[jasoncohen]

i know the pentatonic, major, blues, and minor scales...but whenever i watch a concert on tv and stuff the lead guitarist can go up and down the fretboard with their scales...how can i learn how to do this?

[Kirk Lorange]

Buy my book PlaneTalk!

Chances are, the players you are watching aren't actually thinking about scales, unless you're talking about heavy metal players who JUST play scales. If you're talking about players who are creating MELODY, then they are probably thinking chords, not scales. It's a much quicker way to strong, meaningful, relevant melody.

There is a trick to being able to see chords for what they really are: 3 or 4 notes that are scattered the length of the fretboard. Because the fretboard is a maze of repeat notes, those players are mostly just playing the same notes in new positions, positions that allow for different paths through them.

My book PlaneTalk teaches that trick. Have a read of some of the many testimonials that people have written me over the last few years.

But, if all you want to do is play scales (I can't imagine why you would) then just learn all the positions for all scales. But as I say, that's the long way around.

It's imperative that you know scales and understand what they are and how they differ, but actually playing scales is not really music ... to my ear anyway.

[RockaBilly]

With 7 notes in the scale there are many ways to play them. You can play them on 1 string, 3 notes per string, caged system, boxed, even a mixture of them. To choose how to play them is called voicing. Don't forget you'll have chord changes even key changes in a course of a song including notes outside of a scale (that's an art there.) Your ears are the best judge.

[Yeah1Right]

I like the way Kirk put it, it looks like oooooooooh aaaaaaaaaah on stage to the untrained eye. I'm with Kirk, work smarter, not harder.

And in no way am I trying to downplay the amount of work it takes to get to the level YOU want to achieve.

Peace!