Teaching scales

[CommonCourtesy]

Anyone teach guitar on here?

Trying to find fun and creative ways to teach stuff like the major pentatonic scale without it being boring, as total beginners won't get it in one or two lessons so I need to come up with a way of making it interactive.

One idea was to show them how to play lead lines or snippets in their favourite songs featuring said scale.

Anyone got any other tips?

[Jamie89]

Apparently Randy Rhodes used to teach his students a lick, as a reward once his students had sufficiently learnt whatever scale they were practicing. Gives them an incentive I suppose.

[Lew]

I play with the student. Yea, ok that sounds a bit yewtree. What I mean is... we play together and jam it out behind chords. I've found it's the best way to start teaching about modes too. I couldn't imagine anything worse as a student than to just mimic the teacher.

[gordiji]

I'm not so sure there's much to do short of inspiring them with your playing. A novice can 'learn' the pentatonics in all positions in a few weeks but the technique and experience to make them sound great will take years.As will mixing minor & major pentatonics, using them together.
Billy Gibbons type of style is a good base but you need to be past novice to start making it sound good.
I think it's down to the student, 1hour lesson 10 hours homework ! Teacher inspires and corrects.

[CommonCourtesy]

Yeah one way is to take it turns jamming but this one is a bit stubborn and just freezes whenever I tell them to play the notes of the scale, not necessary in order, but make up a melody or something.

[JJretroTONEGOD]

I would fool them by thinking it's a jam thing, with mostly licks, then make them realise they've just learned one mode out of the pentatonic scale, sneak in some blue notes and get them to jam over a 16 bar blues backing track at the end