You should learn some scales if you are going to learn to play lead guitar. Start in the first position which is the notes found in the first four frets on the guitar. The E major scale is E F# G# A B C# D# E. If we think of this scale as a pattern of intervals instead of notes, we can use this pattern to find other scales to play on the guitar. If we count the space between three frets, such as from open E to F# as a whole step and the space from one fret to the next as a half step, we have the pattern: whole step, whole step, half step, whole step, whole step, whole step, half step. If you use this pattern starting at the note C you will get the C major scale.
There are many scales that should be in the repertoire of any lead guitar player. The Blues scale, Pentatonic major and minor and the Mixolydian mode. You should devote plenty of practice to the Blues and Pentatonic scales as they are easy to play and used a lot in popular guitar music.
When you are learning to play scales never try to rush. Always play evenly and a little slower than you feel you would like. It’s a drag to play this way when you are itching to do some serious lead guitar playing but patience will pay off big time in the long run. You should start by simply learning to play the scale up and down without hesitation and fluffed notes. Once you can do that on a regular basis you can start to experiment with playing some series of notes within the scale. No need for any talent or “feeling” at this stage, just work out some sequences to play around with like for instance, playing the first four notes of the scale and then start at the second note and play to the fifth note, then go from the third note to the sixth. Or another way is to play the first and third notes, then the second and fourth, and so on.
As you do some research on the internet on how to play lead guitar, you will come across something called the CAGED system. This is a method which help you make use to your knowledge of the notes on the guitar fretboard. It is not a shortcut for beginners who have not yet got a grounding in the basics of guitar music. The shortest way to explain this is that the C, A, G, E and D open chord shapes are your basic shapes and if you are able to play them up and down the guitar fretboard as well as the arpeggios and scales associated with the chord you will be able to play anything you like without changing positions.
Here is a link to some info on CAGED Guitar System: How To Make The Most Of It
You can also experiment with playing your scales along the strings one at a time from the first fret to the twelfth. Remember what you are looking to do is find the patterns of notes to use and to get you body playing them as if by second nature.
Here’s a video on the CAGED system:
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“learn some scales” – Would you say that this is where a beginner needs to start…Scales? I am learning everything that I can get my hands on [when I have the time] but was thinking of focusing on the scales and memorizing the natural notes of the fretboard. And from reading this post, it looks like scales are where it’s at.
If you are focusing on lead guitar then learning scales will give you a sounding board that will help you to learn new stuff easily. If you get to the stage where you have been fooling around with some of the commonly used scales for a while, you can hear a solo or a riff and think, “hey, that’s the A minor pentatonic” or something. The music you hear stops being a mystery.
[...] Learn To Play Lead Guitar You should learn some scales if you are going to… [...]