which scales do you use?

id like to know which scales u guys use for most of urs solos and how u practice them like do u just memorize it and mix the notes around im really having a hard time on scales at the moment and need allite advice on what to do i just got a nice arbor and a small line6 amp on the way and i wanna become a better soloist

Personaly, at the moment as I am also a beginner at soloing, I use the C Major Scale. That is the main, basic scale. To memorize them I play them over and over looking at the sheet, then try a couple of notes without looking and before you know it, wa la, you know a scale. As you get better you can try different scales and see what you like.

These are the scales I use to improvise. I practice them Chromatically and though the cycle of 5ths. I play each Pentatonic scale with 5 different fingerings. I do the 7 note scales in 5 to 7 positions.

1. 5 Minor Pentatonic shapes.
2. 5 Major Pentatonic shapes.
3. 5 5 Dominant Pentatonic shapes. (C E F G Bb)
4. 5 to 7 Major scales, including practicing from each root for modes.
5. 5 Harmonic Minor Scales, especially the 5th mode, Phrygian Dominant.
6. 5 Major Hexatonic (C D E F G A)
7. Others as needed

Originally Posted by: LearningGuitarid like to know which scales u guys use for most of urs solos and how u practice them like do u just memorize it and mix the notes around im really having a hard time on scales at the moment and need allite advice on what to do i just got a nice arbor and a small line6 amp on the way and i wanna become a better soloist

First of all what kind of music are do you want to solo over so I can give you the proper scales to use? :confused:

Most people learn two scales to start off:
-Major Scale
-Minor Scale
Learn those two scales in all their positions. Then you can try the Minor pentatonic.
Take your time, it`s OK to know three scales and use them correctly; than learnig so many scales that you never use, and then you can`t even remember their names.

Practice your escales over a simple chord progression, using a metronome or a drums machine.

After you have memorized your scales; start jaming, make sure to spread the notes so you don`t sound like playing "scales exercises".

ive dwelled into quite a few scales, but aside from the ones already posed, i would check out an exotic scale called the double harmonic minor. its basically the harmonic minor position 1 and 5 put together to create an "ultimate" harmonic minor. haha. another cool sounding scale is an exotic scale called "promethius". keep in mind that these exotic scales all have roots to either the major and minor scales. its very evident to tell that the harmonic minor scale is jsut a spin off of a plain old minor scale with a few eastern sounding tones added. same thing with all the scales you will learn; the roots are right in front of you with the scales that you hear everywhere. major and minor pentatonic, lydian and ionian, aeolian, bla bla bla, theyre just fancy names for scales you aughtta know if you want to shred.

My question is this:
I`ve got C major scale. If my song is, for example:
C major (I), G7 (V), F(IV).
How do you build your guitar solo? Do you just play in C major (key), or do you play in C, G7, F (three scales individually)?
I mean: do you play in one scale for the 3 chords or do you play 3 scales (one for every chord)?
Thanks for helping!!

Play one scale.

Although, for more complex phrasing, you could combine elements of the various scales. For now, though, let's not.

The first thing that i do usually is to warm up using chromatic scales then finally after a couple of minutes i start to do some scales, both major and minor and alots of pentatonic because its one of my favorites! I also do some appregios to make it more better and fun. But always use a metronome to control your speed and accuracy not just doing some bunch of crap. Using a metronome is a big help!