what scale to choose when soloing

emerge

hello im a guitar newbie and id like to know how you dudes solo? im not talking about the techniques but theory-wise, you know, what scale to choose over such and such chord progression? so far all i can solo over is a chord progression that sounds bluesy cause i know minor pentatonic sounds good with almost any blues shit. but other than that, when youre given random chord progressions, how do you know what scale to use and such?

djyman15

normally i just start with relative major and relative minor. Once I get a feel for the song, i turn to modes. To me, what ive discovered is that alot of guitar playing involves when and how you use semi-tones, to play with drama and such

BinFrog

You have to learn how the major scale works, and how the chords based off of that scale work. Like C major is:

C D E F G A B

But the chords, if you play them, are not all 1-3-5 major chords. Some of those are minor when you play them, and the B is a diminished chord.

When you figure out what chords someone is playing, try to figure out if they all lie in the same scale (like a I III V progression, or a II V I which are both popular progressions). If you can't find a scale that works, can you find 2 that are very closely related? For instance...they might not all be in the key of C, but are they all within C and D or C and B?

Pearl Jam and toast

the way i first learned it is kind of half assed. so heres to quick learning than figuring out what youre doing later!

ill list going low-e, a, d, g, b, high-e. seperating string change with this ~

Key of Emin (i think.. all these key names im not 100 percent sure on, buti call it by the chord it starts on).
- 12 15 ~ 12 14 ~ 12 14 ~ 12 14 ~ 12 15 ~ 12 15

if your song starts on Emin (even flow is a good example) use this key.
other chords usually in this key: G, Amin, Emin, D, C.

Down, even flow, reach down, say hello 2 heaven, alive, corduroy, immortality, Not For You are some songs in this key for solos.

Key of D. a full step lower than Emin.
10 13 ~10 12 ~ 10 12 ~ 10 12 ~ 10 13 ~ 10 13

Of the Girl, countless other songs but im going brain dead right now, this is a very common key.

D, Amin, lots of similar chords to Emin has been my experience.

Key of Bmin.
7 10 ~ 7 9 ~ 7 9 ~ 7 9 ~ 7 10 ~ 7 10
Nothing as it seems. *brain dead* lots more.

Key of Amin.
5 8 ~ 5 7 ~ 5 7 ~ 5 7 ~ 5 8 ~ 5 8
Off he goes, 1/2 full, Crown of thorns *i THINK, not sure, never play it*.
probably the most common key other than Emin in my opinion.
lots of Amin, C, F.

Key of F#.
2 5 ~ 2 4 ~ 2 4 ~ 2 4 ~ 2 5 ~ 2 5
-and-
14 17 ~ 14 16 ~ 14 16 ~ 14 16 ~ 14 17 ~ 14 17
Deep, Foxey Lady (jimi hendrix), Lake of Fire (meatpuppets/nirvana unplugged), Time (pink floyd)
If your song has an F#, A, E, and B its basically 100% the solo scale over that progression is in this key.

of course these scales go up and down the next. the scale i used is pneumonic.

questions? comments?

pm me if need be, i enjoy it

emerge

Pearl Jam and toast wrote:

the way i first learned it is kind of half assed. so heres to quick learning than figuring out what youre doing later!

ill list going low-e, a, d, g, b, high-e. seperating string change with this ~

Key of Emin (i think.. all these key names im not 100 percent sure on, buti call it by the chord it starts on).
- 12 15 ~ 12 14 ~ 12 14 ~ 12 14 ~ 12 15 ~ 12 15

if your song starts on Emin (even flow is a good example) use this key.
other chords usually in this key: G, Amin, Emin, D, C.

Down, even flow, reach down, say hello 2 heaven, alive, corduroy, immortality, Not For You are some songs in this key for solos.

Key of D. a full step lower than Emin.
10 13 ~10 12 ~ 10 12 ~ 10 12 ~ 10 13 ~ 10 13

Of the Girl, countless other songs but im going brain dead right now, this is a very common key.

D, Amin, lots of similar chords to Emin has been my experience.

Key of Bmin.
7 10 ~ 7 9 ~ 7 9 ~ 7 9 ~ 7 10 ~ 7 10
Nothing as it seems. *brain dead* lots more.

Key of Amin.
5 8 ~ 5 7 ~ 5 7 ~ 5 7 ~ 5 8 ~ 5 8
Off he goes, 1/2 full, Crown of thorns *i THINK, not sure, never play it*.
probably the most common key other than Emin in my opinion.
lots of Amin, C, F.

Key of F#.
2 5 ~ 2 4 ~ 2 4 ~ 2 4 ~ 2 5 ~ 2 5
-and-
14 17 ~ 14 16 ~ 14 16 ~ 14 16 ~ 14 17 ~ 14 17
Deep, Foxey Lady (jimi hendrix), Lake of Fire (meatpuppets/nirvana unplugged), Time (pink floyd)
If your song has an F#, A, E, and B its basically 100% the solo scale over that progression is in this key.

of course these scales go up and down the next. the scale i used is pneumonic.

questions? comments?

pm me if need be, i enjoy it

yeah that's what ive been doing so far, fiddling around with the minor pentatonic scale but now im fed up with it so i wanted to know some other common solo scales.

BinFrog

emerge wrote:

yeah that's what ive been doing so far, fiddling around with the minor pentatonic scale but now im fed up with it so i wanted to know some other common solo scales.

Read up on how and when to use the mixolydian mode. It's very versatile, and it's just based off of the 5th note of the major scale.

Jeremy1012

basically eventually you'll stop thinking in scales and modes and just play by ear. keep learning scales etc and find what you like the sound of and eventaully you'll understand the fret board a bit better. if you just play in a scalar form, the music becomes predictable. take steve vai's advice. the best thing you can do is develope your ear, theory comes afterwards.

Pearl Jam and toast

Jeremy1012 wrote:

basically eventually you'll stop thinking in scales and modes and just play by ear. keep learning scales etc and find what you like the sound of and eventaully you'll understand the fret board a bit better. if you just play in a scalar form, the music becomes predictable. take steve vai's advice. the best thing you can do is develope your ear, theory comes afterwards.

yea ive played with the penatonic for a long time and just learned by ear all the little variations and other ways to use the scale (which turn it into other scales). And also which of those variations to use in what keys.. etc.

also. . .

*bows the the mighty vai*