Practicing Scales for Beginners

Description

Make scale practice a regular part of your practice routine. Use a metronome consistently. Make a list of scales and things to do with them that you can quickly refer to when it is time to practice. A good motivating technique can be to practice scales first or in the middle of a practice session so that you won't be tempted to procrastinate, leave it for last, then run out of time and avoid doing it.

Try to find a scale exercise that has some practical application. For example, if you are working on a song that uses notes from the C major scale to walk up and down between the chords, then work on that pattern of the C major scale in various sequences. It will help your overall skills and help you improve playing that song at the same time!

Try to fit both major and minor scales and many different types of patterns and sequences into your practice schedule. It can be intimidating to approach so many scales, patterns and sequences. So, break it down. Only do one particular scale, pattern, sequence on day for 10 to 20 minutes of a practice session. Then work on the next scale or pattern or sequence on the next day's session. You don't have to conquer the whole guitar in one day!

Happy playing!