Do you actually need to spend any of your valuable time learning guitar scales and theory?
The argument that a guitarist who does not learn any type of theory will be at risk of losing their originality. They will not be able to be or sound like themselves, they'll be caught up and restricted within the confines of rules and regulations. The only problem with that type of thinking is that you're in danger of not growing and progressing as a musician.
All basic lead guitar instruction courses at the root level will say to you to learn chords, scales and arpeggios simply because they know that you will acquire a greater understanding of how the music process inter-grates and works together, you'll broaden your playing with new possibilities and concepts, instead of the reverse.
And here is the most significant factor. A lot of self taught musicians have a tendency to suffer from episodes of self doubt simply because of not knowing what to play, which in turn can produce insecurities and lack of self confidence in your playing.
Knowledge is power, as the saying goes, so if you wish to advance your guitar playing to expert status as a lead guitar improviser or if you want to be given serious attention as a professional musician, there's no two way about it, you are going to need to set precious time aside to practice modes, scales and learn notes on your guitar fretboard.
Here are some pointers you may want to bear in mind when starting out.
1. Five or Ten minutes a day of disciplined practice will yield more results than ten years of picking up your guitar and 'noodling' about, sitting on the end of your bed.
2. Schedule 10 minutes for a practice session and decide in advance what it is you will do and learn. Too many guitarists explain to me they practiced for 8 hours a day and when I ask them, what did you learn - I am not generally given a precise answer.
3. Always make use of a drum machine or metronome when practicing as you'll learn in time that timing is everything.
4. You do not need to practice at the speed of sound when you start. You'll find many guitarists who play fast, find out that speed isn't what music or guitaring is really about and wind up going back to their roots and playing melodic phrases that satisfy themselves.
5. Don't beat yourself up simply because you are not Steve Vai or Dave Gilmour after 2 weeks.
Furthermore, something that isn't mentioned frequently about practicing guitar scales or modes or arpeggios is the fact that it doesn't need to be drudgery and boredom. Spending 10 or 20 minutes a day working on the theory aspect of your playing will yield benefits far beyond what you can think of on your own. I don't believe that there is a single musician in the world who has spent time learning theory and said, I wish I hadn't have spent all that time learning all that crap.
Conclusion: If you wish to improve your playing or write songs that are original and express who you actually are, you ought to consider opening yourself to some solid theory simply because the road to originality is via other people's stuff. If you have a good working knowledge of guitar scales, you'll determine what your favourite players are up to and be able to duplicate those phrases in all keys for yourself. - 42265
The argument that a guitarist who does not learn any type of theory will be at risk of losing their originality. They will not be able to be or sound like themselves, they'll be caught up and restricted within the confines of rules and regulations. The only problem with that type of thinking is that you're in danger of not growing and progressing as a musician.
All basic lead guitar instruction courses at the root level will say to you to learn chords, scales and arpeggios simply because they know that you will acquire a greater understanding of how the music process inter-grates and works together, you'll broaden your playing with new possibilities and concepts, instead of the reverse.
And here is the most significant factor. A lot of self taught musicians have a tendency to suffer from episodes of self doubt simply because of not knowing what to play, which in turn can produce insecurities and lack of self confidence in your playing.
Knowledge is power, as the saying goes, so if you wish to advance your guitar playing to expert status as a lead guitar improviser or if you want to be given serious attention as a professional musician, there's no two way about it, you are going to need to set precious time aside to practice modes, scales and learn notes on your guitar fretboard.
Here are some pointers you may want to bear in mind when starting out.
1. Five or Ten minutes a day of disciplined practice will yield more results than ten years of picking up your guitar and 'noodling' about, sitting on the end of your bed.
2. Schedule 10 minutes for a practice session and decide in advance what it is you will do and learn. Too many guitarists explain to me they practiced for 8 hours a day and when I ask them, what did you learn - I am not generally given a precise answer.
3. Always make use of a drum machine or metronome when practicing as you'll learn in time that timing is everything.
4. You do not need to practice at the speed of sound when you start. You'll find many guitarists who play fast, find out that speed isn't what music or guitaring is really about and wind up going back to their roots and playing melodic phrases that satisfy themselves.
5. Don't beat yourself up simply because you are not Steve Vai or Dave Gilmour after 2 weeks.
Furthermore, something that isn't mentioned frequently about practicing guitar scales or modes or arpeggios is the fact that it doesn't need to be drudgery and boredom. Spending 10 or 20 minutes a day working on the theory aspect of your playing will yield benefits far beyond what you can think of on your own. I don't believe that there is a single musician in the world who has spent time learning theory and said, I wish I hadn't have spent all that time learning all that crap.
Conclusion: If you wish to improve your playing or write songs that are original and express who you actually are, you ought to consider opening yourself to some solid theory simply because the road to originality is via other people's stuff. If you have a good working knowledge of guitar scales, you'll determine what your favourite players are up to and be able to duplicate those phrases in all keys for yourself. - 42265
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