Craig Bassett, the author and instructor of Guitar Scale Mastery has many years experience both in teaching guitar, and also performing, in many different styles. From reading the material in the Guitar Scale Mastery course, he definitely has a knack for explaining musical techniques and theory.
It doesn't matter if you are fairly new to playing the guitar or if you have been playing for quite some time, without mastering the guitar scale, you are simply holding back from playing your very best. Unfortunately, many people do not totally understand what guitar skills are, let alone understanding how to play them. Sure, some people are able to follow along with the scales and play the guitar beautifully but they are truly missing out if they don't have a total understanding of what they are doing. The Guitar Scale Mastery course is designed to teach you everything that you need to know about guitar scales and how to use them to improve your craft.
Scales are about more than just moving your fingers up and down the frets playing notes in procession. They are the building blocks used to play all types of music and are the key to performing electrifying guitar solos. All of the great riffs and licks that you hear in your favorite songs are played by musicians who have a complete understanding of scales and their importance. This course teaches you not only how to execute guitar scales but also how to use them to improve your overall guitar abilities.
Features
Guitar Scale Mastery is a membership website, from which you can download a series of lessons, audio tracks and other bonus material, all based around the subject of learning guitar scales in a very detailed way, so that they become second nature to you, and can then be used automatically when soloing.
It is aimed at players who want to get a much deeper understanding of scales for use in solos, than the usual straight 'finger pattern' guides given in many guitar books.
This particular course is not about playing scales endlessly in an effort to improve on your fingering. Guitar scales are much more than that. It is a way to learn how to play music with the scales and not seem as if you are just going up and down the fret board playing notes in procession. Many guitarists have not quite gotten the idea of how to do this proficiently. There really is no other way to solo unless you are able to get the mastery over these guitar scales. That's the reason why this course is so effective.
The Guitar Scale Mastery course, however, cuts through some of the difficulty by giving you the most effective scales to help you to boost your abilities. Of course, you can always add additional scales as time goes along but by the time you're finished this course, you will be playing effectively and surprised at what you're doing with the scales.
Ease of Use
Logging into the Guitar Scale Mastery System site, there's a clear overview of the whole course, in a step-by-step layout.
In a theme that's repeated throughout the course, one of the first steps is where Craig gets you to determine the objectives you want to achieve from it, which will set the context of all the lessons. The course material is very 'interactive' in that sense, you are constantly asked to carry out tasks and exercises that help you understand the concepts.
The introductory 'basic lessons' section covers some key concepts about scale notes, sharps/flats and covers the major scale on the fretboard, concepts used in the rest of the course. This section is relatively brief, but important for players who may not have come across these topics, which are explained clearly with relevant diagrams.
The main section of the site covers the Guitar Scale Mastery system itself. This is split into smaller, more manageable parts, with a good mix of theory, technique and application of the two. The 'system' is an approach to learning a specific scale in depth, all over the fretboard. There are a whole series of exercises and topics here, such as single/two string scale lessons, ear training and applications on lick creation and improvisation techniques.
The material in this section is designed to be taken and practiced in small chunks, and is perfect for incorporating into your daily practice routine.
The idea with the system is to take one particular scale, and apply all the exercises in sequence over time to 'internalize' that specific scale. Then you can start the process over again with another scale. This is in contrast with the approach of learning a whole load of different scales at once, but not really learning the scales at all.
The section on 'Guitar Scale Activators' contains a whole library of audio mp3 tracks, over which you can practice various different scales. This makes the whole task of practicing scales more enjoyable, as well as hearing the sound of a particular scale in context, over appropriate chords.
Setup/Compatibility
A lot of the content is on web pages within the site itself, with clear fretboard pictures accompanying the lesson text. The audio tracks and PDF eBook files can all be downloaded and accessed offline.
Support
Support is provided via email, usually directly from Craig himself, with a good response time. He definitely stands behind his system, and this shows in the quality of support provided.
Money Back Guarantee:
An 8-week money back guarantee period in which you can get a full refund if not happy with the course.
Bonuses
• Introduction - Basic Lessons: these lessons cover the essentials of the musical alphabet, major scale and the concept of scale degrees, which need to be understood before tackling the rest of the course material.
• 5 Powerful Practice Techniques: a section on organizing your practice time to get the most out of the lessons
• The System: the core of the Guitar Scale Mastery system, a whole series of lessons designed to enable you to really learn a scale inside out.
• Audio Backing Tracks: there are a set of 5 full backing tracks, in a range of styles, for use in soloing practice.
• Guitar Scale Activators: these are special audio tracks that are designed to help illustrate the sound of a particular scale in context, for use in practicing & learning the sound of that scale.
• Bonus eBooks & Bonus updates: some excellent material that complements the main lessons, including 'Pentatonic Guitar Success', 'Scale Degree Mastery', and more advanced lessons, such as musical phrasing and playing over key changes.
Price
The priced of Guitar Scale Mastery course is at US$67, which gives you access to the 3 year premium membership site. It’s really worth every penny you paid for it.
Conclusion
Pros: Craig has a very direct and 'no nonsense' approach throughout the course, particularly regarding the fact that to achieve results using the lessons in it, you have to put some effort in yourself, by carrying out the various exercises, and daily practice.
My personal favorite sections of the course were the 'application' topics, where you learn how to apply the scale theory and techniques to your own guitar playing in solos and improvisation - in particular the section on lick creation was excellent, and certainly gave me lots of ideas on creating my own licks.
Cons: It's definitely not a course for absolute beginners, as it assumes some ability to pick notes out (up/down picking on a single string) and some knowledge of chords is definitely handy.
If you have a desire to understand scales in more depth and create an impressive solos this is definitely for you. Check out Guitar Scale Mastery.
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