Why Scales Matter

Here are 10 things you learn when you practise guitar scales:

1. Pressure: How much pressure is needed to fret each note across the entire fretboard. If you don't, you'll end up with sore fingers and having to put the guitar down.

2. Tone: How to position fingers correctly (just before the fret wire) so that we can learn to produce reliably clear sounds with as little finger pressure as possible every time we play.

3. Efficiency: How to move fingers efficiently by keeping them close to the strings so that we can play faster passages smoothly.

4. Musically: How to change from note to note with Staccato and Legato just by thinking about how we change from one note to the next - as one finger replaces the next - how much of a sound gap is there?

5. Reading: To make sight reading easier. Scale passages are contained in most well written music. When you can recognise these passages you'll spot them quickly and you'll read faster.

6. Listening: How to listen more acutely to harmonic tension by acclimatising your ears to the differences between diatonic major and harmonic minor for example. You could for example practise scales over chord changes to make it more interesting.

7. Harmony: How to appreciate Intervals and Chords. Scales are not separate to chords, they are just more harmony to use within and over chords and one of the best ways to learn about chord harmony.

8. Speed: The more scales you memorise, the more fluidly you'll be able to play. This is only true if you take your time practising scales - listening to your sounds, thinking about where your fingers, how much pressure they employ and when they move.

9. Patterns: Being able to identify patterns on the guitar neck is essential. Learn your scales and you will see chords tones more easily. I think of scales as the glue between the chords.

10. Strength: Finger and hand stamina can only be gained by practising the kind of movements you'll need to make when you actually play music. Playing for 30 seconds is easy enough but practise your scales regularly and you'll definitely be able to go for longer.

What do we really learn when we practise scales?

For many guitarists, learning scales is just too boring to get into properly. If learning scales seems boring, it's probably because you don't fully understand why you need to learn them and how much they can do to improve your playing and musicianship.

In other words, if the only thing on your mind when you practise scales is which fret your fingers land on and what the scale pattern is, then yes, it is very boring.

Why should we practise guitar scales?

They are an important part of every guitar exam for a lot of very good reasons. Learning to play guitar is a lot more than mechanics. The hardest part for many students is learning to hear by listening more carefully. Remember, when you're practising scales it's not just about where the notes are on the neck, you have to listen to sounds you make and be conscious of the pressure your fingers place on each string - too much and you'll get sore fingers - we've all done that right?

If you think about it, most written solo guitar music is made up of scales, arpeggios and chords. Reading this music well depends upon how well you have practised these things. But this is just one reason to practise them.

If you want to do guitar grades, either in classical finger-style or modern rock, you will need to learn scales and read notation or tablature. That's a good enough reason I think.

Happy practising! :)

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