Tired of watching useless guitar videos that don’t teach you anything? Want to make your own melodies? Try learning guitar scales first!

Learning scales are important in every way. Whether you’re creating a riff, lick, or a complete song, knowledge of guitar scales will definitely take you to the next level. Being a guitarist, it’s not always about copying and playing other people’s songs. It might be a good idea for practice, but you should be good at making your own solos and melodies.

As a beginner, it might seem pretty tough at the beginning, but with the correct resources, you can master the most complicated techniques within a month. Learning difficult songs becomes easier. You’ll also witness a speed in moving up and down on the fretboard. Remember, practice makes you perfect!

You can stop browsing page after page because we have compiled for you the list of the best books for learning guitar scales.

1. The Guitarist’s Scale Book- Over 400 Guitar Scales and Modes

The Guitarist’s Scale Book by Peter Vogl is an excellent choice for beginners, intermediate or seasoned guitarists. It’s a complete guide to teach you over 400 guitar scales and modes. In addition, it is simple and easy to understand. You can memorize the major and minor scales within days. 

The book has visual representations in tablature form. The scales are shown in alphabetical order and include the major, minor, and pentatonic scales. The book also features cross stringing, blues scale, and exotic and foreign scales.

It is an awesome guide that will teach you all the basics. With great reviews, it is on Amazon’s best-seller list.

2. Guitar Scales For Beginners

If you are new to the world of guitar and got frustrated between music theory and scales, this book is for you. Guitar Scales for beginners teaches you all the basics of scales. It focuses on the formation of scales, how to develop a pattern, and how to make a piece of new music from those patterns.

It also features over 50 tips and licks to help a beginner player become a pro. It is a complete guide for beginners that entails step-step instructions on how to master guitar scales. You can call it a mental map of a complete fretboard, as it helps you memorize the position of scales on the fretboard.

The book emphasizes learning your very first pentatonic scale and other scales thereafter. By the end of this book, you’ll be making solo music on your own!

3. The Ultimate Scale Book

The ultimate scale book is a small pocket-sized encyclopedia of scales. The small size makes it easily portable and helps you with a quick reference.  The author Troy Stetina explains all sorts of scales in detail. It is a perfect guide and teaches you major and minor scales, modes, the blues scales, harmonic minor, chromatic, and other exotic types.

The book is a cheat sheet so that you can find and correct any scale with a quick glance. It’s a great book for intermediate-level guitar players. It’s written in easy language and has a pictorial representation of each scale for easy understanding. Even though it doesn’t explain certain terminologies in-depth, if you are already a guitar player, the book will help you upgrade your skills.

The book makes it easy to learn scales anytime, anywhere. From defining scales to teaching the most complicated scales, the book covers everything. Do not be fooled by its size. It is a slim edition filled with tons of knowledge. 

4. The Guitar Grimoire

If you already know a bit about music theory, then this book is a perfect fit for you. Beginners might find this book a little complex, but once they get the hang of it, creating music becomes effortless. The book contains 6000 diagrams, charts, and graphs for your complete understanding.

It is a little expensive, but it’s a good price to pay for such a detailed book. You get to know the position of the scales on the fretboard and how to work on different shapes and patterns. Everything is explained in great detail.

Adam Kadmon’s Guitar Glamour is perfect for beginners to intermediate-level players. Experts looking to refresh their skills and plan to improve their knowledge of scales will find this book quite informative.

So don’t go for the price! Check out the quality of the content yourself. Even the most complex concepts are explained in such an easy way.

5. Guitar Scales Workshop

If you have a hard time learning scales and working on the fretboard, the Guitar Scales Workshop is the best fit for you. It contains 3 books that will make you an insane guitarist within a few days. It covers the best guitar lessons.

The book actually teaches you 5 steps on how to work on the fretboard rather than memorizing it. Learning scales has never been easier. This set works best if you’re at a beginner’s level and want to learn at a more advanced level. It teaches you where to start and how to create small tones and takes you to a point where you can easily create original melodies, riffs, and licks.

Even if you haven’t touched a guitar in your life, still the series will walk you through the most difficult steps in the easiest ways. After being acquainted with fretboard, the Guitar Scales Workshop, present in the series, will teach you about natural notes, tones and semitones, string root patterns, pentatonic scales, and how to put everything together to create an effortless solo.

It might appear a little expensive, but it’s a complete set to make you play like a true guitarist.

6. Guitarist Guide to Scales Over Chords

With Scales over Chords, learn to improvise on guitar. The book teaches you basic techniques of playing different scales. The book talks about major and minor scale applications, modes, the blues, and how to play solos.

Most books mentioned in the series talk only about scales, but this book covers the relationship with chords (1-chord vamps, Non-Diatonic chords) as well. It also features audio tracks that can be played online via an audio player that can be slowed down and set as per your requirements.

The book guides you through 14 scales, from all minor scales to Super Lucrian. It’s a great book for beginners for people who want to refresh and improve their knowledge about guitar scales.

Conclusion

You will find over 1000 books related to learning guitar scales. But not all of them are good enough. The list given in this article is well-researched and created after analyzing hundreds of customer reviews.

Learning guitar has never been easier. So, whether you’re a beginner or a guitarist playing for years, these books will teach you how to master scales in a short span and make you sound like a pro.