From Scales To Music
One of the most common questions I hear from my private students is "I know I have to learn my scales, but when do we get to play some REAL music with all of this stuff?" My answer to this question is the topic of this post, which will hopefully provide you with some insight into the balance you must achieve between practicing scales versus applying those scales to real music.
One thing that I've encountered in my many years of teaching is that a lot of instructors as well as many instructional books and videos seem to place too much focus on the process of practicing and memorizing scales without really giving the student the proper tools to apply those scales to different musical situations. I see the results of this type of thinking all the time with students of mine who have good scale knowledge and ability but are still struggling to get better at improvisation. My focus with scale study is based much more on this: Although the knowledge and study of scales is certainly a big part of becoming a great player, this type of practice means nothing without the ability to apply those scales to REAL LIFE musical situations. I realized long ago that even though I didn't always enjoy practicing scales up and down the fretboard, I knew that in the long run the mastery of different scales would help to "free" me musically and allow me to play the sounds that I was hearing in my head but couldn't seem to find on my instrument. I've reached the point in my playing now (after many years of study) that as soon as I have an idea in my head for a melody or a riff, I know exactly how to find that sound on my guitar. The process of "thinking" to "playing" has become pretty much instant because I know what something is going to sound like before I even play it. This comes from a combination of two things: my knowledge of scales as far as physical patterns on the fretboard, but most importantly it comes from my understanding of the unique "sound" or "flavor" of each particular scale. A lot of the time I don't even really think about scales at all, I just think about the "sounds" I want to create and my fingers automatically know where to go to get what I'm looking for.
I've found that while many players think of scales as physical patterns on the fretboard, the connection that is missing in their scale practice is the process of truly learning the "sound" or "mood" or "flavor" of each scale. This connection from "finger to ears" is probably one of the most overlooked aspects of scale practice but it is also one of the most important. I like to illustrate the importance of this concept with my students by having them listen to a couple of songs that feature distinctly different players (who are using different types of scale "sounds" in their playing) and then I have the student tell me their opinion of what they think about the "sound" of each player. For example, I might play "The Thrill Is Gone" by BB King, followed by "Blue Sky" by The Allman Brothers Band, followed by "Dogs" by Pink Floyd. Then I'll ask the student "What do you think of BB King's sound? How about Dickey Betts' sound or Duane Allman's sound? What about David Gilmore's sound?" By getting the student to think of scales as "sounds" and not just finger patterns or shapes or boxes, they begin to think more musically about the study of scales, and they start to HEAR that learning scales is more than just memorizing notes on the neck.
Many years ago I began to put together a list of songs from many different players that I thought were very useful at illustrating this particular idea. This list included all of my favorite guitarists but it also included piano players, trumpet players, and saxophone players (because scales aren‘t just for guitarists!). To this day, every time I come across a song with a melody or a riff or a solo that really illustrates the unique "sound" or "flavor" of a particular scale, I'll write it down. I use the examples on this list all of the time to answer the question: "When do we get to play some REAL music?" For example, if I have a student working on practicing the Dorian Mode, once I can see that they've put in the work to practice they scale and they've really got their technique down, I'll have them work on examples like "Oye Como Va" or "Evil Ways" by Santana, "Moondance" by Van Morrison, "Breathe" by Pink Floyd, the solo section of "Light My Fire" by the Doors, "So What" by Miles Davis, "Carry On Wayward Son" by Kansas, "From The Beginning" by Emerson Lake and Palmer, "Blue On Black" by Kenny Wayne Shepherd, "I Wish" by Stevie Wonder, "No Quarter" by Led Zeppelin, or "Mary Jane's Last Dance" by Tom Petty. These are all examples that are great at illustrating the APPLICATION of a Dorian Mode in a real musical setting. The real benefit of this approach is that not only does the student have some great songs to work on, but it really helps to solidify in their mind that the SOUND of the Dorian Mode is really the SOUND of these songs and these players.
I've found the mistake that many guitarists make is spending too much time practicing the technique of scales at the expense of learning something inherently more musical. Like I mentioned above, it's all about the APPLICATION of scales to real music. Another thing I've encountered is the type of player who believes that the whole idea of being spontaneous and creative means that you shouldn't learn other people's songs, but instead you should just "be yourself," and all you need to be able to do that is to know your scales. In my previous post I addressed the importance of "Defining Your Influences" and the process of developing your own style by learning from others, so that answers part of the question, but there is also this aspect to consider: I've mentioned many times before that I view the study of music just like the study of a language. Well, let's compare learning music and scales with learning to speak the English language and learning the alphabet. Imagine if you locked yourself in a room for years and studied nothing but your ABCs (practiced scales). You would know your alphabet (scales) really well, but you would never really learn how to build a sentence, tell a story, or even say "hello" (play music). The idea here is that there is much more to learning a language than just the knowledge of its alphabet, and music works exactly the same way. My advice would be this: By all means, practice and master your scales, but never at the expense of developing and exploring real music. Also remember to associate the "sound" or the "flavor" of the scale with the physical technique of the scale that you are practicing (You might even begin to build you own list of "songs that use this sound"). And most importantly, find the scale "sounds" that you like the most and try to focus on using them musically as much as possible. Remember that every scale has its own unique personality, and there's no rule that says you have to use every scale that you learn all of the time. Heck, you don't even have to LIKE the sound of every scale that you learn, but that‘s all part of the process of finding your own unique identity as a player. Find a "sound" that speaks to you, and embrace it - Good luck!
Nate
One thing that I've encountered in my many years of teaching is that a lot of instructors as well as many instructional books and videos seem to place too much focus on the process of practicing and memorizing scales without really giving the student the proper tools to apply those scales to different musical situations. I see the results of this type of thinking all the time with students of mine who have good scale knowledge and ability but are still struggling to get better at improvisation. My focus with scale study is based much more on this: Although the knowledge and study of scales is certainly a big part of becoming a great player, this type of practice means nothing without the ability to apply those scales to REAL LIFE musical situations. I realized long ago that even though I didn't always enjoy practicing scales up and down the fretboard, I knew that in the long run the mastery of different scales would help to "free" me musically and allow me to play the sounds that I was hearing in my head but couldn't seem to find on my instrument. I've reached the point in my playing now (after many years of study) that as soon as I have an idea in my head for a melody or a riff, I know exactly how to find that sound on my guitar. The process of "thinking" to "playing" has become pretty much instant because I know what something is going to sound like before I even play it. This comes from a combination of two things: my knowledge of scales as far as physical patterns on the fretboard, but most importantly it comes from my understanding of the unique "sound" or "flavor" of each particular scale. A lot of the time I don't even really think about scales at all, I just think about the "sounds" I want to create and my fingers automatically know where to go to get what I'm looking for.
I've found that while many players think of scales as physical patterns on the fretboard, the connection that is missing in their scale practice is the process of truly learning the "sound" or "mood" or "flavor" of each scale. This connection from "finger to ears" is probably one of the most overlooked aspects of scale practice but it is also one of the most important. I like to illustrate the importance of this concept with my students by having them listen to a couple of songs that feature distinctly different players (who are using different types of scale "sounds" in their playing) and then I have the student tell me their opinion of what they think about the "sound" of each player. For example, I might play "The Thrill Is Gone" by BB King, followed by "Blue Sky" by The Allman Brothers Band, followed by "Dogs" by Pink Floyd. Then I'll ask the student "What do you think of BB King's sound? How about Dickey Betts' sound or Duane Allman's sound? What about David Gilmore's sound?" By getting the student to think of scales as "sounds" and not just finger patterns or shapes or boxes, they begin to think more musically about the study of scales, and they start to HEAR that learning scales is more than just memorizing notes on the neck.
Many years ago I began to put together a list of songs from many different players that I thought were very useful at illustrating this particular idea. This list included all of my favorite guitarists but it also included piano players, trumpet players, and saxophone players (because scales aren‘t just for guitarists!). To this day, every time I come across a song with a melody or a riff or a solo that really illustrates the unique "sound" or "flavor" of a particular scale, I'll write it down. I use the examples on this list all of the time to answer the question: "When do we get to play some REAL music?" For example, if I have a student working on practicing the Dorian Mode, once I can see that they've put in the work to practice they scale and they've really got their technique down, I'll have them work on examples like "Oye Como Va" or "Evil Ways" by Santana, "Moondance" by Van Morrison, "Breathe" by Pink Floyd, the solo section of "Light My Fire" by the Doors, "So What" by Miles Davis, "Carry On Wayward Son" by Kansas, "From The Beginning" by Emerson Lake and Palmer, "Blue On Black" by Kenny Wayne Shepherd, "I Wish" by Stevie Wonder, "No Quarter" by Led Zeppelin, or "Mary Jane's Last Dance" by Tom Petty. These are all examples that are great at illustrating the APPLICATION of a Dorian Mode in a real musical setting. The real benefit of this approach is that not only does the student have some great songs to work on, but it really helps to solidify in their mind that the SOUND of the Dorian Mode is really the SOUND of these songs and these players.
I've found the mistake that many guitarists make is spending too much time practicing the technique of scales at the expense of learning something inherently more musical. Like I mentioned above, it's all about the APPLICATION of scales to real music. Another thing I've encountered is the type of player who believes that the whole idea of being spontaneous and creative means that you shouldn't learn other people's songs, but instead you should just "be yourself," and all you need to be able to do that is to know your scales. In my previous post I addressed the importance of "Defining Your Influences" and the process of developing your own style by learning from others, so that answers part of the question, but there is also this aspect to consider: I've mentioned many times before that I view the study of music just like the study of a language. Well, let's compare learning music and scales with learning to speak the English language and learning the alphabet. Imagine if you locked yourself in a room for years and studied nothing but your ABCs (practiced scales). You would know your alphabet (scales) really well, but you would never really learn how to build a sentence, tell a story, or even say "hello" (play music). The idea here is that there is much more to learning a language than just the knowledge of its alphabet, and music works exactly the same way. My advice would be this: By all means, practice and master your scales, but never at the expense of developing and exploring real music. Also remember to associate the "sound" or the "flavor" of the scale with the physical technique of the scale that you are practicing (You might even begin to build you own list of "songs that use this sound"). And most importantly, find the scale "sounds" that you like the most and try to focus on using them musically as much as possible. Remember that every scale has its own unique personality, and there's no rule that says you have to use every scale that you learn all of the time. Heck, you don't even have to LIKE the sound of every scale that you learn, but that‘s all part of the process of finding your own unique identity as a player. Find a "sound" that speaks to you, and embrace it - Good luck!
Nate
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8/17/2009 9:21 AM
The Fretlight Guitar Blog wrote:
Hello again Fretlight players! In this post I'd like to talk about one of the most "organic" parts of becoming a great player and a successful musician. If you've been reading my previous posts, you know that I put a lot of emphasis on learning the "nuts and bolts" of music, and I always stress the importance of studying the concepts of Melody and Harmony and how they are applied to the guitar, but this time around I'd like to touch on something completely different: Think about your favorite players and your favorite music, and then think about ...
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10/14/2009 9:39 PM
The Fretlight Guitar Blog wrote:
When studying various types of scales or "Modes", one thing to keep in mind is that every scale type has it's own "flavor" or "mood". When I was first began studying scales many years ago, I found myself falling into a trap that many guitarists fall into: learning many different finger patterns on the fretboard without really LISTENING to the sound of each individual scale. I find that with many players, it's very easy to overlook this essential aspect of understanding WHY the study of different scales is so important. When studying any scale, you should focus on these key ...
Really good post and I definitely agree. Whenever I give someone advice about scales and warm-up routines, I try to stress that scales are outlined in things they will be playing from then on and they'll help to develop a good ear.
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Excellent post. Too many people never move out of their comfort zone and they don't realize how it's costing them in time and musical understanding.
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Sometimes its difficult for students to find a comfortable balance between structured theory/technique, and just flat out PLAYING! That's why I like to stress the "moderation in all things...including moderation" theory when it comes to practicing guitar
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ever since i started thinking about what you have just written about, it all makes sense and that when i hear songs that i like, i am already playing it, or some part of it, inside my head. so i am guessing that when i have completely learnt every scale there is to know, it should broaden and expand my overall capability to play almost everything in my head, before playing it on guitar. Wicked as. awesome info.
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Hey Shane!
I couldn't agree more
For me, the whole point of studying and practicing scales is to be able to get the ideas in my head onto my guitar as quickly as possible. Years ago, before I had really developed my scale knowledge and my ears, I would spend hours searching my instrument for the sounds that I wanted to hear, and I would often get frustrated (I refer to that process as "slide and decide" or "bend and mend"). Once I spent some time developing my scale knowledge and my understanding of WHY things sound the way they do, I found that I could get any musical idea that I had in my head onto my instrument much faster. Like I mentioned in this post, the process of "thinking" to "playing" has become pretty much instant because I know what something is going to sound like before I even play it. And that should be your goal when studying ANY scale!
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Learning guitar scales is important, even if you think it almost as boring as learning chords. The problem with many new guitarists who have just started learning is that they want to go too far too soon. That is the road to disaster, as many failed guitarists will tell you. Have you ever seen these piano players learning how to play, when they are going up and down the octaves playing their scales? Well, they are putting money in the bank because it will help them later when they have to play certain note combinations without thinking. If you are going to be a good lead guitarist, or a solo guitarist of any description in any genre, you too will have to spend time learning your guitar scales.
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Its really a great place to get the best knowledge and share experience for music and enjoy music love.
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So So true practising the scales is a sure fire method to " free you musically" I just love that line. great personal account Cheers for a great read.
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Scales are useful when understand musical theory, and especially for those who want to compose. However those who just want to follow along a song don't really need to do a lot of those, I think, except for dexterity practice.
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This is a great place to gain knowledge and enjoyment of music. I think that your thought correctly.
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This is very long article. I like to see some summery of this one.
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I personally think that its important to establish a balance in learning both. While scales are important, so is the player's interest. If they continually play scales and nothing else, they will dread playing an instrument at all.
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That's great, I never thought about Music like that before.
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