Is It Important To Learn Scales On Guitar?
In an interview with Guitare and Claviers Magazine, Grammy-winning musician Neil Young said of scales, “...nobody cares if you know how to play scales. Nobody gives a s*** if you have good technique or not…The technical aspect is absolute hogwash as far as I’m concerned.”
That’s certainly a take!
So are scales dead? Is there no longer a reason for guitarists to practice their Lydian modal scales and sweep picking patterns? The answer is no, scales are not dead. Just watch the playing and interviews of Eddie Van Halen and BB King - we’ll discuss this concept below.
In the meantime, if you’d like to take guitar lessons in Philadelphia or online with the experts at the Institute, please get in touch. We’d love to hear from you and help you learn or improve on the guitar. We offer a number of different classes and music lessons in Philadelphia, and we’d love to hear from you.
Take Neil Young’s Words With a Grain of Salt
Neil Young’s point was probably not to be taken literally. He wasn’t saying that you shouldn’t learn your scales, or that practicing scales is just a giant waste of time. Here’s his point, in all likelihood: no audience wants to listen to scales. A technically challenging guitar passage with no meaning or sentiment is just impressive noise. Music can be simple but truly speak to people.
There’s a reason why people of all kinds enjoy listening to Neil Young’s tunes, but Carlos Santana’s records are reserved for guitar enthusiasts geeking out over virtuosity (purely my experience – perhaps you have a different view).
So take his point with a grain of salt. Don’t work difficult technique into your songs for technique’s sake, because nobody cares if what you’re playing is difficult. Your audience cares if the music is beautiful, visceral, and speaks to them.
So Is It Important To Learn Scales on Guitar?
Yes, learning scales on the guitar is important. Not because you are going to perform them for an audience, but they make you a stronger guitarist, allow you to learn music more quickly, and help you improvise and write solos.
Scales Help You Learn Your Notes
Many casual guitarists learn chord fingerings by rote, and they teach themselves from melodies by ear. Maybe they memorized a few well-known guitar licks by trial and error on the fretboard as a party trick. You can do better!
When you take the time to learn and practice your scales, you will actually learn where all of the notes on the fretboard are. At the beginning, you should practice your guitar scales while saying the notes out loud, and then drill your memory by having a friend call out a note, which you then place on the guitar.
Some other interesting reads from our blog:
You Can Learn Music So Much Faster
In the biography Heavier Than Heaven, the author relates just how hard Kurt Kobain worked to learn his solos. He wasn’t a trained musician, per se, but he wanted to play guitar with Nirvana, not simply front as a vocalist. The thing is, Nirvana’s guitar solos are extremely simple, even rudimentary. A guitar player who knows his or her scales fluently would be able to learn most of Nirvana’s guitar solos in a few minutes.
If you are trying to learn by covering or copying famous guitar licks, you’ll eventually realize that most of them closely resemble a scale. BB King, for instance, riffed almost exclusively on the major pentatonic scale, adding simple twists here and there to make it his own.
This is somewhat of an oversimplification, but the point remains.
Let’s say you spend five to six months learning and practicing scales, amongst other concepts. At the end of that, You’ll be able to recognize scale patterns in almost any guitar tablature placed in front of you! You will be able to learn no solos, either from a score or by ear, incredibly quickly compared to someone who doesn’t know scales.
Scales Help Improvise on the Guitar
Start by learning your scales inside and out, then practice them in thirds (triads), with other techniques like hammer-ons and pull-offs, and more. Get comfortable “playing around” with your scales. Once you’ve reached that level, you can very easily improvise melodies and licks within that scale. Just pick a mode or scale and play around with different notes in that framework!
Guitar Habits provides an excellent blog post on this topic.
Improve Coordination and Dexterity
If you want to play technically challenging music, you should be practicing your scales even after you’ve memorized the notes. It will improve your coordination between fretboard and picking, increase your playing speed, and help you practice playing with different articulation. This is important for jazz, blues, rock, and classical guitarists - basically every guitarist. The same principle applies for piano scales, violinists, vocalists, and more.
Can You Learn Guitar Without Playing Scales?
Sure, you can learn how to play the guitar without scales. Taylor Swift technically knows how to play the guitar, and I’m fairly certain she doesn’t practice scales - she certainly isn’t known for her shredding guitar solos.
If your goal is to play chords (even at an advanced level) and specialize as a rhythm guitarist, you’ll be fine without scales. Many people play in worship bands, indie groups, or folk ensembles with only chords.
Furthermore, many singer-songwriters only play chords on the guitar, and that style of playing supports their goals.
So if you know what you want to do with the guitar, don’t sweat it - play it and learn it your way. At the Philadelphia Piano Institute, we love it when students tell us what their specific goals are. We can develop a lesson program specifically for you, whether you want a well-rounded lesson plan, a chords-based approach, or something else.
What Comes First on Guitar - Scales or Chords?
You should learn your chords and scales simultaneously, unless you are learning the guitar for a very specific purpose. If for some reason you need to be able to play a few simple chords to accompany a friend’s band, for instance, there’s nothing wrong with learning your chords first, then circling back to scales when you have time.
The reason is that these are basically music theory concepts - you are learning keys. Many young guitarists start with the A minor scale, because it has no sharps or flats and is very simple. It only makes sense to learn the A minor triad at the same time. Then, you can continue on the circle of fifths by learning the E minor scale and chords, or follow a relative major pattern and learn C major.
Can You Play Guitar Solos Without Learning Scales?
Yes. There’s nothing stopping you from learning the notes of a solo one by one over time, or picking them out by ear.
But don’t do that. Learn your scales, both major and minor, in different modes. And make sure you actually learn the notes while you do it - don’t just learn them by rote. You will be amazed at your ability to learn and write your own solos quickly thereafter.
Is It Hard To Learn Guitar Scales? How Long Does it Take?
Guitar scales vary in difficulty, but in reality, they aren’t hard to learn. It just takes daily, consistent practice.For instance, it may take you two months to feel comfortable playing all of your pentatonic scales (including learning your box patterns) fluently.This is a great start, and it will help you play rock tunes.
But then you’ll want to learn your blues scales, different modes, and more. You can do this in your first year if you are motivated, and in two years if you spread out your scale practice a bit more. The thing is, if you want to be a high level guitarist, you are going to keep reviewing and practicing your scales in the future.
Remember to practice your scales slowly every day, and gradually increase your tempo. Don’t burn out by ONLY practicing scales - mix in some chords, tunes, and more as well. For guitar lessons at our studio, piano lessons in Philadelphia, or for information about our piano lessons in Nashville or piano lessons in Miami, please get in touch! We also offer singing lessons in Philadelphia.