"Don't play scales just to get faster. Speed is a happy by-product of playing more accurately": Beginner Guitar Lessons - nailing scales

Scales might sound daunting at first, especially with names like Dorian, Lydian and Mixolydian – but don't be deterred. Follow along as we break down three essential scales into digestible bite-sized chunks that will help you play along to your favorite songs and save you in a jam scenario when your fellow bandmate says a song is in a particular key.

Scales usually revolve around a single chord shape. You then just add extra complementary notes around them to complete the scale – we'll show you how to do this below.

Once you've learnt all of the notes in the scale pattern, there are basically no wrong notes – this is perfect for jam situations, whether improvising over a song or just a few simple chords that you've looped together.

Practising scales for a few minutes every day will also hone your alternate picking technique, help make your fretting hand more accurate and - with the help of one of the best metronomes - improve your timing and stay in the pocket of a groove.

All of this will result in two things: your playing will be more accurate and professional sounding, and you will almost certainly become capable of playing faster.

It's important that you don't play scales just to get faster, though. Speed is a happy by-product of trying to play more accurately. Even if you don't fancy becoming the next über shredder, practising scales is still important.

Make sure your guitar is in standard EADGBE tuning – the scale won't sound quite right if one or more strings are out of tune, then let's jump in to clear up the confusion around those pesky scales and you'll be improvising brilliant solos in no time!

1. A major pentatonic 

Everyone knows the A chord. As you play it here, make sure it’s the cleanest A chord ever heard!

The major pentatonic scale is great for creating bright, melodic lead lines. It also contains the A chord.

The idea here is to see how the chord, scale and lick all relate to each other – the three shapes are pretty similar. Play the A chord with a first-finger barre. Your third finger should fall into place.

Play our first track to see how the scale could sound over the top of some basic chords, then when you're ready load up the second track and use the tab above to follow along using just the D, G and B strings.

Once you've got the hang of it why not experiment with other notes using the A major pentatonic scale diagram above – don't worry, there aren't any wrong notes to play so there's no incorrect way to play them – get creative!

2. A minor pentatonic 

Play each note one by one to check they’re ringing clearly – adjust your thumb position if needed.

Notice how the notes of the chord are found within the scale. It means they’ll sound good together.

Jimi Hendrix used to thicken his lead lines with doublestops. This lick shows how he might have combined them with a bluesy bend. Try branching out your ideas by using other notes from the chord and scale.

Rather than sliding your fretting hand up from the 5th fret to the 7th in this scale you could get creative and instead try bending the note at the 5th fret one whole step instead and this will give it more of a bluesy feel.

Alongside famously playing a right-handed Stratocaster upside down to suit his left-handed playing, Jimi was also know for playing bar chords with his thumb over the top of the neck to fret the low E string – experiment with this thumb over style and fretting the bar chord with your index finger to find which you find more comfortable.

3. Mixolydian 

Notice how the dominant 7th chord sounds unresolved, like it needs to move to another, more final chord.

Look closely! Once again the notes of the chord are found in the scale. Jam around the two together.

This laid-back melody is inspired by the North Mississippi Allstars’ softer moments. Once again, play close attention to the lick’s feel and try some more ideas with other scale and chord notes.

Learn more about the minor pentatonic

Take it further: Finesse your timing with a metronome

A metronome is a device used to give a steady, constant pulse for you to practise to. It is also referred to as a click track, especially in studios. Metronomes are fairly cheap (they're available for as little as £15), and if you're thinking of getting into guitar you should probably invest in one. If you like to record into a DAW on a computer they will have a click feature built in too, and you can experiment with how fast or slow it clicks.

To start off with, set your metronome to 100 beats per minute (bpm). Then, using a single note, try to play every time there's a click. The key is to anticipate when the click sounds and play at exactly the same time. It may take you a while to get this right - so don't feel bad if it takes you 100 attempts. Tapping your foot along to the beat can also help you keep a rhythm.

Once you feel comfortable playing one note per click, try playing two notes per click. Once you feel comfortable with that, try this example (the tempo here is slower as it's more difficult to play).

Open the 'Playing a minor pentatonic scale with a metronome' tab (Right-click to download)

Tip: Play two notes of the scale for each click of the metronome. Make sure the notes are evenly spaced. Remember to alternate pick - or else!

Read more: Best metronomes