Alright so let's work on each section at a time. To even get started with soloing, you really need to get down the basics in each area in the order that I told you, so we won't get to phrases until after we do the other two sections. Please be patient but I promise you it will be worth it in the long run.
So scales and modes. What are they? Sure people might tell you to learn them, but what's their purpose?
Scales outline melodies and chords. Rhythm and melody are the two most basic fundamental things you can have in music. So learning them is important.
There are certain scales to learn for certain styles, such as middle-eastern music, jazz, blues, etc. but most music is based off of the major scale.
Here is an example of a simple major scale:
http://www.all-guitar-chords.com/gui...t&t=0&choice=1
That is the C Major scale. It goes from C to C as so:
C D E F G A B C
Most of you already knew this. It's all the white keys on a piano. But because C major is so easy, we can learn all the modes AND everything you need to know on how to play ANY major scale or mode in ANY key. I am going to eventually show you how.
So you might ask, what the hell is a mode? A mode is when you take a note within an already pre-existing scale, and you play that scale starting on that note and ending on that note instead of the one the scale was originally designed for. Here's what I mean:
A normal C major scale
C D E F G A B C
A mode based off of C:
D E F G A B C D
THAT is a mode. So all the modes you will learn will be based off the major scale.
So each note you pick to start and end on in the major scale has it's own name for a mode. Logically that means there are 7 modes of the major scale, simply because there's a mode for each note, and there are 7 notes.
For C major, this is what they all look like:
C D E F G A B C
D E F G A B C D
E F G A B C D E
F G A B C D E F
G A B C D E F G
A B C D E F G A
B C D E F G A B
See a pattern? Before I go on to explain anymore, are there any questions? I'm sure some of you guys already know this, but I have to go over it before I can get to the next thing.