Major Lead 06 - How to Improvise with the Major Scale
How's it going guys, and in this video I'm gonna be showing you a 5 step method for you to get started with improvisation. Now here we're looking at how to get started with improvising lead guitar using all the variations of the major scale that we've looked at so far in this course. This includes major scale position 1, and in this video we're gonna be staying in the key of G throughout, which would mean that the song has the chords. C, and D in it, and other codes as well, but Sticking to major scale. Position one, but also, and not limited to that, we can look at the major scale just on one string. He even played with one finger. Or sliding up. And also not forgetting the major pentatonic scale, which in this case to play lead with will probably be best done between 15th fret and 12th frets. That is the major pentatonic scale. And that is position 5 of that major pentatonic scale in a wider context. Now, as I say, this course is uh designed as a follow-on and also appendix of my full intermediate course, which is a purchase course, it's only available from the website and through the app, and it's a premium one. This course is a free exclusive course to the app, and we can practise along to the backing tracks and jam tracks and things, but if you need more background on the theory and more technique to get you up to this kind of level, the intermediate course is the place you should be looking for more help with this. However, my five-step method for improvising and getting started to do exactly what I've just kind of demoed there, and then I'll be demoing more in a second, is firstly to play. The major scale, or the major pentatonic, or the, the major scale on one string, play the whole scale ascending and then descending in order, but over the backing track, or over the jam track, or even over an actual song that is in the key of G. That is your starting point if you've never done this before. At some point we've just gotta kind of dip our toe in the water and make a start with this stuff if you really want to be even a, even an intermediate level lead guitar player. You've got to start improvising, and that's the safest place to start, and that is step one. Go through your scale in order. Perhaps doing each note on the beat or eighth notes, um, but just playing the scale in order is absolutely the first point of call. Step two is to add in pauses with that scale. So for example, going 3 notes, 123, and then stopping on that note and seeing how it sounds, and then seeing if you want your melody to keep going up or to turn around and come back down. Just from adding this pause. And then perhaps coming back down. And I'm going up And maybe keeping going. Already just by doing that, we're starting to sound more like a melody. Now for example, you know, that's it, I can understand how that's a little bit advanced even just to be going for that. So a simpler way into that is to start doing that with the major pentatonic, which is taught in this course. OK, just going up the scale and, and changing direction. And pausing on the note that you change direction on is a great way into it, and you'll probably start doing this anyway, once you start actually practically doing step one, which is starting, actually trying to do this over a real backing track. You've gotta take the stabilisers off and have a go at this guys, which I will be demonstrating in a second once I've shown you the other steps from this method. So we're walking up and down the scale, and we're not missing any notes out. We're pausing and then changing direction, but we're still not missing any notes importantly up till now, because what can happen is people miss notes out and they don't realise that they are and that is just essentially playing the scale wrong. Very dangerous thing to do, especially with the full major scale. So it's only at this step 3, where we're going to start actually missing some notes out and perhaps starting from a different start point. So. Starting from a different start point, we'll play the 1st 3. Turn back around, that's what I've shown how to do so far, but then. Start from a different start note. That's an example, there were some um larger jumps in there where I purposely missed out some notes of this scale, visualised the note that I was going to move towards and then started from there. But once I get to that new location, I'm not missing any notes out still so that when you're missing out notes, it is purposeful, it is intended. And as I say, be very careful with that step, cause you could just end up practising the scale wrong, which is why you should continue to practise major scale position one, playing it 4 times through, hopefully to a metronome, hopefully the minor and major pentatonic. Trying to get it 4 times through note without a note mistake, playing your pattern separate to this improvising thing. Get the technical exercise aspect of this first and then get the uh get this improvising thing as a separate thing and as a reward. Hopefully for putting in all that hard work. Step number 4 is a reminder to change up the rhythm. So at the moment you may still be going just on the beat and you'll be drawn to that beat when you're picking cos it is the main pulse of the backing track of the music. But ensuring that we change up the rhythm is so crucial, adding more pauses than you than you might be comfortable doing is a good thing. Adding repetition is a good thing, but that's something that we'll be looking at later, we just want to be going through this and getting, getting the monkey off your back at this stage, basically, that's the purpose and encouragement of this course. My final tip. Is to balance that out, is to above all, keep playing. This is the advantage of playing over backing tracks that we have 3 to 5 minutes, just to do whatever, and that 3 to 5 minutes can seem the longest of times, and also it can go by in a flash, OK? So let's practically have a go at this now, but remember my final tip, step number 5 of this, keep going throughout the entire backing track. If you feel you've gone wrong or you've gone awry, pause and come back, but try and make it to the end of the backing track, it is so important. So let me give you an example of this now with my first recommended backing track or jam track, which I've embedded underneath this video if you want to have a go at this right away if you're inspired, and I hope that you do. OK, so we'll begin walking up our scale. Walking up and walking back down. Step #2, remembering to pause, but not changing direction. Let's check that we can all do that as well. Just staying on one string, this is such a crucial step. Turning back around. Remind me to shake up the rhythm. And that's just a few examples, but just getting to that sort of level where you can do something approaching that kind of competency is all we're expecting. We're not expecting you to be wailing up and down your scales super fast. We're actually focusing more on melody in this course in general. You can do this exact same thing on electric guitar. We're just demoing this on acoustic cos it's more geared towards those people who play acoustic guitar, and all of this will bring on your riff playing, your rhythm playing, playing and singing, picking out single notes, getting more, becoming more accomplished at improvisation has the biggest knock-on effect to all other aspects of your playing. Because if you can do this, you're just ahead of the game, you've really got an accomplished and trained musical mind and a musical memory that we can then apply to so many other things. I really hope you give this a go guys. Remember that when we change key and all those jam tracks that are in the resources section, they do say which key you're in, it does feel different in a different note location. Just glancing at a couple of others now, we have the first one in the key of C. Which we would have position one. Of the major scale at 8 frets, we would have the C major scale on 1 string from the 1st fret. On the um on the sea court. You know, using that note, tone, tone, semitone, tone, tone, tone, semitone. We would also have the C major scale. There, and you'd be using that sort of technique to try and improvise and play a melody with this scale. Uh, other ones, we've got a couple in the key of G, then one in the key of D, which you of course have the open D string. Trying to make it sound like a melo melody. Position one of the major scale. Upper 8th fret, oh, that's 10th fret, sorry, 10th fret on the thickest string, and then starting from that same note. With uh the major pentatonic scale. Just there. Loads more on this concept to come. Much more advanced lessons which will help you go from here to come on the website and my Andy Guitar YouTube channel and on the Andy Guitar app. But this is where we need to start. Absolutely. You need to start improvising with the major scale and showcasing that you can do this sort of stuff. And uh it will have a knock-on effect to all your players. I really hope you give this a go, guys. Thank you so much for bearing with me through this video. I know it's a, it's a tough one for many people to get their head around and to even realise the benefits of it, but uh it's, it's such an important lesson. I really hope you enjoy and get some joy and excitement out of playing some lead guitar over these jam tracks and then over anything that you want to play over.
In this video
Acoustic Lead Guitar Major Scale eBook 2021
Now we have covered how to play the major scale in many different ways, the time has come to try and use these notes to create melodies and solos over backing tracks or even your favourite songs!
EVERYONE finds this scary at first. However, even if you only want to learn solos from your favourite songs, learning basic improvisation is a crucial step – do not skip this step!
The biggest concept here is that we are making the major scale sound like a melody. This is in contrast to the more 'licks based' approach that can be used for blues or rock type solos. Below, you will find a five step method for how to create melodic solos using the major scale - I hope it helps you!
Here’s my five step method to creating a solo over ANY backing track or song. This method will work for any scale or genre, but is particularly effective when using the major scale over a major key backing track!
Step 1 – Play the major scale that is the same as the key of the backing track in scale order
e.g. for backing track in the key of C major, we would improvise using the C major scale for example. This is where you have to bite the bullet and just start, hopefully you will be surprised how fine this sounds!
Step 2 – Do the same as above, but stop after every 2 to 5 notes.
You can either change direction or continue in the same direction. You can either let the last note ring or let it stop.
There is no right or wrong, only a matter of subjective taste. The only thing I recommend at this step is to not miss any notes out or you may play notes that are not in the scale.
Step 3 – Do the same as above, but now start from a different note after some of the pauses.
No need to do this after every pause, but choose any other note to start from so long as it is from the scale. You can try using the patterns from lesson3 of this course, or even the arpeggios from
lesson 4!
Step 4 – Change up the rhythm.
Once you have had a few attempts at improvising and are reasonably satisfied with what you are playing, try using a different rhythm for your lead line. We could even just improvise using 1 note and keep it interesting using a syncopated rhythm i.e. a rhythm that uses a more complex rhythmic pattern and is more 'off beat'.
Step 5 – Above all, just keep playing!
So long as you only play notes from the same major scale as the key of the song i.e. C major scale over a song in the key of C major, it will sound at least acceptable. It can be a tough thing for many people to get used to, especially non singers or those from completely non-musical backgrounds. However, if you truly want to learn intermediate or higher level lead guitar in any genre, you must learn basic improvisation and have a practical grasp of the concept of musicals keys.
These skills can take time to bed, but learning to improvise is the equivalent to learning how to make the guitar talk, so don’t expect that to happen overnight, but I believe if you follow the steps above, learning how to make the guitar talk will be inevitable!
The time has come! The below video shows me playing a simple chord sequence in the key of C major for around 2 minutes. You now need to use the steps above and have a go at improvising over it using the C major scale! You can also use any other backing track you wish.