Essential scales to get started

[delicious]

What are the say, 5 most useful scales to get me started on improvising and making some basic songs? I am in the process of learning all 7 modes of the major scale but besides that i only know the pentatonic and blues scale(not 3nps). Should i be learning the scales in a specific order like, 1 major and minor etc? By the way i prefer metal/rock/jazz/latin/classical music :>

[UKRuss]

Stick to the Major scale and derive your other scales from it. All your pentatonics and minor scales and derivations thereof will stem from knowing your major scale inside and out. Know the intervals know the degrees know the notes.

[phantom]

Yep and Yeah,

I'd say the major scale, the modes that come from it, the pentatonics that come from it... all that is essential and enough to cover most of the styles you mentioned.

Other than that i'd recomment learning the harmonic minor with a close look how and where it differs from your usual minor scale. That scale will be useful in metal, latin, classical and jazz as well..
As UkRuss said, know the degrees and intervalls to be flexible with that.
What i guess is more important than learning another wierd scale, is to get a deeper understanding on chords and progressions. That would give you a better basis to use the scale you are already able to play. Arpeggios and superimpositions do the rest.

My 2 christmas cents ;)

[Malcolm]

What Phanton said....
What i guess is more important than learning another wierd scale, is to get a deeper understanding on chords and progressions. That would give you a better basis to use the scale you are already able to play. Arpeggios and superimpositions do the rest.

And hitch hike on not needing another wierd scale, there is plenty of things you can do with what you already know. Not necessarly now but one of these days add arpeggio patterns into your bag of tricks. I use them as a bridge between modes and scales, or as a way of getting from one to the other.

Have to add one thing ......... Six months to a year from now be using both relative and paralell modes.

[delicious]

aight thanks for the tips guys:> its good now that i have something to focus on, at first it was just like oh my god theres like 10 billion scales how am i gonna remember all that;o.

[silent-storm]

no not 10 billion. There are a lot of scale possibilities, but most modern players repetoir usually consists of the major scale and all 7 modes, the harmonic minor, melodic minor, probably only about 3 modes of those (lydian dominant, spanish phrygian and altered dominant) and then whole tone, half/whole and whole/half. Of course there are thousands of possibilities, but those are the main ones that everyone eventually gets down. The reason being is that just those scales represent a lifetime of exploration...but you'd be about half way once you get the major scale down.