[wkriski]

Scales can be intimidating to some students and hard to apply to create real solos. I like to start with students playing chord tones. Chord tones always sound good over chords. For example if chord progression is one bar of Dminor and one bar of C:
Play root notes - eg. play the note D over the Dm chord, then C note over the C chord
Play 3rds - play the note F (over Dm) then E (over C chord)
Play 5ths - play the the note A (over Dm) then G (over C chord)

Then mix and match - eg. play D over Dm, E over C
Then we start to play more than one note per bar by approaching the notes eg. approach the note D with a lower note (C). Approach the note E with lower note (D) and start to expand from there. This usually results in very melodic and interesting solos.