Welcome to Dansm's Guitar Scale Lessons! My name is Dan Smith and I am a first-year grad student
at Harvard University. I have been playing guitar for 5 years now.
I have a page on guitar chord theory and the response was so great that
I decided to put up a page of lessons on scales.
Scales are one of the most important parts of playing guitar. Scales
determine what chords you can play, what notes you can hit, and basically
everything else about music. A knowledge of scales is an integral part of
guitar and chord theory. Here I have lessons designed to teach you about
scales, modes, and how they fit into the big musical picture. Make sure you read
all the background pages I have created, because they will
teach you what modes are and how to use them for faster soloing.
Remember to have fun with these lessons,
and if you have any questions, e-mail me!
I do not recommend memorizing all these scales.
That would be rather pointless
unless you desperately want to be Eddie Van Halen. I suggest learning one or two
of the scales, because that's all you will ever use. Don't spend your time
learning all the scales because then you will just get confused and you
won't ever use them. Check out my page on which scales to learn
so you know what scales are important in your favorite genre of music.
And make sure you check out my RealAudio chord progressions
to practice soloing. I hope this helps!
Important Background Information:
My Scale Notation
how to read all my scale charts
Which Scales Should I Learn?
this page outlines the important scales for a few
main genres of music
Half and Whole Steps
information necessary for learning scales
What Are Modes?
a definition of modes for guitarists
Playing Scales: Fretting and Picking
get the most out of your hands while playing scales
Information on Keys
how do you know what key a song is in?
check out this page for help
Which Scales and Modes Can I Play?
you have a chord progression in G, but what scales and what
modes can you play over it?
Learning Scales
scales don't have to be boring; here are some suggestions
so you learn them, not learn to hate them
Translating Scales and Modes Into Any Key
I showed you the modes in G or Em, so learn how to
play them in ANY key
Minor Scales
how to make learning minor scales easier: the relatedness of
major and minor scales
Metronome
a freeware metronome to help you practice scales and rhythm
The Major Scale
the most important scale in popular music; this page covers the major
scale and its modes
The Minor Scales
the counterpart of the major scale: this page covers
the natural, harmonic, and melodic minor scales and their modes
The Pentatonic Scales
popular scales for rock guitar:
both major and minor pentatonic scales
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since 5-21-97
© 1997 Daniel E. Smith.