Scales...When is enough enough?

[reeve21]

Hey Texas,

Good thread! I'm also a "mature" player short of time to improve to the point I'd like to reach before I'm no longer able to play

Do you have a teacher? Being a dedicated DiYer myself, I resisted professional instruction for a long time. I recently changed my mind, and am kicking myself for not seeking "professional help" a lot sooner.

A good teacher will help you focus your practice on the areas that will complement your goals. I was floundering around trying to "do it all" in my practice--now I have 2 or 3 exercises every week to work created for me by someone with a guitar degree and who has been a professional musician for 30 years playing many different styles. My technique has improved greatly in just a month, and I'm starting to think about tackling tunes I couldn't imagine playing in the past.

Something to consider....good luck!

[3notes]

I personally don't like learning music theory. It racks my brain. That said, I do enjoy learning scales yet, I know very few. Mostly movable scales. But what keeps it interesting for me is thinking of half steps and whole steps. By doing, or thinking in these terms it has helped me discover, for example, one string solos. So when I hit a note in a scale I know I can move up or down by either a half or a whole step and the note will work. And sometimes you can squeeze in a note that is off by a half step but still make it work.

I hope this makes sense to you all. And I'm open to comments on this "style" or method of playing.

[KDepew]

I think it depends on what you want to do. DO you want to play in all keys an scales? Understand some basics to write your own stuff? Learn what you can so you can understand the guitar better?

Personally I think it is important to know one scale and one position super well before moving on. You can do so much with the the pentatonic scale for example especially if you know all 5 position by heart.....