Guitar Scales - How To Master Scales

Many guitar players are suffering with mild to severe handicaps in their left hands because of the way they practice scales. They don't know it, but their fingers, hands, and arms are full of tension when they play scales, and that is why they cannot play scales fast.

Scales should never be given to a beginning students! A beginning guitarist's fingers are completely unprepared to do scales properly, even if they are able to play them! This is because even though talented students can make the notes, they will not notice the subtle tension that is in the fingers, and they will not know that the bad form they are using will stop them dead as they try to play scales faster later on.

The fingers must be prepared for scales with special, simpler exercies that prepare the fingers by giving them stretch, strength, and independent action. Those exercises are the "Walking Exercises" from my book "The Principles Of Correct Practice For Guitar".

These exercises give perfect left hand functioning to ANYONE who uses them. Here is a "Principled Student" (and now a teacher) Guillaume Lepage, demonstrating these exercises for us....

These exercises, and all the necessary instructions for how to practice them, are contained in Chapter 4 of "The Principles Of Correct Practice For Guitar".

Fundamental aspects of technique, illustrated using classic songs you know and love (according to The Principles, of course!)

Powerful Secrets! to improve your playing!

Important info on reaching with the index or pinky, and its relation to arm position.

These are essential, and basic, techniques for the rock guitarist. Many people do them wrong, find out if you are one of them!

The classical and casual positions with electric, acoustic, and classical guitars.

There are always lots of questions about how to apply The Principles to a standing position. Here are pictures of me standing with an electric, and using different strap lengths.

Pictures of good left hand positions for various playing situations.

Video clips of the Walking Exercises from "The Principles".

Video clip of Foundation Exercise # 10, The 6 note Arpeggio".

See the proper form of this difficult chord.

There is much confusion as to the "correct" left hand position for guitar. That is because there is no such thing as THE correct left hand position for guitar!

Find out why you need to have those distal joints in shape for this chord, and also why you don't!

In 30 years of teaching, I have rarely (perhaps never) seen a left hand that wasn't crippled with bad form in one way or another, especially when it comes to doing major scales. This workshop student was no exception......

A common error in technique for students, and contributing factor to a lot of playing problems.

What does good tone and bad tone on an acoustic guitar sound like anyway?

Often, we must squeeze our fingers into some rather unaccommodating positions on the guitar. We know we are supposed to strive to get our fingers "right behind the fret" as we play, but, like so many things in life, we have to bend the rules sometimes (it ain't a perfect world!).


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