Essential Scales for Blues, Rock, Metal and Jazz Guitar

This lesson explains what a scale actually is and what makes each scale unique. It will also break down the whole fretboard in a way that makes it a little less menacing to think about. at the end of this lesson you will understand what intervals are and how intervals are the building blocks that make up scales.

In this video you will learn the difference between a minor scale and a major scale, the differences in the natural minor scale and the minor pentatonic scale and most importantly, you will learn the first position or shape of the minor pentatonic scale.

In this lesson you will begin to learn how to apply the Minor Pentatonic scale to actual music. After completing this lesson you will be ready to start improvising over the jam track provided in the next lecture.

This is just a demonstration of how you can apply the first shape of the minor pentatonic scale over the 12-bar blues jam track (coming up in the next lesson). The demo is purposely kept simple - no bends, no vibrato, no hammer-ons, etc. This is to demonstrate that music can already be made by just knowing one shape of the minor pentatonic.

This is a 12-bar blues jam track in A minor. Use the jam track to practice improvising using the minor pentatonic scale in the key of A. You can also use this jam track later when you learn the Blues scale.

The chord changes will appear in the top, left corner of the video.

An mp3 version is available for download under the resources tab.

In this video you will learn the second position of the minor pentatonic scale.

It's time to break out of the box! This video will show you how to connect the two shapes you have learned so that you can move effortlessly between the shapes.

In this video you will learn the third shape of the minor pentatonic.

Here you will learn the final pattern of the minor pentatonic scale and also learn how you will now be able to play the scale anywhere on the neck.

In this video, you will learn how to move the scale patterns that you have learned so that you can play in any key.

In this video you will see how you can use a metronome to get the most out of your practice sessions. You will start off practicing the shapes you already know using 8th notes and then move on to practicing the shapes using triplets. The use of the subdivision feature on the metronome will help you emphasize the different rhythmic groupings.

This is the first of four variations that you can use to practice the minor pentatonic scale. Incorporate this into your practice and your technique and phrasing will greatly improve.

Here is another practice routine you can use when practicing the minor pentatonic scale (or any other scale). This can easily be incorporated when you improvise over a chord progression.

The pattern you will learn in this video is a group of 6 notes. It is great not only for alternate picking but also for hammer-ons and pull-offs.

Now we will expand upon what we learned in the section on the minor pentatonic scale. You will learn the blues scale along with a couple of extra "blue notes" that you can use to go beyond the blues scale.

In this video, you will learn the 2nd position of the blues scale.

This video shows you the 3rd position of the minor blues scale. The flat 5 shows up in this pattern three times for 3x the bluesy goodness.

This video will show you the 4th position of the blues scale.

In this video you will learn the 5th position of the blues scale. You will also learn how you can use string bending to get to the blue note instead of fretting the note. Finally, you'll learn how you can use the blue note in the turnaround at the end of the 12-bar blues progression.

In this lesson you will learn how diatonic chords are built on the scale degrees of a scale.

If you play a lot of rock, metal, or even blues, you will find yourself playing a lot of power chords. This video will explain what power chords are and how playing power chords, as opposed to triads, can affect your choice of scales.

In this lesson you will learn the first scale shape for the natural minor scale.

In this lesson you will learn the second scale shape for the natural minor scale.

The chord progression in this jam track consists of chords that are diatonic to the D natural minor scale. You can improvise over it using the Natural Minor scale. You should also experiment with using the minor pentatonic and blues scales. an mp3 of the jam track is available under the resources tab.

3-note-per-string scales were popularized by guys like Paul Gilbert. Using 3-note-per-string scales, you can evenly group notes in three or six note patterns to achieve that extra burst of speed. These scale patterns also lend themselves to moving up and down the fretboard.

The harmonic minor has been around for centuries but became very popular with rock and metal players in the 80s with the emergence of Yngwie Malmsteen. He certainly wasn't the first rock or metal player to use the harmonic minor scale but there is no question that Yngwie spawned a neoclassical movement in the late 80s and early 90s that made heavy use of harmonic minor.

Melodic minor can, in many cases, substitute for the harmonic minor. The raised 6th can result in a smoother melody than what you might hear with harmonic minor.

Harmonic Minor and Melodic Minor Jam Track in C

With this jam track you can use a combination of all of the scales you have learned.

This chord progression contains a G minor chord and a G major chord. The G in the key of c minor is the V chord. Remember that in the natural minor scale, the chord built on the 5th degree of the scale is a minor chord. The first G chord in the progression that you encounter is diatonic to the C Natural Minor.

Near the end of the progression, we want a stronger resolution back to C, so we used the raised 7th degree in our G chord making it a G Major instead of a G minor. Over the G Major chord, you can use harmonic minor or melodic minor.

Another chord to pay attention to is the D diminished chord. While the jam track is playing, you will see it labeled as D Diminished but actually it is a D diminished 7 chord which contains the raised 7th, also. So, once again you can use harmonic minor or melodic minor.

The cool thing about the chord progression is that the last 4 chords (D diminished, G Major, C minor, and G Major) will all sound great using harmonic or melodic minor.

The chord progression is C minor, G minor, F minor, Ab minor, D diminished, G major, C minor, G major.

My suggestion would be to use C minor pentatonic, C blues, or C natural minor over the first four chords and use harmonic minor and melodic minor over the last four chords. The chord progression repeats four times.

Have fun!