Major Scale Pattern 1: Basic Improvisation (Guitar Lesson IM-123) How to play IF Stage 2

In this guitar lesson we are looking at basic improvisation using the major scale. Really good fun and easy to make it sound cool if you follow my tips!

This is part of Justin's Intermediate Guitar Method, Foundation. A series of lessons available free online!

http://justinguitar.com/en/IM-000-IntermediateMethod.php

Taught by Justin Sandercoe.

Full support at the justinguitar web site where you will find hundreds of lessons on a wide range of subjects, and all the scales and chords that you will ever need! There is a great forum too to get help, no matter what the problem.

And it is all totally free, no bull. No sample lessons, no memberships, no free ebook. Just tons of great lessons :)

To get help with this lesson (and for further info and tabs), find the Lesson ID in the video title (like ST-667 or whatever) and then look it up on the Lesson Index page of justinguitar.com

http://www.justinguitar.com

Have fun :)

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Hi, how you doing? Justin here.
Welcome to IM-123,

which we're going to be starting a look
at major scale improvisation.

And we're going to be using the G Major scale.

Which I'm hoping you've kind of
got under your fingers now.

and you're okay playing it
up and down from memory.

It's important that you're there
before we start on doing this.

And what we're going to be doing is

looking at using this scale
to make up some little solos.

And what I'm going to do is
go through some of the hints with you,

and then I'll kind of demonstrate them
to a backing track.

Now, I've just mentioned it :
backing track!

Very, very important that you practice this stuff
with either a backing track,

a jam buddy, or you record yourself playing
some chords and solo over the top.

I think, really, using a backing track
is a good idea at this stage.

Jamming with your mates
is always a good fun thing

but, at this time, I really think
it might be better to be on your own

where you're not afraid of making mistakes
and you can kind of concentrate

and kind of figure out the sounds on your own.

So using a backing track is a good idea.

There's a free one on the website

if you're already on the website,

it'll be just below
or just about this video thing.

And what I want to do
is take you through some tips now.

So, the first and most important thing,
when you're improvising with scales in general,

is that you need to stick to the scale notes.

Particularly with this kind of major scale soloing.

If you hit any notes that aren't in the major scale,

it's very likely they will sound pretty horrible.

Now, occasionally, you might find
one that sounds cool

or be able to sneak one
in between two other notes

but as an exercise for now,
while you're learning to improvise with the major scale

try and stick only, ONLY to scale tones.

Second hint: you mainly want
to stick on the thinnest strings.

You can make a great solo
using the thick strings,

there's no problem with doing that,

but, just when you're starting out,

it's usually easier to use the thin strings

because they kind of sound
a little bit more like a solo

if that makes sense.

Less like a riff and more like a lead.

They don't tend to get mixed up in the chords.

That's the problem with the low notes,

they tend to get a bit muddily
with the rhythm guitar or the backing track.

So if you stick to the thinnest strings,

then they seem to set themselves aside
a little bit better.

So, generally, thinnest strings.

Explore the other ones if you like,
just to check it out,

but mainly you want
to be sticking to the thinnest strings.

Next thing : use the play/rest approach.

And what the play/rest approach is all about

is kind of using punctuation when you play

because if someone is talking to you,

if I'm trying to explain this
and I didn't stop at all,

no little pauses in what I'm saying,
no full stops or commas,

it would be really difficult to understand
what I was saying.

And it's the same with improvising.

You want to get in the habit
right from the beginning

of 'play a little bit', 'stop a little bit',
'play a little bit', 'stop a little bit'.

Now the advantage
when you're learning, of course,

is that it gives you time
to think about what you're doing.

To, you know,
have the picture of the scale in your mind

and making sure
that your fingers are there.

Maybe even think about what the notes are
that you're going to play before you play them.

That's cool!
You're learning, that's allowed.

Later on you want to be all effortless
and free and not thinking about it

but right now, if you're learning it,
think about the scale,

think about the notes that you can play
and use them.

You know : "What am I going to play?
Oh yeah I might try that." Do it!

"Oh, that didn't sound very good,
maybe I'll try this instead."

You know, you've got lots of time then
to think about it.

There's no rush with the improvising.

You know, it's all about being relaxed with it

and using the idea of play/rest/play/rest/etc
gives you that space.

Space in the head and space in the music.
It's a really, really good idea.

Now, leading on from that the next tip
is to stay simple.

Don't try and make things too complicated yet,
you're just learning.

Just be cool with kind of exploring
what the different notes of the scale sound like.

How they kind of react with the changes

cause if the chords are changing
in the backing track

the one note that you're playing
will sound different

so just keep things really simple.

Don't be in a hurry to try and do anything
too flashy or too clever,

just look for a nice really simple little melody.

That's the most important thing.

And while we're on that, again,

another leading straight between these different points
is repeating licks.

Now when people are talking,

when they start talking about the same thing
over and over again

then it seems to help it sink in better
and it's the same when you're improvising.

If you have a little idea that you play

and then you play the same idea again
while the chords keep changing in the background,

it sounds strong, it sounds good.

It adds a new color to what you're doing
and reinforces the idea to the listener.

So don't be afraid of playing
making up a little lick or a little pattern,

and then playing it over and over again.

You know, here you play it,
have a little rest,

play it, have a little rest,
and see what the effect is.

Sometimes it can sound cool
to play a little repeating figure

that goes over and over again
without stopping while the chords change.

That can be an interesting little thing.

Now, I mentioned earlier on,
if you're by yourself

a really, really cool thing
that you can do is to explore.

You know, you're on your own,
you're learning this stuff so

there's no limit here.

Try doing solos only on the thick strings.

Try jumping from the thinnest strings
to the thickest strings

and back again or whatever.
There's no rules here.

So long as you hit the scale 'dots', if you like,
the notes of the scale,

and you don't hit other notes,
it's going to be interesting, right?

Notice the word 'interesting'.

It might not be brilliant,
but it will be interesting

and it shouldn't sound, you know,
horrible, like out of tune.

It just might not sound maybe the most melodic,
nicest solo you've ever heard

if you're jumping from :

. . .

It might sound a little bit funny

but, you know, we'll get to that

cause I'm going to do
some little examples in a second.

And the most important thing,

I've left until last so it stays in your memory,
is to listen.

Now what you're really listening for
is the effect of the note that you're playing

and the backing track.

To the whole thing together.
Don't just listen to what you're doing

cause then you kind of,
you're not getting the whole picture

because somebody that's listening
is listening to your guitar on the backing track.

It's the effect of those things together
that's really important.

Not just one of the things.

So as you're playing try and let your ears
be listening to the whole thing,

the whole sound, the sound of your instrument playing
against the backing track.

That's really what you're listening out for.

And with the major scale
it's a lot about listening

and if you find yourself on a note
that doesn't sound very good,

move to either one note higher
or one note lower

and you're going to end up on a note
that sounds really good.

It's a weird thing with this major scale.

You're only ever one step away
from a good note.

So if you choose one note
that doesn't sound great,

move to the next note,
and it'll probably sound really good.

So I'm gonna put on
the G Major backing track now

and I'm going to run through these little points
with you again

but with a little bit of playing as well
so you can hear what I'm talking about.

Okay, let's try out these ideas
that I've just mentioned to you.

So first of all we just want scale notes.

. . .

These are all going to be good
while we're sticking with the scale.

. . .

Whoops!

. . .

Oooops!

. . .

While you stay on the scale,
it's all going to be good.

. . .

Ooops. Whoah, even worse.
Oh, that's much better.

. . .

Now you'll see that I'm mostly staying
on the thinnest three strings.

. . .

That doesn't mean you can't

. . .

But it sounds better up there.

. . .

Now, hopefully as well, you can see

. . .

that I play a bit and rest a bit.

. . .

Then you can repeat licks.

. . .

You can also explore!

. . .

This it the time to do it, now.

Just to play around with what you're gonna play.

. . .

It's a really good fun.

And of course,
I probably don't need to remind you,

but the big thing that you're going to do

while you're doing all these exercises is

LISTEN!

Really, really important.

Just keep your ears open
all the time while you're playing.

Make sure that you're listening
to your own guitar

and the backing track
or whoever you're playing with

and you're listening to the effect

that the notes that you play
have on the whole sound.

And if you start to play some stuff
that doesn't sound very good,

don't play it, play something else
and find something that sounds good.

Don't be in a hurry to play fast or anything.

Just keep it nice and simple,
explore the notes.

Don't be expecting to be doing
blindingly great solos straight away

because you've got to let your ears tune up,
you know.

After you've been doing this a bit,
you start to find,

your fingers kind of find where the nice notes are
without you even having to try.

It's almost like it becomes instinctive

to find the right notes
rather than having to think about it too much.

But right now you don't have to think,
you're just learning it.

So, don't be afraid of thinking
about what you're doing,

about looking at the notes,
thinking about the scale.

Let all of that other stuff happen
by itself naturally.

But in the beginning,
you've got to think of it.

So I'll leave you with me

having a bit of a muck-around of this tune
or that backing track, you know.

Feel free to have a go at nicking some licks
or whatever you feel like

and I'll see you for another lesson
sometime very, very soon.

Take care of yourselves.
Bye bye.