Which scales do you practise?

[JPS]

I've just read an article in which the writer claims that a solid beginner should be able to comfortably play all major and harmonic/melodic scales across 2 octaves. This got me wondering which scales people most commonly practise and how they practise them etc. Obviously the type of music you play, your musical ambitions/goals etc will probably be the deciding factor.

Just curious - especially as I'm far too lazy to practise any scales these days!

[alhbass]

None. But I'm starting to think it might be a good idea...

[paul_5]

+1 for the two octave approach. really helps in learning all of the note positions on the bass.

[Doddy]

I've spent a lot of time running scales. I still run all the major and minor scales for practice but I spend more time on arpeggio exercises right now.

As far as scale exercises,play them all over the 'board-this is easier if you know the notes rather than just a pattern-and play them in different intervals.I particularly like 3rds and 6ths,but play all of them.You can also run them in groups of 3 or 4(eg. C,D,E. D,E,F. E,F,G. etc),both ascending and descending.
Like I said,I think that it's important to actually learn the notes of the scales rather than becoming dependent on patterns.

[Cat Burrito]

I'm probably guilty of going through the same few scales repeatedly when I should be stretching myself. Arpeggios is a good idea and I might start doing those

[Blademan_98]

After reading other threads on here about scales, I have been trying a lot harder to run the notes rather than patterns.

It suddenly falls into place and helps with getting a good variation in playing.

As to which scales I practice, it's Major and Minor as stated with a blues scale to get me smiling

[Doddy]

[quote name='Blademan_98' post='1151969' date='Mar 6 2011, 10:16 PM'].
As to which scales I practice, it's Major and Minor as stated with a blues scale to get me smiling [/quote]

Take away the flat 5 from the blues scale and you've got a minor pentatonic.

[Doddy]

[quote name='BurritoBass' post='1151926' date='Mar 6 2011, 09:43 PM']I'm probably guilty of going through the same few scales repeatedly when I should be stretching myself. Arpeggios is a good idea and I might start doing those [/quote]

For great arpeggio exercises check out 'Chord Studies for Electric Bass'. It's the business.

[JPS]

Thanks for the interesting answers guys, especially liked the idea of getting away from merely running the shapes and trying to play them and use them in a more musical fashion (I'm certainly guilty of merely running through the same shapes and patterns). Would you also include major and minor pentatonic and blues scales in lists of really useful scales (plus maybe mixolydian and dorian)?

My next question is why do you practise scales? Is it for increased dexterity, greater knowledge of the fretboard, as a source of musical ideas for improvisation/solos etc? Is it essential to practise them i.e. if you don't improvise or solo etc?

[Blademan_98]

[quote name='JPS' post='1152564' date='Mar 7 2011, 03:09 PM']Thanks for the interesting answers guys, especially liked the idea of getting away from merely running the shapes and trying to play them and use them in a more musical fashion (I'm certainly guilty of merely running through the same shapes and patterns). Would you also include major and minor pentatonic and blues scales in lists of really useful scales (plus maybe mixolydian and dorian)?

My next question is why do you practise scales? Is it for increased dexterity, greater knowledge of the fretboard, as a source of musical ideas for improvisation/solos etc? Is it essential to practise them i.e. if you don't improvise or solo etc?[/quote]
I use them to retain the knowledge of note position and to help with fluid motion.
I also find them good for warming up before a long session.
Major minor and blues are for me a must :-)

[BottomE]

[quote name='JPS' post='1152564' date='Mar 7 2011, 03:09 PM']My next question is why do you practise scales? Is it for increased dexterity, greater knowledge of the fretboard, as a source of musical ideas for improvisation/solos etc? Is it essential to practise them i.e. if you don't improvise or solo etc?[/quote]

A knowledge of scales is fundamental to almost everything you do musically if you want to do more than play root notes. Its the equivalent of being able to trap and pass a ball to use a football analogy.

Regular practice will speed you up on the fretboard and provide you with a set of notes ready for creating bass lines. Pick the 1st 3rd and 5th/7th from the scale and you will be playing chords! Scales are your friend.

I do find it a bit annoying that there are so many ways of describing the same scale. I was once asked to play some exotic sounding scale over a chord (can't remember what it was called) - i said "ooh i don't know that one" only to find out that i did but i just wasn't familiar with that particular term.

IMHO it IS essential to practice them. Great for warming up before you start grooving. 10 minutes on the note trainer - 20 minutes of scales and then go for it.

[Bilbo]

I used to play 2 octaves of Major, minor, harmonic minor, melodic minor, diminished and augmented scales and all the modes of each. I then play them in broken thirds, fourths, fifths, sixths and sevenths and then arpeggiated scales. Took about an hour a day but all my technique comes from those exercises.

[JPS]

I have practised at least some of them quite extensively in the past, it's just that not playing in a "proper" band, or playing any music that requires improvisation/soloing, I find it increasingly difficult to motivate myself to play them. However, I suspect my playing is suffering because I don't and if I practised them in more musical ways I would reap the benefits when learning a James Jamerson number or whatever.

Thanks again for the replies.

[Doddy]

[quote name='JPS' post='1152564' date='Mar 7 2011, 03:09 PM']Thanks for the interesting answers guys, especially liked the idea of getting away from merely running the shapes and trying to play them and use them in a more musical fashion (I'm certainly guilty of merely running through the same shapes and patterns). Would you also include major and minor pentatonic and blues scales in lists of really useful scales (plus maybe mixolydian and dorian)?

My next question is why do you practise scales? Is it for increased dexterity, greater knowledge of the fretboard, as a source of musical ideas for improvisation/solos etc? Is it essential to practise them i.e. if you don't improvise or solo etc?[/quote]

I'll be honest,I never practice the blues scale,because it's essentially the minor pentatonic with a chromatic note between the fourth and fifth.
I'd personally focus on the major and various minor scales(natural,melodic,harmonic) initially,before moving on to the more modal scales
like Dorian and Mixolydian.Mainly because you will understand them better if you have a solid grounding in the major and minors first.
Pentatonics are very useful,but are derived from the 'full' scales,so are slightly secondary.

Why practice scale? Once they are solid you can use them as dexterity/warm up exercises,but there are better reasons. Increased fingerboard
knowledge is a good one,but another big one is knowing the notes that work in certain keys and over certain chords(although arpeggios are
more essential for chords,scales will help to expand it).They are also important in the understanding of intervals,which is why you should
break them up. You don't need to be an improviser or soloist to get the benefit from studying scales.

[bassbloke]

Practising scales and modes will help your knowledge of the fingerboard and help teach you the sound of the scales and modes and interval training. Practising arpeggios, as Doddy reccomends, will help you develop more musical basslines, solos and fills.

I would also reccomend singing the scales and modes as you play them.

[Shonks]

[quote name='JPS' post='1152564' date='Mar 7 2011, 03:09 PM']Thanks for the interesting answers guys, especially liked the idea of getting away from merely running the shapes and trying to play them and use them in a more musical fashion (I'm certainly guilty of merely running through the same shapes and patterns). Would you also include major and minor pentatonic and blues scales in lists of really useful scales (plus maybe mixolydian and dorian)?

My next question is why do you practise scales? Is it for increased dexterity, greater knowledge of the fretboard, as a source of musical ideas for improvisation/solos etc? Is it essential to practise them i.e. if you don't improvise or solo etc?[/quote]

exactly all of that ! if you don't know them or practice them, you're left with pumping the root cos you don't know where to go...!
scales are like the vocabulary of music. If you don't learn them you can't speak the language.
Learn to read too, as not being able is the equivalent of being an illiterate!

Edited March 8, 2011 by Shonks

[JPS]

Thanks for all the replies. I now feel motivated (and shamed enough!) to start practising scales again. After all if I can find the time to practise slap bass -which I've largely managed to ignore for 20+ years - I can find the time to play and truely learn some scales. Who knows it may even reignite a my dormant interest in jazz!

[MuckedUpFunkies]

I found that the Diminished/HalfWhole tone scale helped loads with getting to know the fretboard. And for some reason I have a real love for the superLocrian scale...

[chrismuzz]

Being primarily a rock and metal player, my favoured scale has always been minor, with a raised 7th thrown in there! I mess around in different modes, but minor scales are always my reference. Because I'm a rebel and that

[Doddy]

[quote name='MuckedUpFunkies' post='1154639' date='Mar 8 2011, 10:08 PM']I found that the Diminished/HalfWhole tone scale helped loads with getting to know the fretboard. And for some reason I have a real love for the superLocrian scale...[/quote]

Close..... the diminished scale is whole tone/half tone.
SuperLochrian is cool,but is really best practised later on down the line.


[quote name='chrismuzz' post='1154645' date='Mar 8 2011, 10:10 PM']Being primarily a rock and metal player, my favoured scale has always been minor, with a raised 7th thrown in there! I mess around in different modes, but minor scales are always my reference. Because I'm a rebel and that[/quote]

So,the melodic minor (ascending) then

[chrismuzz]

[quote name='Doddy' post='1154661' date='Mar 8 2011, 10:22 PM']So,the melodic minor (ascending) then [/quote]

Or the harmonic minor (decending) if I'm feeling really adventurous

And yes, I learned it when I went through the obligatory Yngwie Malmsteen phase

[Doddy]

[quote name='chrismuzz' post='1154667' date='Mar 8 2011, 10:25 PM']Or the harmonic minor (decending) if I'm feeling really adventurous

And yes, I learned it when I went through the obligatory Yngwie Malmsteen phase [/quote]

Yeah,but harmonic minor is the same both ways. Melodic minor isn't

[chrismuzz]

I thought that was called something else! That's me teached! Guess what they say about rock bass players is true

[MuckedUpFunkies]

My bad! Typing faster then my brain is working =)
Just out of interest what a halfwhole scale then? if it is a scale that is =L

[faiz0802]

Wow, so many great answers. Here are my 2 cents.

I kinda figured after a long time of misconception that shapes are just tools for simplicity and are helpful only after you've perfected a good number of ways of playing a scale. This is how I go about it.

1) I take a scale, and scale, and use the formula. I now play it on groups: 1 string, then wherever I can using 2, then in variations of 3 and then 4. After a few weeks of rigorous practice when I feel that I've gooten the hang of it, the snowball effect kicks in. I reinforce everything by playing in all keys. Another few weeks and I've gotten pretty decent in, say, playing in the major scale in all keys.

Now the tricky part:

2) I take one shape and on a notebook I make a fretboard diagram of that scale. Instead of using notes I use intervals because that way I know how the pattern moves and therefore I can transpose the process into any key. Get the root right and everything falls into place. I find that alternating between saying note names and interval names distributes the work load by half.

3)Now I take any one pattern that I've already jotted down and alter; lets say the 3rd to change it from major to minor. Due to the snowball effect, since I've already mastered thr pattern, I only have to move the 3rd by half a step, or one fret lower and I got another pattern nailed. I use 8 patterns for a scale in one octave.

After these steps, if all is right, I've mastered 2 scales with 8 patterns in all 12 keys. This is a great way to learn the fretboard as well.

Now the fun begins:

4) I start mixing patterns up. This is where I turn from a 'one octave man' to a '2 octave stud'. Being mathematically inclined, I have a HUGE fetish for symmetry and permutations/combinations. *cough cough* On with the story... Get the notebook out again, and draw the fretboard diagram for say, P1+P2 (here P stands for pattern)..
Then P1+P3 , P1+P4 and so on. This is completely up to you, it seems like a chore, but as I said, it gives suprisingly easy with time. Keeping a notebook gives the illusion of accomplishing a lot more than just practice, it reinforces confidence and helps in keeping a journal of all your conquests.

5) Next we have modes. Same as scales in my opinion, but I kinda learnt that mode is just a scale turning moody. Just use the same patterns and add the extra notes wherever they pop up.

6)By the time you're done with all this you will have a very strong understanding of how intervals work and where they appear while shifting, fretwise or stringwise. Just pick out the notes from a position and you have arpeggios and chords.

I'm going to post a list of scales and chords that I've made in my years of playing as a new thread, will post the link in the next post. All this is hard only if you let it to be.

Hope that helps.

Edited March 13, 2011 by faiz0802