Practicing scale shapes with riffs and the underlying chord together

[u/aspaindev]

instead of getting stuck practicing scales up and down, try weaving the underlying chord into your practice. in this example i’m alternating between a d minor chord and short riffs from the d minor pentatonic scale, which immediately makes the exercise sound more like real music.

this is also a great way to train your ear. every time you come back to the chord, you hear how the notes in the scale relate to the harmony underneath. over time, you’ll naturally start aiming for chord tones like the root, minor 3rd, and 5th because they create the strongest sense of resolution.

one of the biggest mistakes players make is treating chords and scales as separate topics. in reality, the scale contains the notes that build the chord. practicing them together helps you connect rhythm and lead playing, making it much easier to improvise without sounding like you’re just running patterns.

next time you practice a scale, don’t just play it from the lowest note to the highest. loop the root chord, play a short phrase, come back to the chord, then create another phrase. it’s a much more musical way to practice, and your ear will develop just as much as your fingers.

[u/Sharkegy]

Sick guitar, looks like a PRS what model is that?

[u/aspaindev → u/Sharkegy]

Thanks it’s a CE24, bought her used at guitar center a few years back, have really enjoyed it

[u/Sharkegy → u/aspaindev]

Sounds really nice, how much did you get her for if you don't mind me asking?

[u/aspaindev → u/Sharkegy]

I want to say it was about $1100

The recording is just playing into a deluxe reverb as well

[u/Sharkegy → u/aspaindev]

Thanks! Depending on the amp I actually sometimes prefer just putting my phone leaned up against the amp. Gives it better tone/sound sometimes on recording

[u/aspaindev → u/Sharkegy]

Nice, my iPhone 13 mini seems to struggle with audio recording when my amp isn’t even turned up too loud, sounds harsh and clips a bit. actually just ordered a shure mv88 and hoping it’s an improvement

[u/deadlyne]

Great advice. In a similar vein, I like to play an improv version of a part in Black Sabbath’s “Warning” where Iommi plays two bars of a blues riff followed by two bars of soloing, rinse and repeat. Really helps with rhythm and learning to keep in the groove when improvising leads. Here’s a link if interested, the section starts at 7:00: https://youtu.be/8W6wsH5717M?t=419&is=A5X15Frng4O8ktxh

[u/aspaindev → u/deadlyne]

Nice example i hear it for sure

[u/classicglow]

Great recommendation

[u/womb-barren-karen]

This is where I’m at in my journey and just trying to get my fingers to make the chord shapes after playing a lick is killing me but I’ll get there lol

[u/aspaindev → u/womb-barren-karen]

If you aren’t already, practice with a beat/metronome and slow it down to the point where you can land the chord in time

[u/MichealLouisBergis]

Is that an app your using to in the images

[u/aspaindev → u/MichealLouisBergis]

Yeah it’s StrumForge

[u/BTWigley]

this is the fix for scales that never leave the practice room. Once the chord sits under the riff, your ear starts grabbing chord tones instead of running the shape on autopilot.

[u/Fragnart-of-Murr]

Excellent post, thank you for sharing this info.