The blues guitar scale.
How can such a simple scale power hundreds of careers?
The blues guitar scale is not just a ordinary guitar scale.This Scale has launched countless careers, fortunes and amazing celebrity status. Countless musicians can point to the guitar blues scale as the way to fame and fortune. All this from a simple 5 note scale, with a couple of extras thrown in for good measure. How are the pentatonic scales and the blues guitar scale the same? Simple - the addition of one note, the blue note which is a flatted 5. Do you you need to know what a flatted 5 is at this point? Nope. Just learn the scale pattern and you can sound good in no time flat. Well maybe a little time but not too much. This is very basic stuff in the guitar world. 5 guitar blues scale box patterns- The blues scale is all over the guitar neck. In order to organize, break it down and make it easy to learn, somebody way back when decided it would be a good idea to break it apart into sections so that it could be learned much easier and make it easy to connect the sections and make a blues lead solo much easier to run all the way up and down the neck.
So lets get on with it and learn the Blues scale in all 5 positions.
It's really not good enough to simply learn the blues scale, but the blues scale must become part of you.What do I mean by that? Well if you watch any really good blues player it's as if they are not really thinking about what they are playing but it's a part of them. They have made, through hours of practice and performance the blues a part of themselves. This is only possible because it is in their nervous system as highways of connections between their heart, brains and hands.
The best way to make the guitar blues scale a part of you.
The best way to make the blues guitar scale part of you is practice, repetition and using a metronome or drum machine.Start out and just remember what box number 1 feels like under your fingers and hand. I've included the tab to box or position one of the Guitar blues scale in the key of A Just below. After you have it in your short term memory your have to burn it into long term memory and long term muscle memory.
The best way to burn the guitar blues scale into long term memory and long term muscle memory is to use a metronome set to a low speed at first and increase the speed slowly as you gain confidence.
Next up - blues scale pattern or box 2
Take a good look at the top notes right after box 1. These are not separate notes. The bottom notes on pattern 1 are the top notes on pattern 2. Except for that blue note on the second thinnest string. String 2.This is where it all fits together. But don't be concerned with fitting them together right now. Just follow the same procedure that you used to memorize box 1.
On to Box or position 3 of the blues guitar scale - your making progress.
As in the prior explanation the same goes here. Take a look at the bottom row of notes on box 2. They are the same as the top notes on box 3 except for the blue notes. Thats how they connect up but don't be concerned with that now. Just learn pattern 3 and make it automatic to you.
Here comes blues guitar scale pattern or box 4 - are you ready?
Ok here we go again. Take a look at the notes on the bottom of pattern 3 and compare to the pattern on the top of pattern 4.This is the connection and where they flow together. Same procedure First get your hand used to the pattern and drill it in with a metronome until its part of you. You've almost got it now.
Now for blues guitar scale pattern or box 5.
OK take a look here at the notes on the bottom of pattern 4 and you will notice that it's the same notes as the top of pattern 5 except for the blue note. This is where they are cemented together with each other.Don't concern your self with that right now. Just memorize pattern 5 and use the metronome to make it your own.
You've probably already figured out how to connect the blues guitar scale patterns together or are really wondering how to do that.
The best way to connect them together is to take a couple of strings at a time and learn to slide down and up between two patterns at a time. Then move onto the next couple of strings and get those down until you can move back and forth between the two patterns.
Oh, by the way, Once you get to pattern five of the blues guitar scale it will connect up to and repeat pattern 1 and go on from there to the other patterns 2,3,4,5. Same way going up from pattern 1 the next pattern would be 5,4,3,2,1
I hope you enjoyed and got allot out of this page and wish you great success.
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