How to Turn Scales into Music - Part I

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R.
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[MrDoneboy]

Been trying to figure this stuff out for many moons. Adding the missing two notes to the pentatonic scales is a HUGE concept. Many thanks!

[kenncma]

Just had to let YOU know. Your free lessions are the BEST I've seen on youtube out of the thousands. I've got to sign up.

[matthewcrich]

So happy I found you, Ross. I'm nowhere as proficient as you are, but am slowly making baby step progress thanks to mentors such as yourself. Cheers from 🇨🇦

[michaelrussell]

I’ve watched a few of your videos now and I think I’ve learned more in the last few weeks about scales and theory than I have over the last few years! 🎉 great videos, great work!

[zeebuzz]

I remember when I first realised how you could use notes from the modes with pentatonics and it really opene dup my playing. Even just adding in 1 or 2 of those mode notes every so often just makes everythign sound so much sweeter.

[frostedhead]

You are an excellent player! the best guitar instructional vids on YouTube I've viewed. I've watched a ton through out the years.

[paulsprouse]

I thought it was fuckin smashing mate, making these scales come to life and breaking thru this abstract nightmare for anyone is next level playing shit, played the guitar for 20 years, and having to literally relearn the whole instrument in the last few months has been a conceptual paradigm shift, wish i took a proper interest in this as a teenager cos the theory is quite simple but application is total abstract - great video Pal

[paulhamrick]

I’ve watched so many other channels but you are teaching in the most sensible way. Subbed

[jamescumming]

no other teachers put it as concisely as you mate, very easy to learn from with all the tools for visual referece onscreen too. I just bought your udemy after this vid. thanks

[tom]

Great advice. Learning the pentatonic scales well, and using them as a framework to build the other scales from (like adding a perfect 4th and major 7th to get the major scale, or adding a raised 4th and a major 7th to get the lydian scale) really has helped me to see how the pieces fit and has helped my musicality. I have a long way to go, but for once I feel like I have a good understanding and foundation, and the only limit is the time and effort I put into it.

[grishnank]

Loved the harmonic minor with the blues. Very Nice.

[chrisparkin]

Well presented and helpful. I have started to mix in the mixolydian and dorian with the pentatonic scales. That works too.

[eal]

Certainly an eye-opening concept. The best part is that it works. You are the only guitar instructor that introduced this to me. Thank you many times over!!!

[jimmymarchisotto]

Great examples easy to understand! You my friend are an excellent teacher!! Thank you

[chrisdaviesguitar]

For whomever is interested, he doesn't play anything until 4.14. However, always a good lesson from this guy.

[RobertEMason]

Simple and clear instruction. Thank you

[OnTheseAirwaves]

Very informative video. Two excellent solo examples at the end. Keep up the great work.

[GaudyGabriev]

Oh this is a coincidence.

Just the other day this concept finally clicked in on me, and I've been beating myself up for not having thought about it sooner.

I was listening to a Satriani song (Wind in the Trees, fantastic piece of music, btw), and I looked for a backing track of it, which luckily there was.
Figured out the key, the mode (Eb dorian), and so to start, since I'm still really a beginner for all intents and purposes, I did what I've had to do up until now, which is going, ok, Eb dorian is the same notes as C# Major, so start with that.

But then I was fooling around a bit with the minor pentatonic and it ocurred to me that, hey, I know which 2 notes add the dorian sound in the first position of the pentatonic from playing some Gilmour. And then I thought, well what the hell, if I know where they are in the first position, I can add them in every position (by now I can move around the neck with the pentatonic more or less comfortably).

And boom, epiphany time. Literally from one second to the next the dorian mode unlocked before my eyes all across the neck. Firts time in my life I've played a mode and make it sound anywhere near musical, as opposed to just playing random notes following the scale patterns.

And of course, once you've thought of that, all the modes work exactly the same way, so not only the dorian, but every mode of the major scale was finally within my reach for real, not in some "follow the pattern of the relative major" way that doens't really do anything when it comes to actually playing musically.


So yeah, I entirely support this advice and this way of thinking diatonic scales. Specially since the pentatonic kind of gives you the skeleton, the stronger sounds, and the 2 added notes really give you the colour of the mode, making it even easier to think about what every note is gonna sound like and therefore making it easier to play melodically.

[mikemikaelo]

Actually the best video that explains this problem

[terada]

Hi Ross, thank you for this, I will definitely join the course. The way you explain concepts is invaluable. I am probably older than most but this has already brought me out of the fog.