Learning The Pentatonic Guitar Scales? Calm Down & Take Your Time.
I often hear from new guitar or even intermediate players that they’ve seem to have stalled in the progress in learning their instrument. They understand the theory behind the pentatonic guitar scales but just can’t seem to apply what they know comfortably to the instrument. If this sounds like you there’s something simple you can do to get pass that bump in the road and that is to calm down and take your time. Relax your mind and body but especially your hands before beginning your practice session. I’ve seen it time and time again where people grip the guitar like they’re holding on to a jack hammer for dear life. That will only cause you to tense up and slow down to a point where you will eventually get frustrated. The pentatonic guitar scales are simple to play and apply but they require relaxation and smoothness in order to master them.
Beginners are often fearful of pressing the strings hard enough to prevent the strings from buzzing. String buzzing is better than pressing to hard and will improve itself over time as your fingers naturally gain strength. What we want for now is relaxation and flexibility in the fingers. Get in the habit of starting every session by stretching the fingers simply making a fist and then extending the fingers several times. This will teach your fingers to relax which is what you need to have a good practice session and with time master the guitar.
The best advice I could give to a beginner guitar student is to slow down and increase your speed gradually. Many new students approach the pentatonic guitar scales like they are running the 100 yard dash. This is not a sprint but if you look at it as a race picture it as a long distance race. As you can see and count every step that a long distance runner makes you should be able to hear and feel every note that you play. I’m not talking about a mumble jumble of sounds but a smooth vibrant sound. If you’re playing the pentatonic guitar scales over a blues tune your soloing should feel, sound and compliment the tune, not cover it up with a bunch of gibberish.
Speed comes when you’re able to play correctly and by instinct. In other words playing while relaxed and without a whole lot of thought. At a point it should all come naturally to you. To get instinctively good on the guitar you should invest in some type of timing device so you can practice at different rates without tensing up. A metronome or drum machine is good for this purpose.
Keep in mind that the purpose for the metronome or drum machine is that they are tools that can keep time but most importantly they can be set to the speed or pace you desire. In your case as a beginner you will want to set the time to the slowest possible speed and slowly work your way up while staying relaxed. Once you’ve mastered scales such as the pentatonic guitar scales you will be playing them over all types of musical styles, not just fast paced music. Keep a journal after each practice session of the highest speed you performed at while staying relax and try to gradually increase each time you practice. Even if you get stuck at a certain speed for a number a practices the worst thing you can do is to get in a jack hammer frame of mind to try to increase speed. Believe me this will not help. Stay relax and speed will come with practice and time.
The pentatonic guitar scales are so simple in theory that many newbies on the guitar think they should be able to pick up their axe and automatically applied the theory and become instant stars. Like most things in life it doesn’t work that way. It will come with practice, time and above all relaxation. So calm down and take your time and you’ll master the guitar sooner than you thought possible.
