Hi there!.
I hope i’m not asking dumb questions out here, but i cannot for the life of me figure out the following:
If improvising over, for example, a song in the key of G. Are you supposed to switch scales for every chord you play or are you just playing the G major scale all the time?
An answer to this question would finally put my ADD brain to rest, haha. So i hope someone can explain this to me. Thanks!
Gr, Bart
You’ll want to switch scales with the chords. The new chord then defines your new root. I was once asking that question too! 
Thank you so much!
First of all, i saw you posted a video in the comment section of one of Bens video’s and your playing is amazing!
Second: how do you go about playing higher up on the fretboard? Do you use all 7 positions of the major scale or CAGED or anything like that?
Thank you so much! Personally I really like the CAGED system. That’s usually how I think.
If you use the pentatonic scale, you can stay in G throughout the song, as long as there is not a key change. It is also a good idea to land on the root note of that particular chord when there are chord changes.
But then again, with pentatonic, it will have a more blues like sound. So, will it work well with bluegrass? Maybe.
Things are finally falling into place for me, thank you so much! Been trying to get an answer to this question for a while, haha.
But also you don’t have to 
Oops. The expert has entered 
You’re right of course! I was trying to give a simple answer 
and as I’ve asked this question to Jake Workman, he’s told me that when you’re really trying to get into well-thought-out improv, you want each chord to define your new root and chord tones, and be able to keep thinking in numbers.
I agree with you, and it is the simplest way to think about it and approach it. I just want @B.A.J to know that it can often drift outside the scale.
@B.A.J, think about playing the new scale as the chord changes, but also know that often the changes are too fast and you don’t have time to “switch” scales. Also, in time experiment with playing different scales over the same progression. And listen to @Flatpickin_Libby, she knows what she’s talking about.
Nice save.
High praise indeed
Thank you so much!
Do you mean the difference between major or major/minor pentatonic when talking about using different scales over the same progression? Or do you mean things such as modes?
Do you have some practice tips to help scructurise all of this?
I was thinking minor. This can be used even when playing in the major key. However, there is a relative major pentatonic. If you want your improv to sound “happier”, (bluegrass), just use the exact same pattern three frets down for relative major. Attached are the five positions of the pentatonic scale for guitar. These are in E minor. For G, just start on fret 3 string 6.
Ask @Flatpickin_Libby! Lol!
Great questions. Yes and yes. Playing different major scales over the changes would be playing modes. But simply, what I meant is let’s say you have a progression that does this:
G G C C
D D G G
You can play a G scale over the whole thing, will be fine. Or you can switch to a C scale when the chords switch to C. Or, maybe try continuing to play a C scale even when the chords switch to D, etc.
Watch this lesson: https://banjobenclark.com/lessons/pushin-guitar-licks-guitar-advanced
