Practicing scales is such an essential part of any musician’s life. The beauty of playing scales is that there are no rules on how we should approach them.

We can study the concept behind each scale (the interval patterns, note choice over chords, or the chords that come with it).

We can also completely ignore the music theory and play the scale in a position and memorize the sound of each note and how they fit over a chord.

Now, in this lesson, I am going to show you how to use both. We will approach the mechanical and technical way of playing the scale over a backing track and also the more creative approach using the scale to play a solo.

This exercise can be done on any guitar. I used an acoustic guitar, but we can do it on the electric or classical as the notes are the same.

We are also going to do it with the major scale only, and we are going to apply the major scale over different chords so that you have an idea of how it sounds.

In the first example, I am going to play the C major scale in seven positions. I will play the C major scale starting from each note of the scale. So, if the notes are C D E F G A B C, I will then play the scale starting from each note.

Enjoy this lesson.