What is a pentatonic scale?

What is a blues scale?

I want to play lead guitar and solo which I have never done before. Where should I start?

How can I play fast? How can I improve my picking?

How can I play guitar solo sounding like a pro?

I’m having trouble playing 16th and 32nd notes.

Which left-hand finger tells you what position you are in?

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What is a pentatonic scale?

A scale is simply a series of notes arranged in rising order of pitches.  It is the basis of licks, solos, compositions, songs, and harmony.  There are many different scales invented and existed over a couple of centuries: major, natural minor, harmonic minor, melodic minor, pentatonic, blues, Hungarian, oriental, Neapolitan, etc.  Among these scales, the pentatonic is one of the oldest and most popularly used especially in blues, rock and country.  A pentatonic scale, as indicated by its name, consists of five notes.  In Greek, penta means five, and tonic means note.   There are two types of pentatonic scales: major and minor.  To see what they look like or to play a couple of them, go to: 101 Basic Minor Pentatonic Scales or 101 Basic Major Pentatonic Scales

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What is a blues scale?

A blues scale is based on a minor pentatonic scale and it consists of six notes.  For instance, the C blues scale includes all five notes from the C minor pentatonic scale, C, Eb, F, G, Bb plus one additional note, Gb.  The added note is often called a blue note as the note gives a bluesy sound to the scale.  (Refer to: 101 Basic Blues Scales )

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I want to play lead guitar and solo which I have never done before. Where should I start?

First, learn scales, arpeggios, and a little bit of theory. Second, learn as many licks as possible. The best way is to listen and copy from your favorite guitarist and recordings or instruction books/tapes/videos. Then, pick a couple of solos or performances you really like. Listen to and live with them day and night until you can hum and sing it even in your dream. If you can copy and play note-for-note along with the recording, that’s great, but even though you can’t play it now, this will train your ears and minds. Don’t wait until you have all the basic down to start improvising. As soon as you’ve learned a scale or an arpeggio, start creating and playing something. Record a simple chord progression and improvise over it. It’s not only fun, but it’ll also dictate what you should do next and what you want to go from there. Easy said than done. Keep in mind that it often takes years to reach a point where you can play a solo as creatively and as freely as you want. Be patient and practice diligently and you’ll get there before you know it!

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How can I play fast? How can I improve my picking?

The real secret to play fast is to practice a lot and to start really SLOWLY, gradually building speed and a sense of time, while always playing as clearly as and as accurately as possible. One way to practice and improve your picking is to work very hard on repetitive rhythms. For example, you can take a portion of a scale (4~5 notes) or a short lick or melody and practice it repetitively at various tempi. Play it SLOWLY at first, making sure you can play each and every note cleanly with good articulation. Here are a few other tips:

1. Use alternate picking: constant use of upstroke followed by downstroke or vise versa.
2. Strive to economize your picking motion. Try not to waste the movement between the upstroke and the downstroke. Every picking should be as small as and as efficient as possible.
3. Your picking hand and arm should be stable. It often helps to place and fix your hand on the bridge or anywhere that is most comfortable for you.
4. It varies from one individual to another’s taste, but rather than picking every single note, incorporating hammer-ons and pull-offs appropriately often enables you to play a lick easier and faster.
5. Lastly, remember that playing fast without any control and any sense of time is one of the worst habits you can develop and the hardest to get rid of.

Remember the speed will eventually come in time as long as you diligently keep practicing every day with a metronome. And the best part is, the more you learn and master a lick or solo, the easier and quicker you'll conquer the next ones!

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How can I play guitar solo sounding like a pro?

Approaches differ from one player to another, but if you have a specific player in mind, the best way to sound alike is to IMITATE the player. Spend 1-2 years listening to, copying, and studying your hero and strive to be able to play exactly like him or her. Getting notes down is only the first step. Imitate the articulation, sound, phrasing, dynamics, and everything else! Then, start altering a few things here and there to better suite to your taste. For example, take one of his/her licks and change rhythms, notes, etc. Or, you can create your own solo based on his or her solo. Lastly, regularly record yourself and study your playing or have someone listen to and ask for his or her honest and straightforward opinion.

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I’m having trouble playing 16th and 32nd notes.

In order to play any notes including the 16th or 32nd, you have to be able to hear it in your head first. To review first, a 16th note is 1/4 of a quarter note and a 32nd note is 1/8 of a quarter note. To practice these notes, think of each click of your metronome as a quarter note and practice subdividing it in 4 or 8 equal parts. To get a feel for a 16^th note, count ONE-e-&-ah, TWO-e-&-ah, THREE-e-&-ah, FOUR-e-&-ah (you can also say 1-2-3-4, 2-2-3-4, etc.) while each click falls right on ONE, TWO, THREE and FOUR. Make sure you divide each quarter note equally by four. If you have trouble dividing a click by four, try this. Think of each click as one 16th note instead and count and tap your foot every 4 clicks. You’ll be counting each quarter note while your metronome plays four 16th notes per beat. You need to be able to hear these subdivision accurately before being able to play it on guitar. Once you can hear it in your head clearly, take one note and play 4 notes per a quarter note slowly while counting ONE-e-&-ah, TWO-e-&-ah, etc. Alternatively, play against each click and count each quarter note 1, 2, 3, and 4 for every four 16th notes you play. The latter may be more helpful to practice subdividing a beat accurately. In case of 32nd notes, just do the same as 16th notes except subdivision will be 8 equal parts instead of 4. In both notes, do it VERY SLOWLY at first. Don’t set your metronome too fast. After you develop a solid sense of 16th or 32nd notes, write out and play a scale or lick in both rhythms and practice repeatedly against your metronome. There is really no short-cut for practicing rhythms.

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Which left-hand finger tells you what position you are in?

First finger. For example, let's say your first finger naturally lies or positions at the 5th fret (no stretching), you are said to be in the 5th position.  Similarly, you are in the 7th position when your first finger is positioned at the 7th fret.

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