As a standard practice, I’ll be publishing three weekend posts of New Lesson Plans followed by a 'One Week in Review' Post. Then I’ll start the whole process all over again. I'm not trying to push this lesson plan along in a rushed fashion because I believe every bit a time devoted to the Scales, Modes and Arpeggio’s will make each of us far better guitarists than we hoped we could be. Remember this too, always practice with the guitar through a clean channel, no distortion or effects should be used while working on your scales, etc. The key to becoming a top-notch lead guitarist is first to learn how to play your scales, note for note, using a clean sound so you can’t blur the notes into one another as what is done in some rock solos.
So let’s get started with Week One in review;
Week No. 1: The Major Scale (Ionian Mode) in Review;
This week I’m starting with the First Mode of the Major Scale: The Ionian Mode, working on the Standard, 3-Notes/String and the lmaj7 Arpeggio in all seven patterns. I’m using Guy’s Scales Modes and Arpeggios (see photo below) lesson plan which is very easy to follow but is also a complete comprehensive presentation that leverages a very similar grid structure in the context of scales that we’ll see in Guy’s Grids (see photo below) in a later post when we cover chords and chord patterns.
EXAMPLE: First Mode of the Major Scale
This is a quick view of what the typical instruction page looks like in this lesson plan. It is very easy to read and follow no matter what your skill level may be.
The 1st weekend I chose the intro to the ZZ Top song “La Grange”. That guitar intro is one of the most well known guitar pieces in Rock-n’-Roll history and I wanted to learn how to play it correctly, and I did. I also learned some of the guitar parts throughout the song, so that made me very happy.
I recommend you do the same; it was time well spent.
Week No. 2: The Blues Scale (Box’s 1-5) in Review:
I’ve often had questions regarding what are commonly called “the modes”. These refer to the Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian and Locrian modes of the traditional diatonic major scale. If this makes no sense to you, it probably doesn’t have to. Modes are actually very simply, and mostly on a guitar they tend to serve as nothing more than “boxes” for the diatonic scale.
As it turns out, if you combine the major and minor pentatonic scales, without the blue notes involved, you’ll get the notes in the mixolydian mode. The mixolydian mode is the mode you always want to use over 7th chords, which are the main chords in a blues song. So you’re already playing modes and didn’t even know it, if you’re familiar with the major modes listed above.
Once you add the blue notes to the pentatonic scales, thus turning them into “blues scales”, you’ve also added the blues notes to the mixolydian mode and there really isn’t any more to it. Sorry if you are disappointed.
You’ll sometimes see this scale called the “composite blues scale” on the internet. it’s nothing you don’t already know, just a name that has caught on through the web. And again, it’s just a mixolydian mode with the blue notes, which is just the major and minor blues scales (boxes 1 and 2) put together. Once again, nothing you don’t already know, right ?
Sunday, August 7th, 2011
Beyond Blues: The Composite Blues Scale
by Jeff McErlain
As we know, a standard blues progression is made up of three dominant-7th chords—the I, IV, and V. This month, we’re going to look at some cool ways to spice up the I chord. To make things easier, we’ll stick to the key of A, so our I chord will be A7. A quick and simple way to spice up that chord is by mixing two very familiar scales, the major and minor blues scales. If we were to look at the formula for this scale it would be root–b3–4–b5–5–b7.
What makes this scale very cool is the added b5 or “blue note.” The b5 adds some chromaticism to the scale, which it doesn’t have otherwise. A great sound is to really play up the chromaticism in a lick. I really love the rub and tension those notes can add to a line. If you haven’t spent some quality time with the blues scale, I suggest you do!
An A7 chord is spelled A–C#–E–G or root–3–5–b7. If we look at our minor blues scale we can see that it does not contain a very important note of the chord, the natural 3rd or C#. Although the scale sounds great, it does have some room to expand. A simple option to play over the A7 chord is the A major blues scale. This scale consists of A–B–C–C#–E–F# and its formula is root–2–b3–3–4–
6. This scale now includes the natural 3rd (C#).Fig. 1 is called the composite blues scale;
That’s a lot of notes to think about. Here we have A–B–C–C#–D–Eb–E–F#–G, or root–2–b3–3–4–b5–5–6–b7. That’s nine notes.
Before you get overloaded, let’s take a closer look at all the harmonic goodness going on inside here. First, we have a series of half-steps that go from B to E, and that’s where the fun lies as we can see in Fig. 2. We can use this same technique to create a classic-sounding blues turnaround, as shown in Fig. 3. To get a jazzier sound, I used all the half-steps found in this scale to create a classic bop lick with a bluesy twist as seen in Fig. 4.
Download Example 2 Audio...
Download Example 3 Audio...
Download Example 4 Audio...
As you can see, the composite blues scale has many exciting possibilities, and I have only scratched the surface here. The thing to remember—and the key to breaking this down—is that all you are doing is mixing the major and minor blues scales, nothing more! So if you are feeling overwhelmed at the many options and sounds, start with something as simple as adding one new note to your minor blues scale. The first note I’d suggest is the natural 3rd (C#), which will put you on the right track. Remember, we can use these licks on the I chord of the blues, but be careful of that C# against the IV chord (D7)—it can really clash. What to do? Just don’t play it.
Week No. 3: The Major or Dorian Scale in Review;
The Second Mode of the Major Scale: The Dorian Mode, still working on the Standard, 3-Notes/String and the imaj7 Arpeggio in all seven patterns. Remember, I’m using Guy’s Scales Modes and Arpeggios (see photo #1) lesson plan which is very easy to follow but is also a complete comprehensive presentation that leverages a very similar grid structure in the context of scales that we’ll see in Guy’s Grids (see photo #2) in a later post when we cover chords and chord patterns.
Photo #1 Photo #2
The Dorian Scale is outlined on Page 14 of Guy’s Scales, Modes & Arpeggios. I suggest you order the program so you have it to follow along with me; it is a fabulous lesson plan for us guitarists. Concentrate your efforts on the 3-Notes/String and the im7 Arpeggio’s. Play them over and over while you continue to play the Week One and Two Lesson Plan’s. I suggest you take one key and learn the Ionian Scale, then learn the Dorian Scale in the same key. Then practice tying both scales together and play them against a song recorded on CD.
I hope you follow along with me and keep working these scales. I know for a fact that learning the scales and identifying with the fingerboard are the two most important issues when training to become a professional guitarist. I’ll never stop practicing the major scales, of that I am sure.
Hope your Sunday evening is great and don’t forget to give your kids a hug. I have a few good post’s coming up that I’ve been working on so until next time.
Don’t be blue . . . . .
Musician By Night
What I’ve learned over-the-years by following many accomplished guitarists is that most guitar players never really become good guitar players because they get hung-up on playing songs by reading tablature. Some of them may even start learning guitar theory thinking that is what will make them sound good. 
