Originally Posted by: schmangeblah... I think totally oposite than this way of thinking.
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LOL. Fair enough. But...

Originally Posted by: schmangeI make up a melody in my head that fits the music and then just use the scales to find an easy way to get around the fretboard.
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Yes, I do that also. But I think the point here is there is a time while learning guitar that you can't just pick up a guitar and play what you hear.

The problem for many beginners is even if they can "hear a melody, lick or solo in their head" they just don't know what the scale degrees are that they are trying to play. And they don't know how to accomplish what they want to hear because they don't know how those scale degrees form patterns on the fretboard.
[QUOTE=schmange]The idea of using scales to make up leads to me just ends up making all your leads sound like a bunch of scales.

There is always that danger, of course. Walk into any music store on Saturday morning & instead of guitarists playing melodic ideas it sounds like the "World of Scales".

But again, learning and running scales is like working out. A heathy idea to prepare for playing music. If it becomes an end in itself, then the music will of course suffer.
[QUOTE=schmange]Why don't you guys just hum a melody to the background music and then find the notes.. then you can use your knowledge of scales to find the best finger positions?

But this is just two different ways of approaching the problem. What if you are unable to think of anything new or satisfying? Why not try to play the scale degrees that fit the chords or melody of the tune to find out if you can come up with something new you might not have thought of before?

I still use both approaches. Obviously since I've played for so long I more frequently know what I am after and just play what I want to hear. You (Kevin) are a very experienced, talented player that has already built up a lifetime of knowledge about guitar and music. But I try to remember there is a time for beginners before they have that acquired knowledge. And as teachers we have to think about how to get them to that level.