How To ENJOY Practicing Scales (Part I)

All teachers tell their students to 'practice their scales'. But HOW you practice them can make a big difference in how well you can use them in real world situations. It also makes a huge difference in how you enjoy practicing them at all! In the first part of our two-part, self-paced course on practicing scales, you'll learn specific practice strategies that will get you excited about playing scales in a way that is effective, efficient and FUN! Most importantly, you'll practice your scales in a way that allows you to immediately  incorporate them in a musical and creative way.

Join multi-instrumentalist and Practice Warrior Christopher Maloney as he guides you through these simple but effective practice tips. Although Christopher demonstrates these concepts on guitar, bass and piano, this course is designed to help any musician, regardless of what instrument you play!

1. Scales Primer - In this Primer video for the Scales section, Christopher gives you compelling reasons to start learning and playing scales.  Instead of being told to practice scales, you'll learn WHY you should practice scales. The answers may surprise you! (11:52)

2. Speed Kills - Christopher presents a rock-solid method to learning scales properly by putting himself in the hot seat.  Watch him learn a new scale in real time and get it familiar enough to start improvising with.  You can apply this same concept to your own instrument and the scales you are currently working on.  (13:52)

3. Solo Immediately - Don't wait one more minute to start making sweet music with your scales.  Our philosophy is that if you know a scale, then you can solo with a scale.  This video will inspire you not to wait to start creating melodies and riffs and add creative playing to your scale studies. (8:12)

4. Use Your Ears - Good news: You can play one scale over many chords. Bad news: It ain’t foolproof! Many people blindly use the scale from the key they are playing in during a solo, and that works fine. BUT…they don’t LISTEN to how that scale interacts with each chord. This is the secret for creating great melodies and solos, and now you’ll know how to use your ears to do the same! (8:15)

5. Chord Tones/Scale Tones - So now you know there are Strong, Weak and Clashing notes when you use a scale to create melodies in a key (playing your scale with chords from the scale playing with you).  The big question is "why".  What makes certain notes strong, weak or clash?  Why does this happen?  The answer awaits in this video lesson. (10:43)

6. Playing Intervals Of 3rds - For this video, Christopher gets back to academics and shows you how to play your scales with various "Intervals".  The most simple one to start with is 3rds, where you play your scale by skipping every other note.  If you're bored with practicing scales or need new ideas for soloing, this video will give you lots to work on and think about. (11:48)

7. Application of 3rds - After investigating how to play your scale in thirds, you may want a little guidance as to how to apply them in music. Hey, even Beethoven loved his thirds!! (7:15)

8. Intervals Of 4ths and 5ths - After exploring the concept of playing your scales in 3rds, it's time to take on larger intervals and use them in your playing.  Christopher does a quick but deep dive into the sometimes confusing nature of 4ths and 5th, then gives you some simple ways to practice these fun intervals. (9:38)

9. Intervals Of 6ths - Christopher gets into how you can play 6ths with your scales, and how you can inverted the 6th interval into 3rd.  We spend a little time talking to pianists and guitar players about turning these into inverted chords. (12:11)