Guitar Scale Exercises - Improve Your Speed, Strength
& Timing
To make the most effective use of the guitar scale exercises in this
series, use them in conjunction
with the timing elements introduced in the timing
series.
That means using quarter, eighth and sixteenth notes and
gradually increasing the BPM on your metronome
(I recommend increments of 5 BPM).
Have patience
and discipline
with it and you'll soon notice dramatic
improvements in
your ability to navigate scales in a fluid way.
Note
that the exercises in this series are a general guide and can be
applied to any scale
you learn.
However, for any examples, I'll be using the major scale.
The
important thing is you come out of this lesson with a clear
process for building your own effective guitar scale exercises rather
than
relying on tabs being thrown in front of you for every single scale
(although there will be separate scale exercise lessons to give you
some ideas!). In other words, look at these exercises as patterns rather than
specific notes.
Tip:
These exercises are great for warming up. Spend around 10 minutes
before
each practice session combining the techniques below for your chosen
scale (e.g. a scale you're currently learning).
Guitar Scale Exercises Set #1 - Runs
Scale runs are simply where you ascend up or descend down a scale
pattern in repetitive, linear and staggered movements. Think
of runs as playing a given scale in straight sequence (e.g. note 1 up
to 7 or 7 down to 1) but with interruptions or "set backs" to make them
sound more interesting.
Get the
print sheet for this lesson - Includes tabs for all 20
exercises to read away from your computer/device. Download Here (PDF)
Exercise 1
In the sequence below, each number represents a degree of a 7 note
scale (most scales have 7 notes, with 1 being the root). This is how a
"4 steps forward, 2
steps back" run would play out...
1
2
3
4
3
2
3
4
5
6
5
4
5
6
7
1
7
6
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Using the C major scale as an example, I could apply this run sequence
to its 1st position boxed pattern as follows...
Fret 8
Exercise 2
A wider, 3-notes-per-string pattern as follows...
Fret 8
Runs can also be played across wider patterns, but start with
the box
and 3-notes-per-string patterns and gradually expand to cover more of
the fretboard.
Exercise 3
Don't forget to descend
using the same pattern, starting from the 1st
(high E) string...
1
7
6
5
6
7
6
5
4
3
4
5
4
3
2
1
2
3
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Tip:
Try occassionally repeating sections of the run based on string
pairings. You don't always have to run up/down the entire pattern.
Below are some more run patterns for you to try.
Remember, these can be applied
to any
scale, including pentatonic scales (although obviously you have fewer
notes-per-octave to run through).
Remember also that you don't always have to
start on the root (1) note of the scale. Once you've learned the
sequence,
try starting the run pattern on
each note of the scale. Test yourself and be spontaneous!
Exercise 4
5
steps forward, 3 back ascending...
1
2
3
4
5
4
3
2
3
4
5
6
7
6
5
4
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Exercise 5
Same
as Ex 4 but descending from the top to bottom of the pattern...
1
7
6
5
4
5
6
7
6
5
4
3
2
3
4
5
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Exercise 6
2
steps forward, 1 back ascending...
1
2
1
2
3
2
3
4
3
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Exercise 7
Same as above but descending...
1
7
1
7
6
7
6
5
6
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>
Exercise 8
3 steps forward, 1 back
ascending...
1
2
3
2
3
4
5
4
5
6
7
6
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>
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Exercise 9
Descending...
1
7
6
7
6
5
4
5
4
3
2
3
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Exercise 10
You can also play longer, more elaborate runs. This pattern is
specifically designed for
3-notes-per-string scale
patterns as it would typically involve legato playing (hammer-ons and
pull-offs).
1
2
3
4
5
6
5
4
3
2
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
1
2
1
7
6
5
4
>
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Exercise 11
This exercise is also designed for 3-notes-per-string scale
patterns as
you play two 3-note triplets on each string,
ascending or descending
through the scale pattern. Remember, the numbers represent the scale
degrees and can be applied to any scale. It's the sequence, the
movement between the scale's degrees we're
looking at here...
3
2
1
3
2
1
6
5
4
6
5
4
2
1
7
2
1
7
5
4
3
5
4
3
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Exercise 12
We can draw out the above run even more by repeating the
triplets more times
on each string...
3
2
1
3
2
1
6
5
4
3
2
1
6
5
4
6
5
4
2
1
7
6
5
4
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Exercise 13
How about interrupting these triplets a bit more with a further step
back at
the end of every 2nd triplet? Arrgh! More to think about...
3
2
1
3
2
1
2
1
6
5
4
6
5
4
5
4
2
1
7
2
1
7
1
7
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Exercise 14
Countless combinations! We could use a "back and forth" sequence as
follows...
3
2
1
2
3
2
1
2
6
5
4
5
6
5
4
5
2
1
7
1
2
1
7
1
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The next few guitar scale exercises involve skipped
notes in the run sequence. This
means when moving forward or back, we jump over a note or two,
repeating the sequence up or down the scale pattern. A bit more
challenging to negotiate, but stay disciplined with the metronome and
there's no reason why you can't get up to a good speed with it for any
scale you learn.
Exercise 15
Starting with a descending sequence (from the "top" of the scale
pattern), we play the first note, skip a note in the scale, play the
2nd note, step back and play the note we skipped and stagger downwards
like that. For this, I could use a smaller box pattern as follows...
2
7
1
6
7
5
6
4
5
3
4
2
3
1
2
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Exercise 16
Things are going to get a little trickier now because the repetitions
are more complex. Challenge yourself with different variations on the
above exercises - mix skipped note sequences with straight sequences
like in the following, gradual descent (again, using that box pattern
from above)...
2
1
7
6
1
7
6
5
7
6
5
4
6
5
4
3
5
4
3
2
4
3
2
1
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Exercise 17
Now a 3-notes-per-string mixed variation...
4
2
3
2
1
7
6
7
1
6
7
6
5
4
3
4
5
3
4
3
2
1
7
1
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Exercise 18
A slight variation on the above...
4
2
3
6
7
1
7
6
1
6
7
3
4
5
4
3
5
3
4
7
1
2
1
7
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Exercise 19
Or, with a wider note skip at the start of each repetition...
4
6
7
1
7
6
1
3
4
5
4
3
5
7
1
2
1
7
2
4
5
6
5
4
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Exercise 20
You could also try skipping "behind" the starting note of each
repetition (skip backs greyed
out). Very difficult to explain in words, so here are the
diagrams! This is an ascending pattern.
2
3
1
2
3
4
2
3
4
5
3
4
5
6
4
5
6
7
5
6
7
1
6
7
>
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Shake
off and grab a beer...
As you can probably tell by now, there are 1001 examples I could give
you, but I think you have
enough variation ideas from which to build your own run sequences.
A lot of the sequences you build will be dictated by the fingering of
your chosen scale pattern. As we've seen, some runs are more accessible
using 3-note-per-string scale patterns, whereas others a better suited
to narrower
box patterns.
Either way, when it comes to making your own exercises, or even a solo,
you should try mixing different sequences - note skips, staggered
repetitions, triplets and straight runs - as it will all go towards
improving
your speed, timing and finger dexterity.
In the next part, we'll look at more effective guitar scale exercises
you
can use to further develop your speed and timing. In the meantime,
devote at least 10 minutes a day to the
above exercises (you don't have to cram them all into the 10 minutes,
choose one per day to work on, starting from the top).
More
Scale
Exercises for Guitar
