Guitar All-in-One For Dummies, 2nd Edition

Chapter 2

Adding Major Scale Sequences to Your Repertoire

IN THIS CHAPTER

Playing major scale sequences using five major scale patterns

Applying sequences to actual pieces of music

Access the audio track at www.dummies.com/go/guitaraio/

If you’ve practiced the five major scale patterns presented in the last chapter (Book 7 Chapter 1) — and drilled them into your consciousness — it’s time to have some fun with them, don’t you think? Instead of going up and down and up and down (and up and down), in this chapter you get to mix things up by playing sequences. Sequences are musical patterns — not finger patterns like the ones you memorized to learn your scales (uh, you did memorize those, didn’t you?).

Playing sequences not only makes practicing more interesting and less predictable, but it also makes you feel like you’re playing real music — that is, pattern-based songs with repeated gestures. Many melodies get their “memorableness” from their sequences, which make them different enough to be interesting, but predictable enough to become recognizable. It’s a delicate balance, but all great melodies have some repetition to them in the form of sequences, which you can explore in this ...