Essential Blues And Rock Scales

There so many scales out there that at times it seems that learning them can be confusing. Often many new guitarists don’t know were to start. The good news is that you do not have to learn every scale you only have to learn the scales that apply to your chosen genre of music. It is also a good idea to learn the scales in the keys that you most often play in first. My advice is to learn the following scales first, and in the following order, the minor pentatonic scale, the major pentatonic scale, and the blues scale, because they are the scales that are the most widely used in blues guitar, rock, jazz, bluegrass and country music. In reality these are the three scales that you hear more often then any others when you listen to the radio. The most crucial keys to learn to play these scales in are as follows A, D, E,  and G. In order to become a skilled guitarist you will have to learn to play these scales in all the keys, but if you are just beginning to play the guitar the keys of A, D, E, and G are a good place to start. In this article we will concentrate on the key of A, because it sits nicely in the center of the fretboard. 1. The minor pentatonic scale The minor pentatonic scale like all other pentatonic scales is made up of five notes the root note, flattened third, fourth, fifth and flattened seventh. In the key of A the minor pentatonic scale contains the following notes A - C - D - E – G. This is one of the more important scales that you should learn. Just about every guitarists has put this scale to good use in one form or another, some guitarist include Eddie Van Halen, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, and many others. Minor pentatonic scales work best if a song is... A.) In a minor key… B.) In a major key with a blues feel to it…

2. The major pentatonic scale

Slayer's Kerry King's Top 3 Playing Tips

There's no one on Earth quite like Slayer's Kerry King. For over 20 years, the metal guitar master has defined and refined the meaning of the word 'heavy.'

 "Heavy is a sound," King told MusicRadar, "but it's also a state of mind. Basically, if you don't think heavy, you're not going to sound heavy - simple as that. Luckily, Slayer has always been about total impact and complete sonic overkill. You can't get any heavier than Slayer, but if you wanna try, good luck with that!"
During our conversation, which covered everything from Slayer's upcoming album Painted In Blood to answering many of your questions, King offered his 3 top playing tips. "I'm not saying that if you follow these rules you'll suddenly wind up sounding like me.
"In fact, you shouldn't try to sound like me. But we'll get to that..."

1. Don't worry about staying in key

"There's nothing that says playing out of key is wrong," says King. "Of course, if you're thinking of what's traditionally accepted and bound by the 'rules of music,' you might disagree. But to me, anything that sounds good is right. Or anything that sounds weird is right. Bend the rules.
"I never would have written some of my cooler riffs if I got all hung on what notes are in tune or what notes go together. Take In The Name Of God, which is totally edgy. It starts out with an open E chord and then I slide my index finger from a B to a B-flat. I think the overall tuning is in C#.
"Now, normally everybody would tell you that the sound of an E chord and a B-flat note don't go together, but to me it sounds awesome. Bottom line: whenever somebody says 'You can't do that, because it's musically incorrect,' just give 'em the middle finger and say, 'Fuck it, I like it.'"

2. Learn when to put the guitar down

"Man, when I go home from a tour, I don't touch the guitar sometimes for a month," King says. "I chill. I get involved in my hobbies, I kick back, I don't think about music.
"A lot of people will say, 'That's wrong. You've got to practice every day.' Why? Who said so? Some

Session Guitar: 10 Life-Saving Soloing Tips

Hi, gang!

Seventy percent of my time as a session guitarist is spent soloing and/or coming up with parts. These can also be considered mini solos or licks. Or, as we call them from a songwriting POV, hooks. A memorable little snippet that repeats through the song. Or maybe just a part to wake listeners up during the second verse.
Now, how do I come up with something out of nothing? I rarely get to hear the song before I am called to play on it. I like that word "play." That's what I am doing. Playing around with various ideas. No one expects instant magic, but it has happened. Sometimes it's quick and easy, and sometimes it's like pulling teeth. You just never know. So how do I do it? Where do the ideas come from?

One word: EXPERIENCE.

Let's remember one thing right off the bat. When a person is hired to play, they are usually hired because the person who did the hiring has heard them play already. There is usually a sense of confidence. When these jobs come in the mail, I try to send back several solos and parts. Give more than is asked of me. Now how do I do it.

There are several tried-and true-methods I call upon to get me started. Here's a brief list of my top 10 life savers!

01. I SING THE SOLO FIRST. 

We guitarist use our hands. We fall into patterns. Now sometimes that's a good thing. But if you want to be original, sing it. It takes away your finger patterns and muscle memory and forces you into uncharted territory and new licks.

02. DECIDE ON A RHYTHM PATTERN. 

Begin with something slow and think whole notes, then move on to 8th notes. Change the feel and work with triplets. End on 16th notes or faster. Create a build. Tension. Or just stick to a main pattern and keep coming back to it.

03. USE LIMITATIONS.

Six Beginner Guitar Tips for Teaching Yourself How to Play the Guitar

A lot of us want to learn how to play the guitar, but we have no idea where to start, and for some of us we don't want to pay out $15 an hour for a music teacher; I know I didn't. So when I started playing music ten years ago, I decided to teach myself.
Teaching yourself how to play the guitar is not only fun, but in the long run you will learn a lot more about your instrument, save a lot more cash, and the overall experience of learning on your own will be a lot more rewarding. The downside is that you will need to really stay focused and push yourself to keep moving forward; otherwise, you won't learn a thing.
In this guide I will try to help you to break down your lessons into six easy steps so that you can create your own practice sessions that work best for you. It really isn't that hard, but you have to stick with it. If I taught myself how to play the guitar, then so can you.

1. Buy an affordable guitar

The first thing you need to obviously do is buy your first guitar. I would recommend that you don't pay more than $100 on your first guitar. You may ask "Why not?"
Because who knows how long you will play the guitar. You might just give up within the first month, so why spend $200 on an instrument that will just sit around on display? If you aren't going to play it, don't spend a lot of money on it. My first guitar was under $70, and it was perfect. It didn't have any damage, there was no fret or truss rod problems, and the sound quality was surprisingly very nice. Whoever made my guitar took the time to do it right. The point is that you can buy a good quality guitar for very little money. All of those people out there that say "Buy a guitar for $200 because you get what you pay for" are sadly just saying that to make you waste money. Test some guitars out in store and try to find one you like that has the lowest price tag.

If you stick with playing the guitar, you can always upgrade to a better one in the future. I once heard a professional musician play Flight of the bumblebee on a $1 Recorder, and he made it sound epic. As you get better at playing the guitar you will discover that your first guitar will actually start to sound better over time as you perfect your skills. It's not the instrument that makes a good musician, but the musician that makes the instrument.