Major Scale Guitar Lesson 3 – Application

This guitar lesson is designed to help you make some sense of the 1st two scale lessons. The question is “Ok, now I know 7 short scale patterns in the Key of C on two strings, now what?” Well, I’ve always found that the best way to learn something is to put it into context as soon as possible.

Here’s what to do. Application Song # 1 will help to get you started. It features a 16 bar melody in the Key of C using all 7 short scale patterns. During the 2nd half of the melody section, the majority of the notes are on a single string. After the melody is played through once, the chord progression repeats, this is where you can take a 16 bar solo. After your 16-bar solo, you go back to the beginning of the tune (D.C Al Coda) and play the melody again, ending on C, the 1st fret of the B string (the Coda).

Things to keep in mind when playing melody:

1. Try not to worry too much about fingerings. Just go for the notes and use whatever fingerings are comfortable for you.

2. Use your ears. Don’t be intimidated by what the melody “looks” like on paper. Music always tends to look far more complicated on paper than it actually is.

3. Notice that when I used a particular short pattern, (Labeled above the staff), I didn’t always use all 6 notes in the pattern. I only used the notes needed for the melody at that moment. But, if you study each measure where a short pattern is used (1st 8 bars of the tune), you’ll be able to see that the holes in that measure did indeed come out of the pattern that I have labeled above the staff.

Things to keep in mind when improvising your solo:

1. Try to play melodically. Move around by connecting the 7 short scale patterns. Use the melody of the tune as your modality (center).

2. Use your ears. If you hear a note that sounds good to you, stay on it until it doesn’t.

3. Take lines from the melody, and insert them in your solo. In fact, memorize the melody and use the melody as your solo. Just change it around a little.

4. We cannot have music without rhythm. Experiment with different rhythmic ideas.

5. Learning how to play takes years, be patient with yourself and have fun.

Until next time – Rick

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