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When we learn a scale, our goals should be to deeply internalize it over time, until we can work our way around it effortlessly.
Moving around a scale on the fretboard should feel as comfortable as moving around your home. You aren't straining to recall where each room is, it's done without conscious thought.
We will use the Pentatonic Minor as an example for this lesson, but this process can and should be repeated using every scale when the time comes to practice them. (and when you're ready, this works for arpeggio shapes too!)
The first step is simply to play the scale up and down the fretboard. Play from the lowest note, to the highest note, and back.
Work through the scale slowly, and identify sticking points. Aim for clarity with every note.
Once you're ready, set your metronome to a comfortable tempo, and play the scale as a series of quarter notes. (one note per click).
After that, work through:
8th notes - 2 notes per click
8th note triplets - 3 notes per click
16th notes - 4 notes per click
Feel free to go higher if you can handle it!
Next, we're going to break away from playing the scale straight up and down, and number our notes in sequence.
I often reference playing a scale "as a 123". What I mean by this is playing the notes in a sequence of "123, 234, 345, etc." until you reach the highest note. Then we repeat in reverse back down to our lowest note.
Try this now, and once you're ready, you can follow this up with:
1234, 2345, 3456, etc.
13, 24, 35, etc.
135, 246, 357, etc.
Or anything else you can think of!
You will want to also apply these to a metronome and with various note lengths.
Some of these can be a real challenge, for example, playing a 123 pattern in as 16th notes means playing groups of 3 notes over a 4 notes per click pattern.
Not easy to do, but it can sound awesome.
The next piece of the puzzle is to apply some basic theory to the scale, so we can understand the context of the notes we're playing.
Let's try playing the scale while saying out loud the name of the interval that we are playing.
Feel free to try this in tandem with any of the exercises covered previously.
For bonus points, try some light improvisation while singing the intervals in tune. This is an extremely powerful tool for getting in touch with the scale, whether or not you have any desire to become a singer!
Lastly, let's try the same approach, except instead of calling out our intervals, we will call out the names of the notes. Again, singing the notes in tune is highly recommended as well!
The picture here is assuming we're starting on the 5th fret, but I recommend trying this in multiple different locations on the fretboard!
If you wish, you can combine this with any of the earlier exercises as well.
There you have it! Exploring a scale in this way will build a strong foundation on which to expand further in the directions that are exciting and interesting to you. Be patient with yourself if you encounter difficulty. Some of the exercises on this page are challenging. Be sure to revisit this page from time to time with new scales, or repeat the exercises with scales you already know.
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