mikes scale choices

just dave

Other than pentatonics, does anyone know what other scales he uses?

Neil Bruce

I would guess he uses phrygian and/or mixolydian scales!

jmk

I've been wondering about this, too. His playing is a bit bluesy sometimes and Hendrix is an influence so I believe that could explain some blues tones. My guitar playing isn't that theoretic so I can't say that much about the scales... Would be nice if someone who knows about Mike's playing playing (solos) could explain. (Other than that they are awesome)

Blockhead

I will try and do my best to explain. But if I remember correctly from looking at the DVD his solos consist of what Key the song it in. What I mean by that is the E,A,G,C,D, ect, are all "shapes" on the guitar which is all the notes contained in that scale, Say your plaing the C "shape" the actual chord is in that shape as well as other notes. Alot of solos consist of playes play these shapes in thirds. (which is a great exercise)
Another thing about the shapes is that you can play each shape in each key, up and down the frettboard.
So say your in the key of C, you will play the all the shapes (E,A,G,C,D,ect) each one is at a different spot on the fettboard they just start at each of the C notes. The 6th note of each "shape" is the relative minor. So when playing C the 6th note is A. So if the song is in the key of Am then you will still be playing the C shape up and down the frettboard, just starting at the A note.
This is all based on the Circle of 5ths by the way.
I am sure this isn't helpful but that is the best way I can explain soloing/inproving.

OffHeGoes29

Blockhead wrote:

I will try and do my best to explain. But if I remember correctly from looking at the DVD his solos consist of what Key the song it in. What I mean by that is the E,A,G,C,D, ect, are all "shapes" on the guitar which is all the notes contained in that scale, Say your plaing the C "shape" the actual chord is in that shape as well as other notes. Alot of solos consist of playes play these shapes in thirds. (which is a great exercise)
Another thing about the shapes is that you can play each shape in each key, up and down the frettboard.
So say your in the key of C, you will play the all the shapes (E,A,G,C,D,ect) each one is at a different spot on the fettboard they just start at each of the C notes. The 6th note of each "shape" is the relative minor. So when playing C the 6th note is A. So if the song is in the key of Am then you will still be playing the C shape up and down the frettboard, just starting at the A note.
This is all based on the Circle of 5ths by the way.
I am sure this isn't helpful but that is the best way I can explain soloing/inproving.

I was just about to learn this stuff when I dropped out of guitar lessons (got kind of expensive and the intructor would start late or end early and still charge me for the half an hour when we really only spent 15-20 minutes).

I kind of got the idea of what you're talking about, would you know of any books or videos that explain the theory?

Thanks!

Blockhead

OffHeGoes29 wrote:

I was just about to learn this stuff when I dropped out of guitar lessons (got kind of expensive and the intructor would start late or end early and still charge me for the half an hour when we really only spent 15-20 minutes).

I kind of got the idea of what you're talking about, would you know of any books or videos that explain the theory?

Thanks!

http://www.amazon.com/Music-Theory-Guit ... 201&sr=8-1
This book helped me out quite a bit on Guitar Theory in general.
I had to take lessons (several months) to fully grasp what I explained before.
The circle of 5ths is where everything came together for me. If you know one shape, the circle of 5ths will help you understand all the remaining shapes. I belive its the 7th note that goes up a sharp when changing from one shape to another. Its difficult for (Me) to explain. But the above book should help for over all guitar theory.

BinFrog

I wouldn't even bring up the circle of 5ths when talking about Mike.

Mike is a blues & hard rock based guitar player. He relies heavily on pentatonics. In a lot of songs Mike will stick to the key and ride out a minor pentatonic...more specifically the natural minor (i.e. based on the aeolian mode) if I am not mistaken. He also used the major pentatonic scale quite frequently.

Essentially if I am trying to play a Mike-esque solo over a PJ chord progression, most of the time I will just figure out what key it is in and find the "box" that works and sounds the most like something Mike would play. Passing notes for flavor are the next step.

Jon Chorba

The vast majority of Mike's solos are comprised of major/minor pentatonic or blues scales (which is just the pentatonic scale with an added note, the b5). Sometimes he'll add in some notes from the natural minor scale too.

The key thing to remember is that the chord progression dictates what scale you use and not the other way around. You can't use every scale or mode over just any chord progression. Using the mixolydian mode over a chord progression in a minor key, for instance, will have notes that clash.