales.
It is possible to commit solos to memory, or to play them by reading music. Many people do this without understanding the relationships between the musical phrases they are playing. One can gain the ability to sight read, so that written music can be played the first time it is seen. However, this amazing ability does not necessarily help with the creation of original music.
For the musician who wants to experience the creation of music, either through composition or improvisation, learning the scales is a necessity. Beyond playing, transposition and substitution are important to understanding the fundamentals of Western music.
Fortunately, the guitar is one of the easier instruments on which to master this. By learning a single finger pattern on the fretboard for playing a major scale, one can easily play a lot of other scales. It is best to learn more than one pattern, however. Some patterns may be more comfortable to different people because of the various shapes of fingers out there.
Sliding a finger pattern to different positions on the neck makes it easy to transpose a scale to any major key. Relative minors of these keys are played using the same finger pattern, but starting on a different note. Next, these skills can be used to play familiar phrases. As an example, one can play a subset of the major scale notes to make the pentatonic scale used in jazz, rock and blues.
As one experiments with patterns and songs, the musical ear begins to develop a relationship with the fingers. One can then express musical ideas more easily. This facilitates the processes of composition and improvisation.
It is possible to commit solos to memory, or to play them by reading music. Many people do this without understanding the relationships between the musical phrases they are playing. One can gain the ability to sight read, so that written music can be played the first time it is seen. However, this amazing ability does not necessarily help with the creation of original music.
For the musician who wants to experience the creation of music, either through composition or improvisation, learning the scales is a necessity. Beyond playing, transposition and substitution are important to understanding the fundamentals of Western music.
Fortunately, the guitar is one of the easier instruments on which to master this. By learning a single finger pattern on the fretboard for playing a major scale, one can easily play a lot of other scales. It is best to learn more than one pattern, however. Some patterns may be more comfortable to different people because of the various shapes of fingers out there.
Sliding a finger pattern to different positions on the neck makes it easy to transpose a scale to any major key. Relative minors of these keys are played using the same finger pattern, but starting on a different note. Next, these skills can be used to play familiar phrases. As an example, one can play a subset of the major scale notes to make the pentatonic scale used in jazz, rock and blues.
As one experiments with patterns and songs, the musical ear begins to develop a relationship with the fingers. One can then express musical ideas more easily. This facilitates the processes of composition and improvisation.
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