Page 1 of 1
Beginner question: Scales? any practice methods
Posted: 14 Feb 2000 7:50 am
by S Condron
I just switched over from guitar to lap steel. It makes sense to me to start learning the major, blues, and other scales up and dowm the neck. Are there any good practices for doing this. For example one sound I love is to slide into a scale note from the next subsequent note. Sounds similar to some Indian music I have heard played. Any suggestions?
Posted: 15 Feb 2000 1:18 am
by Mark van Allen
Welcome to the steel world! There's quite a bit of good instructional material around for both 6 and 8 string tunings, but most of it shows only one or two positions for a scale. Something I've done which may help you, draw up a master chart with all of the notes written out on a diagram of the neck, pick a scale you want to work on, (say,A minor pentatonic), and make a new chart with just those notes on it- you'll see many patterns and shapes just jump out at you, some in places on the neck you wouldn't expect. I've whiled away many hours in the band bus with this kind of noodling, but you could also get hold of a software program from Joe Wright or others that'll do the noodling for you. Another idea as a guitarist is to take licks and patterns you know or from books and work them out by ear. I got a million great ideas from Charlie Christian's solos with Benny Goodman. Good luck!
------------------
Mark van Allen-"Blueground Undergrass" Mullen D-10, Fender Triple 8, Dobro