Scale work is a basic part of many guitarists’ practice routine.

Teachers routinely assign scales and talk about the importance of “the 5 positions” or “CAGED theory”. This is useful information, to be sure, but many students are still left confused. Why exactly do we practice scales, and how do you use that knowledge to actually learn to solo?

1. Precision and accuracy

The ability to get your fingers to land where you want them to is pretty fundamental to good guitar playing. You can practice facility and accuracy with anything, provided you slow it down enough to stay in control of your fingers. But scales are a good way to develop technical skills because the movements are going to show up in the music you play. The same can’t be said of many pure finger exercises like “spider” patterns. These have their place, but for the most part these exercises are purely mechanical and have no real musical application outside of occasional sonic weirdness. (Which does have its place…check out Jimmy Page’s dissonant signature riff in the Firm’s “Radioactive” from 1985).

2. Fretboard mapping

Guitar is not a linear instrument like a piano. The notes on a single string are, in that moving up the neck one fret at a time walks through the chromatic scale just as striking every key on a keyboard would. While we do often play linear moves along the same string, a scale fingering is going to cross strings. Now instead of moving in a straight line, we’re navigating a matrix. 

This means there are multiple paths to the same place.

It’s possible to work through all the different combinations in an organized way, but most people don’t. To be fair, you might not need to. Lots of iconic players used the same patterns again and again, and it didn’t bother them or us. So it’s not necessarily true that you NEED to know every possible variation. The more options you have, the better, but not if it only creates confusion. 

With that said, once you’ve learned one form or pattern, that should help you learn the next one. If you are learning the “5 positions/CAGED” model, it will really help clarify things if you look at each shape as a variation on the last. For example, let’s say you’re starting with a familiar A minor pentatonic in the 5th position:

If we’re following the “5 positions model”, the next form would be played in the 7th position:

Rather than learning these as two unrelated things, look for the places the patterns overlap.

Notice the shared root note on the D string (in this case, at the seventh fret). Use this as an anchor or landmark, the same way you might use a 6th string bass note to identify a barre chord. 

Try playing simple melodic fragments in both positions, hitting the same notes with different fingering:

Don’t let this be dry, uninteresting work! Playing short scale fragments in different places is absolutely key to developing your fretboard knowledge and mental flexibility. Fluid players have absorbed the fingerings to a point where they think in ideas and phrases and the fingers know how to articulate them. But if all you do is run scales up and down the entire shape, that’s all your hands will know how to do. 

Remember that “licks” are just recognizable combinations of notes from a scale (or combined scales).

So you need to learn not just patterns but permutations. For example, here are a series of variations on a 4-note lick. They’re all derived from the same minor pentatonic form, and are related either through pitch, melodic shape, or rhythm. These relationships are what make them sound coherent as a series of unfolding variations. The consistent rhythm helps reinforce the sense of call and response, a very natural way of organizing phrases.

3. Ear training

If we’ve established that a scale pattern is a map, it would make sense for us to identify locations along the path. We can do this by note name, and there’s value to that information. But improvising musicians are not thinking of note names. Rather, most are listening to patterns and relative relationships.

An “A” root of a minor pentatonic scale sounds completely different when that same A is the seventh of a Bb major scale. 

We learn how to use the scales by identifying the individual notes not by name but by their quality and position in the sequence. This is a long process to master for most people, but it starts with listening. Label the notes as you play patterns: for a minor pentatonic, it’s root, minor 3rd, 4th, 5th, minor 7th. These are recognizable sounds, and the more closely you listen the more commonality you will begin to hear.

Most people’s ears are more sophisticated than they realize, once they know what to listen for. Rather than thinking of all of this as a series of mathematical formulas, think instead about colors, flavors, and feeling. Listen for tension and release, clash and blend, drama and calm. If you don’t “hear” it, keep listening. I like to use this example when teaching young students the difference between major and minor:

It usually gets a laugh, and it makes the point. You don’t have to be musically educated to listen for the difference between sounds. In fact, the way to get educated is to just start listening.

One great trick is to play scales against a drone (one consistent note).

Here is a useful YouTube playlist you can use for this purpose:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kQHsbDd1hllwmhD_0MZuhvuIu_P5zLCTI

Playing the scale against the drone lets you hear the differing degrees of tension between different notes of the scale. Try identifying small fragments according to the order of notes in the sequence:

• Root through the 3rd and back (1 2 3 2 1)
• Root through the fifth and back ( 1 2 3 4 5 4 3 2 1)
• Major triad (1 3 5 3 1)
• One octave scale (1 through 8)

If you try this exercise with every scale you learn, you will quickly have a better understanding of the musical elements each contains. The fingering pattern is only the first step of an ongoing process of mental mapping, ear training, and conscious exploration.

Remember, scales are not “boring but necessary”.

Learning scales is one way to get to know the fretboard while developing your facility and your ear. But it’s crucial for that practice to include music, not just locations on a fretboard.

Interested in more guitar lessons and courses? Check out JamPlay.com. JamPlay has over 450 guitar courses from 120+ instructors, and online guitar lessons tailored to every skill level, music genre, and playing style. Click here to learn more.

Dave Isaacs has established himself as a guitar teacher extraordinaire, having built a strong set of educational curriculums for beginner, intermediate, and advanced guitar players alike. Dave shares his expertise largely through video platforms, but also through his thoughtful writing. You can take guitar lessons from Dave Isaacs via his comprehensive video guitar courses on JamPlay.com.

Become a JamPlay member for unlimited access to 7000+ guitar lessons and 120+ artists and instructors. View membership plans ›

I hear frequently from students that they don’t know what to focus on, or how to organize their guitar practice time.

There’s so much material out there, and so many things to be interested in. How can you possibly find time to do it all? You can’t, of course. If you’re like most people, you carve out time to play guitar wherever your life allows it. So wondering whether you’re spending it productively is only natural. One good way to do this is to divide your guitar practice repertoire into categories:

• new material you’re learning

• songs in progress you’re working to improve

• songs you can comfortably play

One powerful approach is to establish a “practice pipeline”: a method and process to move a song from the first stage to the third. When time is limited, this is a great way to make sure you’re moving things forward. We do this by setting specific goals, depending on where in the process you are.

• Learning new material, the goal is to get to know the notes.
• Polishing material, the goal is to identify and work out the trouble spots.
• Performing material, the goal is to maintain a comfortable flow through the song.

Even if you only had time to work on one song in a given practice session, you can make a measurable improvement in one of the three areas. Learn a new lick, or take a closer look at why you’re finding a particular part so challenging. Put your problem-solving skills to work, or spend fifteen minutes with a jam track. In each case you’re focusing on one of our three primary areas: absorbing, polishing, and flowing.

This approach is even more powerful when you follow a thread through the guitar practice routine. Things like technical exercises and theory can connect to the songs in your pipeline. For example, you might practice a finger pattern in preparation for learning a more complex lick. Or you might analyze the chord structure of a song to help reinforce your ear and memory. It’s easier to remember an unfolding story than a disconnected series of events. 

Once you’ve categorized your material, it’s easier to decide where to focus.

Don’t worry about getting to everything if time is limited. The ongoing process is the most important part: returning again and again to your guitar with a specific intention.

Remember also that repetition doesn’t automatically equal improvement. If you work with a teacher or coach, you would expect feedback on your execution and form. So be your own coach. Be aware of more than just whether or not you nailed the note. Often, the issue is not in the landing but in the movement to get there. Never practice technique blindly, whether it’s an exercise or a lick from a song. Your goal is continual improvement, and it wont happen without looking at the “how” as much as the “what”. 

If you miss something repeatedly, there’s a reason, and it might not be that it’s beyond your ability.

Even if that reason is limited technique, taking that closer look will reveal how to surpass that limitation.

Performance or flow practice is also hugely important. If you aren’t playing actual music, it’s difficult to really grow. “Actual music” is also not necessarily difficult. If you aren’t having fun at some point doing something simple, you’re leaving out the best part! Besides, there’s more to playing a song well than just nailing the chords. When I was learning to play, I might think a repetitive three-chord song was boring. I didn’t understand then about dynamics, or the concept of shaping a performance. The places your fingers need to land are just the beginning steps. Learn about pocket and groove and tone and energy. Be able to play your parts without staring at your fingers, or locking your whole body in concentration. When you can flow and move as you play, you’ll perform with a lot more confidence. You’ll also enjoy the experience that much more.

Above all, focus on the process.

If you accomplish something small every time you pick up your guitar, you will see progress. Concentrating on a small number of things at a time keeps you focused. Rotating those things keeps you engaged. Doing it again and again intentionally keeps you growing. 

Interested in more guitar lessons and courses? Check out JamPlay.com. JamPlay has over 450 guitar courses from 120+ instructors, and online guitar lessons tailored to every skill level, music genre, and playing style. Click here to learn more.

Dave Isaacs has established himself as a guitar teacher extraordinaire, having built a strong set of educational curriculums for beginner, intermediate, and advanced guitar players alike. Dave shares his expertise largely through video platforms, but also through his thoughtful writing. You can take guitar lessons from Dave Isaacs via his comprehensive video guitar courses on JamPlay.com.

Become a JamPlay member for unlimited access to 7000+ guitar lessons and 120+ artists and instructors. View membership plans ›

“Sitting in” means getting up to play with an established group as a guest.

Years ago I had the opportunity to sit in with the legendary Les Paul at his long-running regular gig at the NYC jazz club Iridium.

I was, of course, terrified, but eager to prove myself. Les introduced me by saying from the stage “there’s a kid here who says he can play”. When I walked up, he asked me what I wanted to play. I called Jimmy Smith’s “Back At The Chicken Shack”, a blues-jam standard. Given the opportunity to join in with a legend like that, I wanted to be in somewhat familiar territory. Twelve bar blues, three chords. I also knew the head melody and was prepared to lead it.

I heard later that if Les didn’t like you, he would just turn up and play over you. But instead he sat smiling and nodding, and I got a lifetime memory.

Now, I was fortunate that I was able to call the tune myself, and so wasn’t at the disadvantage of having to pick it up on the spot. As often as not, you won’t know the tune, and you’ll need to figure it out onstage.

Have you ever wondered how some people are able to jump right in and play along with a song they’ve never heard? 

Good musicians can communicate without needing to speak. The ability to do this comes from active listening: reacting and responding in the moment. Familiarity with the “language” – the vocabulary that defines a musical style – is just as important. Once you know the basic vocabulary of a genre, every musical move suggests a set of possible next moves. This is why blues jams are so popular: there’s a common set of norms that are easy to follow.

Once you’ve learned a handful of blues songs, you know to listen for the move to the 4 chord. It’s often predictable (rewardingly so, when you nail it). That move is likely to be signaled by one of the other players on the stage. It might be a walk from the bass player, or a drum fill. It may have been planned and expected, or it may not. Either way, that musical interjection is a “heads-up” that a change is coming.

When you’re sitting in, this is what you listen for most.

You should be aware of the chord changes, but also the energy and dynamics of the other players and how they interact. The interplay of their parts will help you keep your place in the form and anticipate when a new section is coming. This means your first job is not to play right away, or at least, not to play very much. Lay back and listen first. Even if you can’t tell what the chords are at first, you can listen for when they happen. Listen for cycles and patterns. This is the architecture of the song, the structure. Understanding a song’s structure helps you follow the map, and know when to expect a possible new change. 

“Understanding” in this case doesn’t even necessarily mean naming the chords. You also don’t need to know the theory to listen for chord changes. Paying attention is enough to begin to notice how certain chord changes are familiar and predictable. The more you listen this way, the more you’ll start to hear.

Ok, so you’re tuned up and tuned in and ready to jam! Here are some major do’s and don’ts.

1. Rule number one (that goeth before all others): when in doubt, lay out.

No one wants to listen to you fumble for the key. If you’re unsure, don’t play.

2. DO ask for the key if you aren’t sure. DON’T assume that means you know all the chords to expect.

Remember that “key” in popular music tells you the tonal center, and not necessarily whether you’re going to use strictly diatonic chords. Keep your ears open and if you’re unsure, hang back. You really don’t need to play through the entire song: pick your moments.

3. Watch your volume. Blend into the group until it’s time to step forward.

The last thing you want is to call negative attention to yourself. Be part of the background until it’s your turn. Good players are able to weave in and out, contributing flavor for a moment and then seamlessly melting back into the group sound.

4. When you do play something, commit. Play with authority or don’t play at all.

That doesn’t mean playing something fancy. We all know how the greats can be commanding with one note. Placement, attitude, and tone matter more than the scale you’re playing.

5. Watch and listen for cues! If you’re given a solo, be able to follow the form so you know when to expect the cue that signals whether or not you’ll get another chorus. 

This applies in any setting, soloing or not. I’ve been on stage with alleged pros that suddenly seemed to believe they had a psychic ability to know where the song was going…and didn’t. It detracts from the performance, annoys the band, and makes you look clueless.

Remember, being asked to sit in is an honor, a statement of trust that you won’t screw things up. So treat the stage and everyone on it with respect. 

Interested in more guitar lessons and courses? Check out JamPlay.com. JamPlay has over 450 guitar courses from 120+ instructors, and online guitar lessons tailored to every skill level, music genre, and playing style. Click here to learn more.

Dave Isaacs has established himself as a guitar teacher extraordinaire, having built a strong set of educational curriculums for beginner, intermediate, and advanced guitar players alike. Dave shares his expertise largely through video platforms, but also through his thoughtful writing. You can take guitar lessons from Dave Isaacs via his comprehensive video guitar courses on JamPlay.com.

Become a JamPlay member for unlimited access to 7000+ guitar lessons and 120+ artists and instructors. View membership plans ›