]If you are at all familiar with playing the piano, you will know that a "Scale" is a group of musical notes that are played one after the other in either an ascending or descending order. There are many different types of scales, each with their own unique characteristics, note patterns and musical qualities. Here we will learn about a few of the most common scales (in Western Music) and how to use them to improve your guitar playing. Although playing and practicing scales can often be a tiresome and relatively unexciting process, don't be afraid! They will help strengthen your fingers, improve your hand-eye coordination, and greatly improve your ability to learn more advanced guitar techniques, such as soloing!

• The diagrams that are used in this lesson show which notes should be played in each scale and which fingers should be used to play each note. The small green circles show you exactly where on the fretboard you should play, while the numbers inside the circles let you know which of your fingers you should use to play the note. Here are some things to keep in mind when reading scale diagrams:

Finger Positions 1 = Index finger 2 = Middle finger 3 = Ring finger 4 = Pinky finger 0 = Play the note open: Don't fret any notes

Strings 6th String = E 5th String = A 4th String = D 3rd String = G 2nd String = B 1st String = E

Frets Since you don't actually put your finger directly on each fret, guitarists describe frets as the space on the neck between each metal strip. So, the 2nd fret would refer to the second gap between frets that is found on the neck.

Note: Although the diagrams and instructions below show how to play each of these scales in the Key of E, they can all be played in any key you want. At the bottom of each section you will find instructions on how to play each scale in the key of your choice.

• For our first scale, we will start with the most basic scale in music: The Chromatic Scale. While this scale might not seem very musically interesting to your ear at first, it is still one of the most important scales for you to know (as it contains the basic elements of every other scale). Here's how to play the Chromatic scale in the key of E.

1. Start by playing the 6th string "Open."
2. Next, take the index finger on your fretting hand and hold down the first fret on the 6th string. Pluck the 6th string again.
3. Using your middle finger, hold down the second fret of the 6th string and play it again.
4. Use your ring finger to hold down the third fret and play the string again.
5. Use your pinkie finger to hold down the fourth fret and play it once more.
6. Repeat these steps for each of the subsequent strings (except the 3rd string — only play the first three frets on that one).

Other Keys

• In order to play the Chromatic scale in other keys, follow this simple formula, starting on the root note of your chosen key (H = 1 Half-Step or 1 Fret and W = Whole Step or 2 Frets):

• Root - H - H - H - H - H - H - H - H - H - H - H - H - Root

• The Major Scale is one of the most important and useful scales to know when playing guitar. It has a bright, upbeat quality (much like a Major chord) and can be a great tool for soloing in songs that are in a Major key. Here is how to play the Major scale in the key of E:

1. Play the 6th string "Open"
2. Play the 6th string, 2nd fret
3. Play the 6th string, 4th fret
4. Play the 5th string "Open"
5. Play the 5th string, 2nd fret
6. Play the 5th string, 4th fret
7. Play the 4th string, 1st fret
8. To repeat the scale again, continue playing the rest of the notes in the diagram.

Other Keys

• In order to play the Major scale in other keys, follow this simple formula (starting on the root note of your chosen key):

• Root - W - W - H - W - W - W - H - Root

• The Minor scale has a darker, more moody quality to it than the Major scale (much like a Minor chord) and can be a useful soloing tool for songs that have a similar quality to them. Here is how to play the Minor scale in the key of E:

1. Play the 6th string "Open"
2. Play the 6th string, 2nd fret
3. Play the 6th string, 3rd fret
4. Play the 5th string "Open"
5. Play the 5th string, 2nd fret
6. Play the 5th string, 3rd fret
7. Play the 4th string "Open"
8. To repeat the scale again, continue playing the rest of the notes in the diagram.

Other Keys

• In order to play the Major scale in other keys, follow this simple formula (starting on the root note of your chosen key):

• Root - W - H - W - W - H - W - W - Root

• The Pentatonic Major scale is extremely similar to the Major scale in that it basically just the Major scale minus two notes (the 4th and 7th notes of the scale). The root of the word Pentatonic is "Penta", which is Greek for "Five", meaning that all Pentatonic scales will have 5 notes instead of 7. Here is how to play the Pentatonic major scale in the key of E:

1. Play the 6th string "Open"
2. Play the 6th string, 2nd fret
3. Play the 6th string, 4th fret
4. Play the 5th string, 2nd fret
5. Play the 5th string, 4th fret
6. To repeat the scale again, continue playing the rest of the notes in the diagram.

Other Keys

• In order to play the Pentatonic Minor scale in other keys, follow this simple formula, starting on the root note of your chosen key (W + H = 1 1/2 Steps or 3 Frets):

• Root - W - W - (W + H) - W - (W + H) - Root

• Often known as the "Blues" scale, the minor pentatonic is a popular scale for soloing in the Blues and Rock genres.

1. Play the 6th string, 3rd fret
2. Play the 5th string "Open"
3. Play the 5th string, 2nd fret
4. Play the 4th string "Open"
5. Play the 4th string, 2nd fret
6. Play the 3rd string "Open"
7. To finish the scale, continue playing the rest of the notes in the diagram.

Other Keys

• In order to play the Pentatonic Minor scale in other keys, follow this simple formula, starting on the root note of your chosen key:

• Root - (W + H) - W - W - (W + H) - W - Root

• The Harmonic minor is one of the more exotic sounding scales available to guitarists, and as such is not used terribly often. Even if you don't use it very often, the Harmonic minor is a great scale to use when you are looking for something that sounds different than the typical scales you usually use. Here is how to play the Harmonic minor scale in the key of E:

1. Play the 6th string "Open"
2. Play the 6th string, 2nd fret
3. Play the 6th string, 3rd fret
4. Play the 5th string "Open"
5. Play the 5th string, 2nd fret
6. Play the 5th string, 3rd fret
7. Play the 4th string, 1st fret
8. To repeat the scale, continue playing the rest of the notes in the diagram

Other Keys

• In order to play the Harmonic Minor scale in other keys, follow this simple formula (starting on the root note of your chosen key):

• Root - W - H - W - W - H - (W + H) - H - Root

While these are some of the more popular scales, there are many other scales that we haven't gone over. Use this handy scale finder in order to learn the various other scales that can be used.

• In order to master each of these scales and fully understand how they can be used in different situations, you will need to practice them on a regular basis. I know that practicing your scales can be tedious and boring, but it really will pay off in the end. Trust me. Here are some tips on how to practice your scales:

1. Make sure to practice somewhere quiet so that you don't get distracted and so you can focus completely on learning these scales.
2. Practice each of these scales for at least 30 minutes or until you are confident enough to move on to the next one. Make sure that you can transition smoothly from each note of the scale to the next one. Practice until you don't need to pause in between each note.
3. Once you have mastered playing each scale from top to bottom, try playing it backwards by starting on the last note of the scale and playing in reverse order back to the first note.
4. If you have mastered all of these scales and are looking for a more challenging exercise, try this: Play the first 2 notes of a scale, then move back 1 note and play that. Move up 2 and back 1, up 2 and back 1 until you are done playing the scale. This will make it sound like you are "Walking" down the scale.

• There is no getting around it. Learning and practicing guitar scales is not the most enjoyable way to spend your time. That's a given. But no matter how much you'd rather be jamming or playing songs, practicing scales is probably the best way for you to increase your musical knowledge and become a better guitar player. Not only will it improve the dexterity and strength of your fingers, it will also give you a better understanding of how solos are constructed and which notes can be used to create a memorable solo. So take the time to really master each of these scales. When you're on stage ripping a tasty solo, you'll be glad you did!

• Band Notes: Half Steps, Whole Steps & Scale Formulas
• All Guitar Chords: Guitar Scale Finder
• Guitar School Online: Scale Finder
• ChordBook.com: Guitar Scales
• WikiBooks: Guitar/Scales
• Guitar Noise: Scales