billsbigego":1rvr0t0q said:
I get the chart, just not the first section.
One of the problems I have is that I function much better with a strict militaristic regimen. Since I don't really know what to do (I will start practicing that chart right away though) I've just been doing 1234 up and down the strings and up and down the fretboard for now. Even though this isn't scale work, I do notice an improvement in my playing right away. The difference is dedicating a solid 1/2 hour per day out of my time to stick to doing one thing.
*** WARNING *** Digest this post one sentence/paragraph at a time. Don't try to drink from a firehose! 
Just memorize those boxes for starters. And you do that by playing them over and over again. This also helps with your synchronization between right and left hands. Use alternate picking. So take that first box/pattern. If you play it the way it's shown, you're playing an Em diatonic scale (also known as the Aeloian mode) through several octaves. Play it from the low, open-E note, to the G (3rd fret) on the high E string, then back down to the low-E again. Do that until you've memorized it. If it takes you a day or a week, that's fine. Just keep doing it. Use it as a warm-up and syncro exercise.
Now... take that same box pattern shape, and move it up three frets. So you start on the 3rd fret of the low E string (the G), and you play it up and down. You're playing the same shape, and it's got the same type of sound... but you're playing a Gm diatonic scale now (or G Aeolian mode). In the modes, Aeolian = "the minor scale" and Ionian = "the major scale".
Anyways... we could go off on all kinds of theory stuff here regarding how all of the modes relate to the steps of the major scale, etc... but for now let's focus on memorizing those seven patterns and increasing our speed at them. Take each of these paragraphs one at a time, don't get overwhelmed. You're plenty smart and capable of doing this. "I think I can! I think I can!"
Slide that first pattern up to the 5th fret and now you're playing in A minor, and so on and so on.
Now... let's move that first pattern back to starting it on the open E string. So we're playing in Em again, right? Okay... so put something like the Scorpion's "Rock You Like a Hurricane" on your computer/MP3 player/whatever. It's in Em. Start playing your "boring scale pattern" along with the song. Do the notes sound like they belong to you? Okay, so move this pattern up five frets to the A and then put ACDC's "Hells Bells" on and start playing along with it. That's in Am. Does it work?
So now you're thinking... "yeah... but they sound like I'm playing scales". For sure. But your phrasing has to start somewhere. And making this connection as to how this all fits together is a good start. So now try this: do you know a lead riff note-for-note? Doesn't matter how simple it is. What key is that song in? Let's say it's in E. Do you see how all of the notes that you played fit into this pattern? So put a song on your computer that's in the key of Am instead. So play that SAME note-for-note riff that you learned in the key of E, up five frets. Now it's in the key of A. You might have to alter the speed of the riff, or cut it short, or whatever to make it sound decent. But once you do, you've successfully "stolen" someone's licks. This is how EVH and the vast majority of every other great player started. They learned someone's licks, then they played them in different songs, and then they eventually altered the licks to be more of their own licks. Being able to see how these licks fit into that Master Modal Pattern really puts it all together and down the road will free you up massively in your seeming ability to play leads over most music. My "practice" for most of the past 30 years has consisted of putting-on whatever kind of music I'm feeling in the mood for, and just jamming/shredding/blowing/improvising over it. But I had to put in the work early on of knowing what I was doing and synchronizing my hands. If I'm in the mood to play some sublime mixolydian or lydian mode stuff, I'll often put-on some Satriani or Vai to jam over. If I want to jam over most rock/hard rock... I'll be playing Aeolian mode and also of course the gold standard, the pentatonic minor or major scale (not highlighted in my patterns, but they're in there as you will see once you look at the five pentatonic boxes somewhere online -- they're sure to be everywhere out there). If I'm in the mood for Phrygian, I'll put on some Yngwie or flamenco (though those are usually more a variation on the phrygian mode that's got a sharp third). And so on and so on.
Anyways... I was going to keep this simple and then rambled-on too much. But once you really GET all of this... you'll be amazed at how simple it really is! (Once you've memorized the fretboard.) I can visualize the entire fretboard in any mode/key and I can go anywhere I want at any time and always know the right notes to play. No blindly hunting and pecking in the dark. Nothing makes me cringe more than seeing a player live who clearly doesn't have a clue what notes he's supposed to be playing. Sure... some interesting, beautiful songs/riffs can be found that way. But mostly... it just sounds bad.
Please feel free to PM me if you have any further questions that I may be able to answer.
