Scale use question

Hey I have been playin for years now but just started to get serious about learning. I have a question that someone may be able to clear up for me. I think im missing something.. I play the major scale... lets say "G" and which has the notes GABCDEF# so if someone was to play chords like G Am Bm C D Em and F#mb5 I would just play the G major scale and that would work because every note in those chords are in the G major scale.Thats fine no problem there. Is that all there is to it?? because Im bored where do I go from here? I can rip up and down the fret board in any key because its all the same pattern but different location on the fret board. Sticking with the key of G i can play G major/ionian, A dorian scale, B phrygian scale, C lydian scale, D mixo scale, E aeolian scale and F# locrian scale because they are all the same scale they all have the same notes. Where do I go from here? Is that all there is to scales?

Ok maybe the question isnt clear :P when do I use the scales? I have read places that the ionian sounds major then the dorian a little bit minor the so on that they all sound a bit differnet but to me they sound the same. I think I am missing somthing about when to use the scales.

anouther interesting technique with modes is to use the 'pitch axis theory', wikipedia it for a full explanation, but it bascially revolves around using the same key, but differnt modes over the different chords, satriani & vai both use it,

Golden!

You are probably playing by yourself. To really hear what a mode sounds like, you need to hear it's notes in relation to it's
root note. Have someone play the root note on a guitar or bass, or use some sort of drone thing. You'll hear the unique sounds right away.

Ok thanks ppl.
I can hear the little difference in the scales but thats really only if I play them like a scale. When soloing I really try and stay away from the scale sound. So what I do is just play through all of them. Is that bad to do or should I try to be sticking within a certian mode when it comes to certian chords like in the pitch axis theory.

What I mean by scale sound is that I dont want it to sound like I am just playing a scale but I guess thats where arpeggios come into play :)

try recording a simple chord progression, and improving over it using the relevant modes, you dont have to just link the modes by reverting back to the root note of the chord when the chord changes, you could try landing on the 7ths or 3rds of the chord, and then improving over the chord untill it changes, then linking it to the mode again, i'm guessing you know which modes to use over which chords right?
er.. hope that makes sense.

Cool thanks man :)

hey, can some please help me, stupid question and probably has no significance, but curiosity always gets the better of me, up in guitar scales, when u get one it says:
Scale - Ionian
1,2,3,4,5,6,7
what do the numbers mean??

im not sure about the number thing man.. sorry.. maybe they someway relate to the roman numerals i learned, meaning that those numbers represent which intervals you use on each scale (there are 13 different notes from root to octave)

when i started out i made sure i was takin in as much info as i could about theory and scales and modes and such, and even then alot of things are confusing unless you really hear it..

and to bodom, if you dont want it to sound like your playing a scale (i think i know what you mean.. that acending and decending sound) try to play the notes in different orders, sliding around and hammer ons and bends and such. find a lil melody within the mode.

They are the Scale Degrees.

what are scale degrees?

each note has 13 degrees to its "sound"

Root - I (original note)
Minor 2nd - ii
Major 2nd - II
Minor 3rd - iii
Major 3rd - III
Perfect 4th - IV
Augmented 4th or Diminished 5th - V
Perfect 5th - V
Augmented 5th or Minor 6th - vi
Major 6th or Diminished 7th - VI
Minor 7th - vii
Major 7th - VII
Octave - I (original note, and octave higher)

with this knowledge (using the roman numerals) scale intervals can be shown..

Major Scale: I-II-III-V-VI-VII-I
Minor: I-II-iii-IV-V-vi-vii-I

The numbers are the degrees compared to the Major Scale.

C Major Scale(also known as Ionian mode):
C,D,E,F,G,A,B
1,2,3,4,5,6,7

C Minor Scale(also known as Aeolian mode):
C,D,Eb,F,G,Ab,Bb
1,2,b3,4,5,b6,b7

Above post has a typo :p Missing the Major 4th in the Major scale.

For the original poster, when playing over progressions that stay in the same key, you can theoretically play just one scale over all of the chords, but sometimes there are notes that sound bad when doing so. That is why some players switch scales over different chords. That way, there are no "avoid notes".

When using scales, you are trying to find a melody within them. That is where you need to use your mind. Nobody can tell you how to do that. That is how you make music.

moonlit:

Above post has a typo :p Missing the Major 4th in the Major scale.

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:P yeah, sorry.. the roman numerals throw me off too much. i prefer the names (tonic, mediant, dominant.. ect)

Hey, will someone explain to me how that works? I mean if you know the CMajor scale like Bodom was saying, and you just move up one to C# and use teh same fingering...it's the C# scale. Someone explained it to me and it made sense but I tried it with G and I can't seem to figure out how i'm supposed to "finger" it. If I do what I do with the CMajor scale it's not teh right scale. I heard somthing about Positions but i'm not clear on it. Any help would be greatful. THANKS!