Tips For Memorizing Guitar Scales
Memorizing a new guitar scale is very easy with a few simple tricks and an understanding of how the human brain works
. Let me give you a quick rundown of the easiest ways to get your fingers flying over those new scales.
The key to memorization of anything is grouping. The human brain can only remember sequences of things (like numbers or notes) up to a certain point. The rule is generally considered to be "5 plus or minus 2". Meaning most people can remember between five and nine items in a sequence.
Since the average scale has 7 notes, you'll probably find that the first octave is easy and the second is a little tougher. But grouping can help that. Think of the way you memorize a phone number. You don't memorize seven digits. You memorize a group of 3 plus a group of 4.
Which of these looks easier to memorize?
6 7 4 9 3 2 4
674-9324
Definitely the second one, right?
Let's apply this to your new guitar scale. The first couple of times you'll go through the scale and hunt for the notes. And, of course, you do need to know how to read the notes of the fretboard. That's very important.
Once you've done the "hunt and peck" thing a couple times, now we can start to group notes for easier memorization. Because we use movable scale patterns on the guitar, I don't want you to memorize the pattern using note names. Memorize it as a finger pattern. That makes it easier to memorize and easier to move around the fretboard.
We'll use a common major scale pattern spanning just four frets as an example. Start with just the bottom two strings. The numbers here are your fingers - 1 being your index, 4 being your pinkie.
1 2 4 - 5th string
2 4 - 6th string
Play those up and back until you can do it five times in a row without a mistake. Then do the same with the 4th and 5th strings:
1 3 4 - 4th string
1 2 4 - 5th string
Next, put the 4th, 5th, and 6th strings together and run that back and forth until you can do it five times without a mistake.
Next do the 3rd and 4th strings:
1 3 4 - 3rd string
1 3 4 - 4th string
Combine the 3rd, 4th, and 5th strings.
Combine the 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th strings.
Let's do just the 2nd and 3rd strings now:
2 4 - 2nd string
1 3 4 - 3rd string
Now combine that sequentially with the 4th, 5th, and 6th strings like we did above.
Finally add, the top string.
1 2 4 - 1st string
2 4 - 2nd string
Again, combine that with the other strings one at a time, running each one up and down until you can do it five times without a mistake.
Now, instead of 13 different notes to memorize, you only have 6 finger groupings. By building each one on top of what you've previously learned, it's much easier to memorize the whole scale pattern.
Intermediate and Advanced Techniques:
Once you can run the scale easily with the notes in order, you'll probably want to do a couple things to break out of alphabetical order and mix them up a bit.
- Do a broken 3rds pattern. Starting from your root note go up two, down one.
Ie. C E D F E G F A etc...
- That same idea can also be done using larger intervals of 4ths and 5ths
- Practice playing the pattern with skipping strings. 6th, 4th, 2nd, 1st, 3rd, 5th
- Play the arpeggios of each of the chords for the scale. If you were practicing a C major scale, then play each of the notes in a C major chord, then D minor, then E minor, etc. Since these are movable scales, those arpeggio patterns will be the same in every key.
Bonus Tip:
To learn a new pattern of the same scale, simply take the lowest note on each string and move it one string lower. Leave all the other notes where they are. This will put those low notes at the top of the pattern instead of the bottom and give you a new pattern to work with.
Once you go through these techniques you'll be able to learn any scale you need. And the more times you do it, the faster you'll be able to learn new scales. Very quickly you'll be able to master any pattern within a couple minutes.
Tips For Memorizing Guitar Scales
By: Phil Johnson
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