Scales & Lead
  • Electric Lead   ( 13 Articles )

    Most guitar players try desperately to impress people when they play lead, or even a solo. Perhaps you're guilty of this yourself. That's all right, because we all fall victim to this at one point or another. Sometimes this will to impress people can help drive you to develop great technique, but in all honesty you can spot a guitar player trying to impress people a mile away. Most time the only people these types of players impress is themselves and maybe other guitar players. Find out how to impress EVERYONE here!

  • Hot Blues Licks   ( 5 Articles )
  • Lead Guitar Improvisation   ( 2 Articles )
    The key to really playing good guitar is your ability to improvise. Use our guides to improvising to enhance your overall musicianship.
  • Electric Rhythm   ( 15 Articles )

    When listening to music, you might find yourself tapping your foot  along with the beat. The beat keeps track of the songs time, by creating a regular pulsation against which the length can be measured. The beat may be fast or slow, but it must be regular. Each beat has to have the same duration. Find out more about this in this section.

  • Licks And Phrases   ( 7 Articles )
  • Pentatonic Major Scales   ( 13 Articles )
    The most commonly used scales by guitarists are called pentatonic scales. For the pentatonic scales (both major and minor) there are only 5 different patterns. By learning these 5 patterns (and realizing where the root note lies in the major and minor patterns) you are in fact learning 24 scales. All you have to do to play them in a different key signatures is to play them so as the root note matches the key.
  • Locrian Scales   ( 12 Articles )
    The Locrian scale, or mode, is the seventh of the seven musical modes. It is similar to the natural minor scale except for the lowered second and fifth. The Locrian scale is the minor scale that appears when a major scale is played with the seventh note (seventh scale-degree) as the root.
  • Mixolydian Scales   ( 12 Articles )
    The
    Mixolydian mode
    is a
    musical mode
    or
    diatonic scale. It has the same series of
    tones
    and
    semitones
    as the
    major scale
    , except the fifth (dominant)
    note
    is taken as the
    tonic
    or starting (beginning)
    pitch
    of the
    scale
    .
  • Lydian Scales   ( 12 Articles )
    The Lydian scale, or mode, is the fourth of the seven musical modes. It is similar to the major scale except for the raised fourth. The Lydian scale is the scale that appears when a major scale is played with the fourth note (fourth scale-degree) as the root.
  • Phrygian Scales   ( 12 Articles )
    The Phrygian mode can refer to two different musical modes or diatonic scales: the ancient Greek Phrygian mode and the Mediaeval Phrygian mode. The modern form of the Phrygian mode in use is based on the latter. It is also known in Arabic and in the Middle East as the Kurdish mode.
  • Dorian Scales   ( 12 Articles )
    The dorian scale contains all four notes of the minor seventh chord (1-b3-5-b7). The additional tones are scale degree two, scale-degree four, and scale-degree six. Scale-degree six is the most characteristic tone of the dorian scale, and uniquely identifies dorian. The basic quality of dorian is minor.
  • Aeolian Scales   ( 12 Articles )
    The natural minor scale, identical to the Aeolian mode, is a diatonic scale made up of seven notes (eight if you include the octave). The Aeolian scale, or mode, is the sixth of the seven musical modes. Ex: C natural minor consists of the notes C, D, Eb, F, G, Ab and Bb.
  • Ionian (Major) Scales   ( 14 Articles )
    The Ionian mode is a musical mode of diatonic scale. It was part of the music theory of ancient Greece, and was based around the relative natural scale in C (that is, the same as playing all the 'white notes' of a piano from C to C).
  • Scale Sequences   ( 11 Articles )
    Scale sequence charts are a way for us to see how the basic scale patterns are laid out on the fretboard in a particular key. It's a great way to visualize where you can go and what you can do with the 5 different patterns.
  • Pentatonic Minor Scales   ( 12 Articles )