Classical Guitar: Segovia Scales

As the father of modern classical guitar, Andrés Segovia is without question one of the greatest guitarists of all time. If you have ever studied classical guitar, chances are that you've not only heard of him, but you've also studied his techniques whether you realize it or not. Segovia's contributions to the genre have to helped multiple generations of students learn how to play classical guitar, among them being our own classical guitar teacher Jason Vieaux.

In this video from his classical guitar lessons at his online guitar school, Jason goes over some the guitar scales which are commonly known as the "Segovia Scales", due to the fact that Segovia himself published these in a book he titled Diatonic Major And Minor Scales (1980).

As Jason notes, there's a number of different books on classical guitar scales that all contain some great patterns and guitar scale exercises. But what makes Segovia's book on guitar scales so important is that it shows us how he actually practiced his guitar scales. This is knowledge straight from the source! Also what makes the Segovia Scales so unique is that they focus mainly on shifting in the left hand , which is a very important technical tool to master when playing classical guitar.

The first of the Segovia Scales that Jason demonstrates is the C Major Scale, which is a two-octave scale. As he play through it notice that he plays it rest stroke, playing one string and then letting his finger rest on the next string. The C Major Scale is one of the easier Segovia Scales, because it only contains one shift going up, and one shift going down. The shifting that occurs here happens on the third string, going from the forth to the fifth.

Don't worry if you're having trouble with the shifting, that's what makes these guitar scales so great to practice. Jason encourages you to use the Segovia Scales as a "laboratory" to make these shifts feel as effortless and gravity driven as possible. If you know where your target is (Jason is reffering to the Aim Directed Movement Principle here, as referenced by the late great classical guitar teacher Aaron Shearer), it will be easier to make the shift because you'll be watching for it. When you practice your shifts, you should not allow your first finger to collapse or hug the neck of the guitar.

The idea is to practice these Segovia Scales as smoothly as possible, striving for as much of a legato sound as possible as you transition notes. This means no staccato, no planting your fingers - instead use a sweep stroke motion where the fingertip doesn't stop at the string before plucking. As you incorporate the sweep stroke technique into your guitar scales, really try to get a seamless shift in your playing… you don't want to put an accent on the shifted note, you want it all to sound smooth and seamless.

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Once you start getting seamless shifts when playing these Segovia Scales, you can set up a few different tempos on your metronome to practice them with. When Jason was first learning how to play classical guitar, his teacher had him create what he calls a Metronome Chart where he would practice these guitar scales starting from a very slow tempo and work his way up to faster speeds. He would start by playing each of the guitar scales at the 8th note subdivision, for example at 60 BPM, and once that became comfortable he would progress to playing them as 8th note triplets… and then as 16th notes.

Jason encourages to you practice these guitar scales both at the free stroke and at the rest stroke. Watch as he plays the G Major Scale at rest stroke, which is a three-octave guitar scale.

Jason has been practicing these Segovia Scales for years, since he was around ten years old. That's a good indicator of how important learning these guitar scales are... as Jason says they really will help you clarify issues about shifting when playing guitar. 

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• Jason Vieaux on All Strings Considered
• Classical Guitar Lesson: Bach BWV 996 Courante