im really clueless

superiorninja21 · #1 February 11th, 2005

what is scales....whats the use for them...how do they make you a better player?

allthumbs · #2 February 11th, 2005

boy thats a loaded question. People tend to be scale junkies or chord cronies. I am a chord cronie for sure. I don't do well with scales. I play around chord tones instead. i find it takes more thought than scales since you can't let your fingers go on autopilot like scales, you don't get trapped in scale patterns either. A scale can start on any note and follows a fixed pattern of tones and semi tones. Chords are certain notes picked from that scale.
Burn this into your brain, its' a biggie. The formula for a scale is.
Tone,tone,semi-tone,tone,tone,tone
semi-tone. By tone I mean 1 whole step ie.C to D and half or semi-tone ie E to F. Apply this to the C scale to see what I mean.CDEFGABC. A major chord would be the 1,3,5 of the scale or C,E and G. I know others can answer this more technicly but , it's a start. You should be able to find lots on this subject in books and the net.
allthumbs

Spyder F16 · #3 February 11th, 2005

The amout of quality of your playing is linked to the amount of musical theory you can take to heart.

Take it little by little.

superiorninja21 · #4 February 12th, 2005

but i dont understand why you have to know them

Spyder F16 · #5 February 12th, 2005

To know them allows you to know the instrument better. It really helps in writing songs, solos as well as even Playing a song by ear (For writing tablature). Knowing scales can even help you use alternate ways to play certain chords anywhere on the fretboard. They're very versitle and they apply to all instruments and even vocals.

superiorninja21 · #6 February 12th, 2005

ok thanks

Kirk Lorange · #7 February 14th, 2005

Hi superiorninja21.

Go have a look at http://www.guitarforbeginners.com/scale.html ... this page describes the Mother Scale from which most of the others are derived. Scales are sequences of usually 7 notes chosen from the 12 that exist. You can probably see that 7 into 12 doesn't divide equally, and so the notes of scales are not spaced regularly.

Scales are important to know about, because chords come from scales, and chords are the main structures of music.

Scales were not 'invented' so much as 'uncovered' ... the physics/mathematics of sound waves are responsible for scales.

superiorninja21 · #8 February 14th, 2005

wow thats a great answer very clear.thanks alot

Kirk Lorange · #9 February 15th, 2005

One big correction: scales are not sequences of notes, they are sequences of intervals... the spaces between notes. Which actual notes come into play depends on where (which of the 12) you start the sequence of intervals.