The Ultimate Scale Book Reviews

• A great little scale reference and cheap too!

  
  By AE77NYRK1FJFU on 2003-06-11
  This is a great scale book for guitarist and one that I refer to often. I still haven't found the ONE perfect scale book (hence only four stars), but this one comes close. It is one of three scale books that I use, and because of its compact size, it is usually the one that I have handy when I need it. Troy does a great job of explaining the scales and giving some exercises for practice. What I like best about this book is that it shows the scales in all positions across 22 frets with the root notes highlighted. Also, many scale books only show fretboard diagrams of the scales in one key, usually C or E and then explain how to move them around. This book includes diagrams of several keys (including G and A, which are favorites of mine). The only other thing I wish about this book is that it was spiral bound so it would lay flat when open, but I would rather have this book than any of the other gig bag sized ones that are spiral bound. All in all a great little scale reference and cheap too!
  
  

• Small Cheap and full of information

  
  By A28JDCKBEDSI1D on 2003-08-21
  By far it contains a wide diverse set of scales, fingerings, and even a few exotic scales at the end. It is small enough to fit in any gig bag or guitar case, making it very conveninet. Unlike other scale/method books that present one scale and make a few variaitions on it, this one uses entirely different scales in different keys.....another great book by Troy Stetina
  
  

• The best book to carry in your gig bag for scales and more scales and theory

  
  By AG9WCBXHO4NYX on 2007-02-14
  okay, so the photo looks like a shiny eyed kind of long hair heavy metal kind of guy. Check out his list of other books, including Black Sabbath licks. Also see the college music departments he has run, and programs he has designed. Visit his eponymous website, and build your trust. You too will believe that you can one day play.
  
  The scales in this book are just right and just enough, are just what you need, and only what you need, with enough theory underneath to understand the hows and whys. And its format fits right in the neck of your guitar case. What more could you ask for?
  
  I could ask for a few basic chord progressions to run each scale form over, but that you can find in other music and "fake" books, and would make this few-frills presentation more weighty and unwieldly. I like it just as it is. The writer does provide genres in which each scale is often heard (such as the long list under Major Pentatonic, including country, pop, rock, blues-rock, and jazz), and that should be enough of an indication for any student of music, for further study and application, for improvising and general grooving and noodling around while your fingers build their bones and find the notes and intervals (the sounds and the silence) and the chops start coming like rain, like on the records, in the clubs.
  
  In fact the author recommends near the end of the introductory theory section:" . . .it is important to realize that for scales to ultimately be learned effectively, you must see them at work in real life situations. Then, you will really know them! All theoretical knowledge, including scales, is useless without application. So it is recommended that as you progress through this book, you learn enough music, songs, and/or solos to see some application of these patterns. (p. 5)"
  
  That brief quote may display some of the common stylistic tendencies of nonwriters, such as the heavy use of the passive voice and split infinitives, and exclamations for declaratory sentences, etc., but do not let such niceties discourage you. Please know that this book is in fact surprisingly well written, very evocatively yet concisely and clearly, despite frequent usage of higher level vocabulary. Do not let that frighten you, but inform you. Within this small book lies a surprisingly large amount of good information and advice along with the well-ordered and arranged scales clearly displayed across the entire guitar fretboard.
  
  The author in fact makes a point of arranging the order of presentation and practice in a logical pattern, beginning (after the extensive and useful introductory section) with the Minor and Major Pentatonic (or five note) and blues scales. You'll be playing Hendrix after this first section alone, and stretching it out into your own cathartic improvisations. Part II then presents the Natural Minor, the Major scale and the modes. Each of the seven modes is well displayed along the fretboard, with discussion of their interrelation and with separate sections for five of the seven modes, including the well-known "odd, mysterious" Lydian mode. I would have liked to have seen the Aeolian mode discussed separately in this way as well, but already enough information is presented here for you to be playing John Coltrane sheets of sound.
  
  In fact Part III handles the jazz scales, with among others the neo-classical or Mohammedan Harmonic Minor and jazz minor modes, including the super-Locrian. The Phrygian-Dominant or Spanish Flamenco scale also comes through here. Miles Davis will resurrect from your guitar fretboard. Hear him cry in a minor mode.
  
  Part IV discusses and teaches atonal scales, beginning with the Chromatic scale with twelve notes to the octave, and the Whole Tone scale with six tones to the octave and "an odd sort of 'lost' quality." A third atonal scale is the Diminished. This Part IV ends with "exotic and ethnic scales" such as one called the enigmatic and the double harmonic or "gypsy" scale, which are basically hybrids of earlier scales. The ethnic scales include the Hungarian, Persian, Arabian (or major Locrian), Egyptian (said to "tend to lack resolution, and sound odd") and a few Japanese scales.
  
  This excellent and very comprehensive and instructive scale book closes with a double appendix. The first appendix is an excellent table for constructing each of the scales, very clear and concise. The second is the always useful display of the note names a guitar fretboard over nearly two octaves (more than you will ever reach or see!)
  
  All in all this is a great guitar scale book, with plenty of theory and all of the scales explained and shown in guitar tabluture format, which is most easily understood by any guitarist rather than "reading" standard notation. An example of standard notation is included nevertheless for each of the scales in order to see clearly in another way the steps between the notes in each of the scales (e.g., whole or half steps). This thin and long book of Hal Leonard's Pocket Guide series (which does slide as easily into any pocket as into your guitar's case as cushion) deserves a place in any practicing and professional guitar player's heart. It makes a great back-up while getting ready for any cutting jam. Stetina's got your back. At this price how can you turn his help away?
  
  
  

• What a great resource!

  
  By A2IY383UW7991O on 2005-10-28
  I love this book. I just read the 1st couple of pages and "click", I am starting to see the relationship between notes on the fret board. He shows the shapes and explains how to move them on the fretboard. This was something I was trying to get my guitar teacher to show me and all I got was "memorize the circle of fifths." Stetina's explanations about scales, how they are used, and his exmamples are clear and concise. I highly reccomend this book to anyone trying to learn guitar.
  
  

• This is the best scale book!!!

  
  By A2PLY66LDQ4478 on 2006-03-04
  Wow, I have been playing guitar for over 25 years. I have seen a lot of books on scales. This one is hands down the best. This little $5.95 book has more info on scales than any of the books that cost 3 times that amount. Troy is a very good teacher. This book really helps you understand the scales and the relationships between them. The only critisism I can give is that I wish it would relate the chords to the scales better or at least give the basic chords that go along with each scale. I like how Troy starts simple by starting with the Minor Pentatonic scales and building from there. This book is great as a reference book or as a method book. It is nice that he also give the scales in different case to help contrast them. I can not say enough for this book. Oh and the explanation on modes is brilliant. I never was able to really grasp the concept even after having two different guitar teachers try to explain them. With this book I really get it now. This book Rocks!
  
  
• Excellent Scale Book
  By A1G8GKBQ3PZSXO on 2006-03-13
  This is a great book at a great value. For only $6, almost anyone can buy this book. Don't be mislead however, in this little book there is a wealth of information about scales. This book practically taught me to improvise. It may be small but it will take many months and almost guarantee years for the beginners to master the material. Also works great at building left and right hand technique if you have been playing guitar for a while.
  
  
• Clear, compact, cheap
  By A267CEEXBYMSH0 on 2005-12-27
  I had been struggling with a "how-to" lead guitar book for weeks, and not quite getting it. I picked up this book on a whim and everything "clicked." I now feel I've got a pretty good understanding of how scales work. This isn't a bad place to start if you're interested in playing lead guitar.
  
  
• Ultimate Scale Book
  By A3AFKFB6D2ZZFZ on 2007-02-06
  I bought the ultimate scale book and the guitar scale bible at the same time and the ultimate scale book was much better. It was much more systematic, or if you just want the book for a reference guide then it will work as well. If not then go through the book page by page. It will walk you through it in terms a human being with not alot of guitar playing expirence can understand.
  
  
• This IS the Ultimate Scale Book!!!
  By A1KRFLALFKN8GK on 2007-03-30
  You cannot beat the price, quality, and value of this little book! Troy Stetina lays out a box system with fretboard diagrams that is easy to understand. This book will increase your knowledge of scales and their practical application in a short amount of time. He also points out effective methods of practice. I have purchased other instructional books by Troy Stetina and have always been happy with his products. I've been playing guitar for 18 years and I fully recommend his instructional books.
  
  
• Amazing
  By A8H3R66CGRCZP on 2008-05-07
  This book is better than a guitar teacher. It shows you the scales, but more importantly it illustrates how they fit together. If you're a guitar player wondering how some players can shred up and down the neck, its because they understand how scales work, exactly what this book teaches you. This book has made it possible for me to improvise solos. If you don't understand how the positions of scales fit together, and major and minor relativity, this book is for you. I have a scale and arpeggio book, the Yngwie Malmsteen DVD, Rock Discipline with (John Petrucci), and this book has been most beneficial to my playing.
  
  
• Amazing!!!
  By A2Z3ZSANL4VPEY on 2008-08-19
  When I started playing, I couldn't be any more confused. But I've since learned so much from this book. Everything's so clearly outlined and explained and not to mention that it's travel case sized. This book is almost too convenient!!
  
  
• Not what I was looking for.
  By A1R080GH94ZYKF on 2007-01-09
  Perhaps this would be more useful for a more advanced player, but it did not give me enough step by step training for my skill level.
  
  
• Excelent pocket reference book!
  By A3HUPG5ZCN849J on 2007-01-19
  I have this book and it is very good book for reference about scales. It has all that you need to know. Simple reading, concise and has a lot of pratical examples. If you adopt to use this book to learn scales, you will build progressively a large arsenal of improvisation material from pentatonic minor to harmonic minor. Very good reference book that shows you how to build and use scales. Recommended!
  
  
• Scale booklet
  By AKAWWIURJRY3W on 2008-01-21
  A lot of interesting, and useful info in a small booklet, well worth the price !.
  
  
• A must have book
  By A3VHU5MHW80CEN on 2008-05-15
  This book is a must have for novice guitarists like me. It contains all the scales and modes you need to know in order to improve knowledge of the fretboard but also helps you build the scales for any note in any mode. This book definitely worth every cent.
  
  

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• Music Theory for Guitarists: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know But Were Afraid to Ask (Guitar Method)
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• Fretboard Logic SE: The Reasoning Behind the Guitar's Unique Tuning + Chords Scales and Arpeggios Complete (The Fretboard Logic Guitar Method Volumes I and II) (Fretboard Logic Guitar Method Ser)
• Guitar Chord Encyclopedia (Ultimate Guitarist's Reference)