David's Tip of the Day: Practicing Scales - Part 2

To sum up Part 1...

1) Blues Scale = Play with Bluesy Jam Track (Box, Slow Blues, Minor, etc.)
2) Major Pentatonic Scale = Jam Track with Light Feel (Rhumba, Swing, etc.)

Put the jam track on and play the scale in the following ways, both ascending and descending, in this order...

1) Whole Notes - Each note of the scale held for 4 beats (this is your chance to dial in your tone, bending accuracy, dynamics, breathing and tremolo... don't skip this step.)
2) Half Notes - Each note of the scale held for 2 beats
3) Quarter Notes - Each note of the scale held for 1 beat
4) Eighth Notes - Each note of the scale held for 1/2 of a beat (two notes per beat)

Slow the music down a bit if it's a faster track for the following...
5) Triplets - Each note of the scale held for 1/3 of a beat (three notes per beat)
6) Sixteenths - Each note of the scale held for 1/4 of a beat (four notes per beat)

Practicing in this way prepares you for the most common used notes as a soloist (the scale) in their most common rhythms.