Shop Muse Eek > Guitarists > Essential Scales: Core Study Material for Any Instrumentalist
Essential Scales by Guitarist Bruce Arnold for Muse Eek Publishing Company

Essential Scales: Twenty Two Indispensable Contemporary Modes for all Instrumentalists by Bruce Arnold

Learning the essential scales is key to your success as a musician. Watch this video to learn more.

Essential Scales: Twenty Two Indispensable Contemporary Modes.

When you start to think about which essential scales to learn ask yourself these questions:

  • What techniques do professional musicians use to play scales at super-fast tempos?
  • What is the best way to learn scales?
  • What are the important scales to know?
  • How do chords and scales interact?
  • How does my ear influence my scale choice?
  • What chords can be derived from a scale?

Please Note: We recommend that all guitarist work with the Guitar Technique and Physiology Course so that you learn with proper scale technique. This course gives you a comprehensive approach to playing guitar and includes a videos on all aspects of guitar technique.

All of these question are answered in Essential Scales: Twenty Two Indispensable Contemporary Modes for all Instrumentalists

Essential Scales: Twenty Two Indispensable Contemporary Modes for all Instrumentalistsis an in-depth study of the scales you must know to be ready for any musical situation. For all instrumentalists (with a special section showing guitar fingering) this book covers the 22 most commonly used scales in contemporary improvisation, which include:

  • Modes of Major.
  • Modes of Melodic Minor Ascending.
  • Diminished.
  • Symmetrical Diminished.
  • Whole Tone.
  • Blues.
  • Major and Minor Pentatonic.

Essential Scales goes the extra mile

Most books stop with these previously mentioned scales but Essential Scales: Twenty Two Indispensable Contemporary Modes for all Instrumentalists goes the extra mile with a close-up look at that “secret sauce” the professionals use to gain their Master Musician ability.

You too can gain this knowledge which includes:

  • Chord/scale relationships are explored in depth including how your “ear” will influence your scale choices.
  • The 3 and 4 note chords generated from each scale used in composing, developing modal chording patterns and exploring new chord voicings; Guitarists, pianists, and composers will find this specifically useful.
  • Only this book demystifies the process professional musicians use to achieve master musician facility and knowledge of scales, using 2 and 3 note modal sequencing.
  • The secret to shred level speed which is revealed with the “Long Line Rhythm” concept. This will take your playing to warp speed.

Whether you are a total beginner or an advanced musician this book will open the world of scales to you in a way that no other book can.

Additional Information:
  • Digital IBSN: 978-1-59489-708-5
  • 237 pages
What people are saying:

  • Essential Scales: Twenty Two Indispensable Contemporary Modes for all Instrumentalistsdeserves to be up there with Schillinger. It takes the study of scales to whole new level, and contains things that I’ve never seen anywhere else. The 3 and 4 note chords section for each scale is brilliant. I’ve been using this for composing and it’s really opening up new doors for me. F. Owen

  • ….Arnold’s inclusion of how you hear these scales in musical situations is very revealing, making a strong case that if you can’t hear these scales in relationship to chord progressions you are kidding yourself that you have scales together. The 2 and 3 note sequencing patterns are really a great way to get that scale knowledge together, by the way. Based on the strength of this impressive compendium I also purchased Ear Training One Note Completee and Contextual Ear Training. S. Handel

  • I saw this book and thought “Yeah another scale book –YAWN.” I had emailed Bruce about ear training and he recommended I get this book along with some of his direct application ear training CDs and improvise over the tracks on the CD with some of the scales from the book. NO YAWNS! This really turned my head –and my ear– around. I realized I was THINKING about music a lot more than I was USING MY EAR to tell me what to do. Do yourself a favor get in touch with Bruce and do a study of scales and ear training with him. You’ll see a complete transformation in the way you think about music. D. Nordlinger.

  • I play bass and guitar so this book really helped me in a bunch of ways. It obviously helped me understand bass lines and how to re-harmonize chord progressions to get a hipper sound but I also spent a lot of time just improvising over the audio tracks. It’s like having an in-house bass player to jam with everyday. Highly recommended …. B. Ryan

Get Started today with Essential Scales and have a whole new experience learning scales!

Status: In stock, Digital book is available for immediate access.

Recommended books to use with Essential Scales
What should I work on after Essential Scales?

Have a story or a review you want to submit. We would love to hear from you please send us an email.

This entry was posted in Guitarists, Instrumentalists and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , by Muse Eek. Bookmark the permalink.

About Muse Eek

Muse-Eek Publishing Company is a publishing house with a broad focus on music education. Muse-Eek also publishes fine art and poetry books, and has its own record label, Muse-Eek Records. Our online presence, Muse-Eek.com specializes in the publication of music workbooks, video courses and sound and video recordings that teach the foundation of good musicianship through groundbreaking and innovative methods along with traditional methods that have been taught for centuries. These historic methods date back through centuries of great musicians and educators. To see these interesting relationship please see Bruce Arnold's Music Education Genealogy Chart which tells you a lot about the where many of his educational ideas took root and some of the educational pillars that are evident throughout the books you find on this website. The Muse-Eek Records catalogue contains a diverse selection of music much of it by Bruce Arnold in collaboration with some of today's best players in classical, jazz, rock and avant-garde music. These are available in CD, DVD and mp3 formats. We believe in a working relationship with our music education customers; they are free to interact with the author after purchasing a book to help them through any material they don’t understand or which they need further clarification. We also have a member's area which contains a wealth of free information to help a student understand music at a deeper level and access additional files for our books. Many of our books offer cutting edge ideas regarding ear training, guitar technique, rhythm and time. These methods have a proven track record. Our main author Bruce Arnold has taught at some of the most prestigious music schools in the world, including Princeton, Dartmouth, Berklee College of Music, New England Conservatory, The New School and NYU. Along with Mr. Arnold's publications on the Muse-eek.com website he has also written books and appeared in educational DVDs for MelBay and Truefire. Over the years Mr Arnold has used his experiences with his students to develop a program that can elevate a musician's ability to world class caliber. If you have questions about any of our books or recordings please send us an email. Along with general questions about either our record label or our publishing company we also welcome questions to help a student choose the proper materials to reach their goals. We have over 300 products to help you learn any style of music and to develop your musicianship to its peak. We also make recommendations for practice schedules for students who use our methods to get the most out of their study time. This, along with personal interaction with Bruce through email, nurtures the student's ability through a closely monitored situation, ensuring there is no wasted time or misunderstanding.