Scale Picking (Guitar Lesson TE-003) How to play

[TyneGibbs12]

What sort of Tele are you using in that video, Justin? I know it's a Tele but is it a re-issue, a custom, or have you changed the pickups and stuff yourself?

[mbphofan]

that was me who phoned

[Aadil492]

I don't have any problems with finger stretching but I have A LOT of trouble synchronising with the metronome clicks. Can anyone help me here? Is it something that goes away with practice?

[gigagrif]

Is anchoring two fingers instead of just the pinky a very bad habit?

[JosephFNavy]

I made an account so I could post how awesome Justin's lessons are.

[UtzChips2009]

IMPORTANT NOTE: I was having extreme difficulty playing the scale on the 5th & 6th strings. I couldn't stretch my fingers & thought it was because my fingers were so short. THEN!! : I paid attention to where Justin has his thumb when he starts out. It's directly under the 3rd fret & POINTING at him!! Mine was pointing towards the head of the guitar. Once I changed, it all fell in place! Give this a thumbs up so it stays up top & other dummys like me see it!

[capitangenial]

I was just watching the new version of this lesson IM-124 ... and man you were too serious!!! I couldn't help but laughing with the "we'll be playin scales with a metronome...YEIIIII".....Keep Teaching the world how to play!!!!

[SteadyRepping]

@LeonPowolski it depends on what key you are in. If you are in the key of G major you only use that G scale you learned throughout the whole neck of the guitar. As soon as the key changes you change what notes you play. But in order to sound "in key" you stick with the notes of the key. If you want to get "abstract" you can venture out but those are more advanced note additions you will learn as you spend more time on the guitar and learn about abstract scales. Hope this helps some.

[laufke]

many thanks great tips and advices...(I have the very same metronome :-D :-)

[TheKillerFabivs]

You are the best person in the world!

[biuemusic5]

his lessons really are useful - make sure to click on the pop up ads at the beginning of the video to help him out - you dont have to buy anything, you just click. it benefits us all to have free lessons like this!

[xxcowslayerxxx]

really great lesson man, for those of you having trouble at highert speeds try keeping your fingers closer to the strings at all times, like dont lift off so much, small as possible movements with your fingers, im pretty sure he says this in one of his lessons but incase u havent seen that 1 yet..

[collin292]

right, Buckethead.....thats gonna take some time.....lol worthit

[glitchystudios]

Justin, when you play, is the bottom part of your picking hand resting on the guitar or is it floating off of the guitar?

[aerofr33k]

@glitchystudios it can be either

[ishmillero]

good video, nice work with the metronome, need to pick up one of them. thanks

[ThisIsMrNeil]

Off topic, but I love that sound. Is there a pedal effect I can use to approximte that mellow sound?

[glitchystudios]

is it important to do this on an electric guitar when i get up to 4 notes per beat?

[SummersEnd805]

picking REALL fast and REALLY coordinated ha thats wuts gewd

[Thoemas]

@SummersEnd805

What are you trying to say?

[chrisbramston]

lol answered my own question when i checked your profile. you taught me about 4 years ago. weird. great lessons anyway!

[chrisbramston]

Justin did you ever work at the guitar institute in London?

[philbertfwog]

Wow i don't know if it was because you were talking but your timing was off in the first example.

[sux0rz]

lol, such a jolly scale :D

[Algirdass0]

This is a very good lesson, i like the idea of speeding up litttle by little. Now my goal is to get to 100bpm with 4 notes on beat. How fast can you guys play it?

[slayer66669999]

I can 120 bpm with four notes, but isn't good speed to play solos:(

[PatRobls]

I can only get 110 myself =(

[philbertfwog]

on clean settings without any overdrive at all i can do 16th notes at about 112.

[PoPoRybnik]

isn't the same as sweep picking??

[drj602]

It's really different. It is Alternate picking . Up Down Up Down.

[dtma24]

aren't there 7 positions?

[geetar4]

There are 7 of the 3 note-per-string positions that most people tend to confuse with being different scales. There are 5 of the CAGED postions. Justin said that he learned from the CAGED system and has been teaching it ever since (in a different video).

[dtma24]

well what about B and F? they aren't a different scale its all connected and thats the beauty of it.

[geetar4]

I didn't say they were different scales, I said "positions". It's just how it is. The CAGED system has 5 scale positions based off of the C, A, G, E, and D movable barre chord shapes. When those shapes are extended in to full scales, you get the 5 CAGED positions. Using that one G scale position is just for the purpose of practicing and getting used to using the least amount of movement possible.

All the best,

geetar4

[gribson999]

Such a great help. Thanks for everything man. Thunbs up.

[Darkwolff77]

I have learned a ton in a short period of time from justin. I bought the music theory package to support his sites.. it is a great investment.

[Fartan117]

i find that once you get used to it, it's way easier to go fast with economy picking just watch Yngwie Malmsteen, he's got chops.

[holyevil]

any good recommendation for a metronome?

thanks for this lesson!

[cjflo]

i use online metronomes if that helps

[clhugo]

tienes tecnicas de plumilleo?

[BlackJack2088]

This guy is awesome. He taught me how to play Harmonics, and he really helped me understand the guitar. He is a great teacher and I thank him for what he is doing. :)

[ritchielock1]

GREAT! stuff, thanks justin.

[jigme5]

Thanks a lot for this perfect lesson as usual....

[valcard]

thank u for this lesson... this will help me a lot to get my picking better, since i already play since some years and never practised that basic, it should help me a lot ;)

[garynet20]

so, who was it on the phone??

[desy2478]

A metronome will definitely be my next bit of kit.

[kajon95]

Hey Justin,

i've been playing for 2-3 years now but have never used a metronome.Having seen this video of yours,it seems like it can be of great use in speed building.Can you recommend a good metronome to use?

[analduct]

just get a korg. pretty sure thats the one hes using in that video.

[montythename420]

this helped me out alot man. great timing lesson,really

[DayTripperLennon]

awesome, I don't have a metronome yet. but for now i'm going to use one online.

[brandonguitarist22]

nice lesson, now i know how to use metronome, Thanks!

[aalr1986]

this is good stuff bro, thanks!

[nellyboy76]

very useful stuff bro. i enjoy your mellow teaching style...rock on

[FABertoli]

thanks for another great lesson!

[Joshpy27]

Excellent lesson Justin.

Really helped as I was a bit confizzled when it came to Metronome Practice.

Am I strange if I enjoy to do this kind of practice for about 3 hours :D hahaha.

[montythename420]

yes. yes you are

[desy2478]

Lol. Probably. But i think I'm starting to get addicted to practice, especially since i found this dudes website.

[Skean99]

Cool I have to check this a lot and hopefully I learn something from it... Cheers

[mathyszka]

NICE FENDER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Nazgul555]

Good job!!!

[mujs2005]

A good lesson to begin with guitar picking!

[dreizehnll]

good stuff man, really useful for my practice, since i just bought a metronome and don't know how to use it XD

[dannz0rro]

Did I hear an iPhone old style telephone ringtone? :-)

[locx91]

Ok, I started doing this excercise yesterday, and the best I can do is about 80 (4 notes per 1 click), but can't do it without mistake 4 times in a row. So my goal is to get to 100 without mistakes by the end of summer, so let's see how well I'm going to manage :) Thanks for this lesson Justin!

[analduct]

@locx91 how fast can u play now?

[locx91]

@analduct tbh I kinda forgot about this particular exercise heheh, I remember this video but I don't remember what my playing sounded/looked like back in the day I wrote that. Now I grabbed my guitar and tried, I could do 80 perfectly and 100 a bit messy but I guess it was like I did 80 a year ago. I haven't played in a month cos I was on a holiday trip so still a bit rusty, but getting cleaner runs after each try. Done other exercises tho to help me build up speed. Guess I'm in the 100 zone now

[beppecana]

That's good exercise. Thanks!

[peachygnr]

omg i shit myself from that animal at the end haha

[Carabin33fr]

Sorry but what exactly is position 1 when you talk about scales? :s

[newspot221]

i could listen to scales all day :)

[cousinavi123]

Your the man Justin - many thanks for helping us!

[pusshat]

thanks for doing what u do ;-)

[Matt0680]

thanks justin! your a legend dude

[ganoush]

wow, your picking is really fluid man, great job!

[jcrow62]

you have helped me with guitar more than any other source on the internet. And you don't require me to pay a cent. You truly are the man. Cents to come soon.

[DomLennonZa]

Wow, lots of thumbs up :D

[jonnybargh1]

should i have my thumb in the middle of the fretboard in the exercise?

please reply

[olemunati]

go to discussin forum on his site. It's much easier for him to answer your questions there...

[bluefingaz]

u know in a way it's good tht katie melua isnt with u..she was a gr8 singer n all bt justin,u r THE best teacher on the web...

[tats170]

justin, you're easily the best guitar instructor online right now, I've been playing almost daily for seven years and I still learn something every day I sit down and watch your videos. Btw, I think its awesome what you're doing in Ghana. Keep it up man!

[morrissteven]

I just have to say, I think this is great and all, but maybe a better way to practice this scale would be to open up the fretboard horizontally a bit. For instance, playing E: 3-5 A: 2-3-5 D: 2-4-5 G: 2-4-5-7 B: 5-7-8 e: 5. I hope that makes some sense... In my opinion, it is better to practice that way if you want to start combining scales together during your solos and stuff.

[expressmalta]

morrissteven, thanks for this finger tips. But noted that on B string you put 4 notes which makes it difficult to travel. But still good advice. Thanks.

[morrissteven]

I think that you mean that there are 4 notes on the G string. That does make it kind of difficult, but the purpose is to open up the fretboard. When you think of guitar, you want to really try to think horizontally, not vertically. Think of playing 4 strings on the G string as a way of connecting two separate thouhts.

There are reasons for thinking horizontally. If you really want to figure some stuff out, check out Pat Martino's The Nature of Guitar on Google. It's free on his website.

[0805christopher]

A fine, crisp and clear lesson

Great help

Thanks

[morquintas]

best teacher ever!!

[SquireSimon]

Great lesson - this is exactly what im working on at the moment

[karthiksurya]

even a real time teacher cant teach better than you. Thanks make

[theflyingapple]

he is a real teacher.....

[heatleyd]

lol...you did not get it..

[Juno007]

you're the best online teacher i've ever watched. Keep up the great work and i bet you'll eventually get the credit you deserve

[vanditas]

Thanks for the lesson.

[toyboyz92]

Glad ur bak

[maxellison55]

Oh my....... I have much work to do.

[budakdk]

Great mate!