But good? Hopefully so! If you’ve never done it before it is definitely different and by design testing another part of your brain.
Discuss the Guitar lesson: Melodic Improvisation: Aiming For Roots
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If I’d have brought home a pretty little thing like that Hooper without introducing her, my momma would have grabbed my pony tail and shook my head to and fro. Lord knows what a Texan mom would have done. Don’t show her to the wife.
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Great insight!!
Ben, phenomenal lesson!! Goes great with what Jake Stogdill taught at Cabin Camp. I’m really looking forward to the next lesson!!
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This is awesome! I haven’t had time to learn this lesson till tonight and the first exercise of playing to the start of the next measure was hard, and then my brain just figured out the rhythm.
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Great lesson! I actually got a membership after seeing the intro. Are there plans to do more in this series?
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@chasetcurry, I’m hoping for. I believe Ben mentioned in the video something like taking us through the whole fret board in some upcoming lessons.
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Great! Yep, I sure do. We’ll begin to aim for different chord tones, then begin introducing patterns and tonal devices to take us to the next chord. Gonna be fun!
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I am a bit confused, shouldn’t the fourth note in the scale played in measure 27 be f and not f# fret 3, not fret 4 or are we doing the G scale starting on C
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Correct, we’re only using the G major scale right now.
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What a great lesson! The only scale I’ve ever improvised with is minor pentatonic, so I’m loving this. I do have several questions though.
- Since the C major scale has an F natural in it, will an F note fit here when playing over the C?
- Since D major has a C#, with a C# note fit when playing over D?
- Does the concept of perfect 4 and 5 tie in here, and how?
Fascinating stuff here. Thanks Ben. Keep it coming.
@Treblemaker, my understanding is this. Anyone can feel free to correct.
This lesson is on the key of G. The notes used will be G, A, B, C, D, E, and F♯
When G chord is to be played, you don’t want to simply strike the chord, but want to improvise and scale over the G chord. Since G is the root, you use the Ionian mode of G, which is the G major scale. You start from G, go up and down on G scale notes/path, and end up in some G.
When C chord is to be played, you use Lydian mode of G, and NOT C scale. Which starts at Perfect 4th, which is C, then traverses up and down on G scale notes/path but ends up with Perfect 4th C.
When D chord is to be played, you use MixoLydian mode of G, and NOT D scale. Which starts at Perfect 5th, which is D, then traverses up and down on G scale notes/path but ends up with Perfect 5th D.
The notes played will always (or usually) be the notes of G major scale. However, I believe the idea is to get to familiarize with the Lydian and Mixolydian modes patterns in addition to the root Ionian pattern. And also to get the different sounding (when started from a different point or note) registered in memory, to be able to improvise and tackle songs played in 3 chords on the fly.
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Yep, that’s my answer precisely. However, @Treblemaker, you should play through and use those other scales. You will get a different emotion when using the F natural than you will the C#. Give it a try and let me know what it is.
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Appreciate all the input. Working hard on it. Right now, I’m so focused on landing the notes correctly, it’s not stirring much in terms of emotion. 
But, I’m gonna get there.
Will keep working at it, and will post again. Really loving where this lesson is, and where it will take us.
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What a simple but great lesson.
I hope that most realize that working through this is a process just like the process of learning your chords/strumming and then being able to change chords in time with the song…this simply another process that one must work through on the road to jammin’.
Great lesson.
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So, what if any is the benefit to learning to improvise over the G maj scale as opposed to the pentatonic scales? Some swear by one scale or the other. Can you shed any light on this?
Well that would depend on what sounds and emotions you want to communicate 
It’s a bit easier to improv over the pentatonic but eventually you’ll want to throw in some more notes.
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Would it be fair to say pentatonic is a bit more melancholy?
Seeing as how your intro statement that to truly get better one must learn scales and work within them punched me in the mouth. And seeing that I want to improve and not develop any more worser habits than I already have…Is it important for future development to move from 1st position to 2nd position when moving around the scale vs. staying in 1st position and using “mr. pinky” to catch the 4th fret notes?
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I usually catch the 4th frets with my pinky unless I know I’m gonna stay up there for a while.
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