In this video
This lesson consolidates all the lead guitar scales and positions covered throughout the Beginner Electric course.
When practicing scales to a metronome, try at 80 BPM with one note per click initially, then slow the metronome to 60-70 BPM and play two notes per click for advanced development. The jam tracks are your ultimate progress check - they test your technical ability at the appropriate tempo.
See Lesson Clip at the bottom of this page for quick Scale reference!
Scale Positions Covered:
E minor pentatonic: open position (both octaves) and 12th fret
A minor pentatonic: two positions including the signature slide approach
C major pentatonic: demonstrated in My Girl and used in Don't Look Back In Anger
Shape 5 vs Shape 1: understanding pentatonic positions across the neck
C major scale (7-8 notes): open position with Happy Birthday and Let It Be
A natural minor scale: open position, same notes as C major scale, starting on A (same notes, different start and end note that’s all!)
Apache and Walk Don't Run as A minor examples
Extended Techniques:
Moving A minor pentatonic shape 1 to G minor pentatonic position for wider stretches
My Sharona, Riverboat Song and Paperback Writer using G minor pentatonic
Arctic Monkeys' Fluorescent Adolescent in E major pentatonic
Blues scale in open position, 12th fret, and 14th fret positions
Enter Sandman and Sunshine of Your Love as blues scale applications
String Bending Essentials:
Two-fret bends in tune (whole step)
One-fret bends (half step) for bluesy flavour
Vibrato technique using wrist motion
The blues curl: quarter-tone bend for expression
If you have weaknesses in any position or struggle with the difference between major and minor pentatonic, these areas will be revisited Intermediate and lead guitar programs.
Use the Jam Tracks to gauge your progress - they incorporate all the technique points at appropriate tempos.