Knowing What Scales to Use

You could add some blues notes to the scale, but I don't think learning modes or any new scales are going to help you any. Turning scale knowledge into music is one of the toughest part of being a lead player, and the only thing that works for me is practice and slowing things down and thinking more melodically and in phrases, in my opinion it's possible to do some amazing things with just one scale pattern and a simple progression, it just takes time.

Now improvisation outside of the 12 bar blues progression is a bit different, in major keys you can use the major scale, in minor keys you can use the minor scale, in some cases you can use modes but that really focuses more on jazz and i have barely any knowledge on jazz music.

Hi Spin_Dr and Welcome to GuitarNoise

Yes, there are lots of different scales. But you can do a lot with what you already know, Major and Minor Pentatonics.

Great Blues guitarists like Eric Clapton use both. For instance, listen to EC's famous cover of Crossroads with Cream: This song is a Blues in A.

On the very first solo, Eric starts with the A Major Pentatonic Scale, but quickly goes to the A Minor Pentatonic over the D and E chords. The second solo, Eric starts out in A Minor Pentatonic.
Eric Clapton is one of the true masters of mixing these two scales.

It is the same with the famous solo in Sunshine of Your Love. Here, Eric starts the solo in the D Minor Pentatonic, but quickly goes to the D Major Pentatonic, all while the chord is D. When the song later goes to the A, C, G chorus, he stays in D Minor Pentatonic.

And you can superimpose each scale over each other. Look when you superimpose the A Major Pentatonic 1st position over the A Minor Pentatonic 5th position;

e------------------------------------------------2--3--5-
b---------------------------------------2--3--5----------
g------------------------------2--4--5-------------------
d---------------------2--4--5----------------------------
a----------2--3--4--5------------------------------------
e-2--3--5------------------------------------------------

This is very much the scale used in the famous solo on Reelin In the Years by Steely Dan over a G Major to A Major chord change.

So, experiment with moving in and out of the Major and Minor. Listen to great players like Eric Clapton, he is probably one of the best with this technique. It takes practice, but can make your solos much more colorful.

Nice one Wes 8)

Major / minor pentatonic is a huge step on the way in improvising, and brings in the whole relative minor deal as well, where the relative minor pent over its major chords (e.g. playing in Amin over Cmaj (C, F, G7) chords, or F#min over Amaj, etc.) is the foundation of so much in "soft" rock, new country, contemporary Christian etc. You simply have to change the emphasis from the minor root (A in Amin over Cmaj) to the major root (C in the Amin scale box (e.g. 5th pos.)) and you're actually playing the major pentatonic - all without moving your hand - it's all in where the scale runs are focussed - whether you resolve the lick to the minor (A in our example) or major (C).

Another neat variation is what some people call the mixo-blues scale - kind of a mixture between the blues scale and the mixolydian mode. BB King uses this, or something close to it, often (as does Eddie Van Halen, in another genre entirely!) - though he'll often drop a mixo- section into a solo in a plain blues scale.

In the key of A it goes something like this:

E|------------------------------5-8-9-|
B|--------------------------5-7-------|
G|-----------------5-6-7-8------------|
D|------------5-7---------------------|
A|-----5-6-7--------------------------|
E|-5-8-9------------------------------|


Hope that makes sense! You just have to listen how it sounds - you can do a lot with a standard pentatonic blues scale just by adding a 9th during the V chord, and bending the fifth up a quarter to half during the IV chord (yes I know it seems weird - just try it, for that Albert King sound), not forgetting that "blue note" bend to a half-step (semitone) between the 4th to 5th on the root chord.

Thanks a lot, it's great to know how much I can do with what I already know. However, I'm still confused as to when I can use what scales. For example, I've been told that A minor pentatonic won't always be the only minor pentatonic scale that will work over Blues in A. Is this true, or have I been misinformed and it's simply Blues in 'X' key, use 'X' minor (or major) pentatonic? Or even outside of blues, how do I know what scales will sound all right over a given chord progression?

Spin_Dr

First of all, I am not a teacher, and do not have much musical knowledge about things like theory. But others like NoteBoat are, and can give you helpful advice.

However, Blues and Blues based Rock music is pretty simple. I heard this rule years ago, and it is true.

When you play a Minor Pentatonic over a Major chord it will sound Blues.

When you play a Major Pentatonic over a Major chord it will sound Country.

Play a Minor Pentatonic over a Minor chord.

Now, I know that is super basic. But those are pretty good rules to go by.

When you listen to most Blues or Rock, most guitarists are using the Minor Pentatonic over the entire progression. So, if it is a Blues in A, most Blues and Rock guitarists are going to use the A Minor Pentatonic over every chord. And it works.

But, you can change scales with each chord, and that works too. So, you could play the A Minor Pentatonic over the A chord, then go to the D Minor Pentatonic when the progression shifts to D. And you could go to E Minor Pentatonic when the progression goes to E. And it will sound Blues. If you use the Major Pentatonic over each chord, it will tend to sound Country.

You could also shift between the Major and Minor on each chord as I described before. You could play a little in both A Major and A Minor Pentatonic over the A chord. You could play in both D Major and D Minor Pentatonic over the D chord. And, you could play in both E Major and E Minor Pentatonic over the E chord.

So, you can play the Major or Minor Pentatonic over any Major or Dominant chord. But the Major will sound a little Country, and the Minor will sound more Blues. Try it and see. :D

And there are a lot of little tricks. Let's say you are playing over an A6 chord. You play the A Minor Pentatonic because you want a Blues feel. OK, but you want to add some color. Well, one trick is to use "target" notes. A target note is a note that belongs to a chord that defines
that chord. What is the difference between an A major and a A6 chord? The A6 has one additional note which is F#. So, what you do is add a F# to your A Minor Pentatonic.


e--------------------------------------5--8--
b-----------------------------5--7--8--------
g-----------------------5--7-----------------
d--------------4--5--7-----------------------
a--------5--7--------------------------------
e--5--8--------------------------------------

It is good to either start or end a phrase on one of these target notes. Strum an A6 chord. Now play your A Minor Pentatonic over it and experiment with either starting or ending a phrase hitting this added F# note. I bet you can hear the A6 chord. Pretty cool huh? 8)

The Blues especially likes 6th, 7th, and 9th chords. So try some Blues progressions using these chords. Then play the respective Minor Pentatonic over each chord and add these target notes.
In A, a G note gives the 7th feel, and a B note gives the 9th feel. So add these notes to your Minor Pentatonic scale.

What is so great about this is that you can actually hear the chord progression in your solo.

I am rambling. Don't be so hung up on scales. Just playing a scale does not guarantee a good solo. What is probably the most important thing is to listen intently. Listen and play each note like it is the last note you will ever play. Make it count. Play with feeling. Put nuance in your solo. Use slides, hammer-ons, and pull-offs to add dramatics and color. This is what makes a good solo.

And if you have to go outside a scale to play a note you hear in your head, GO FOR IT. There are no Scale Police who are going to knock down your door and drag you off. :D

And if you have to go outside a scale to play a note you hear in your head, GO FOR IT. There are no Scale Police who are going to knock down your door and drag you off. :D

:lol: :lol: :lol:

Amen to that !!!
But, you can change scales with each chord, and that works too. So, you could play the A Minor Pentatonic over the A chord, then go to the D Minor Pentatonic when the progression shifts to D. And you could go to E Minor Pentatonic when the progression goes to E.

And you don't have to stick to one or t'other in the same solo - you could go one chorus in say, Amin pent over A, D and E, and the next chorus changing key with the chord changes - what jazz players call "playing the changes".

In all of this, let your ear guide you. Listen to loads of solos by all kinds of players (not just guitarists either!) and you'll come to recognise sounds, licks, scale patterns, that speak in your own heart, that are close to what you want to say in your music. And if you practice all these scales and patterns we've been talking about in this thread, you'll see that some of them lead you towards what your heart is trying to express. Explore these, see what sounds come, and you'll begin to develop your own voice.

Some people spends untold hours learning other people's solos note for note. But unless you're in a tribute band, I can't see the point. (YMMV) What you're after, surely, is what you feel about the tune you're soloing to. Sometimes you may do little more than just play the tune through a couple of times - at others, you may go off into a whole new thing - still others, you may do something closely akin to a classic composer writing variations on a theme. Let your heart teach you - it knows - technique and theory amount to no more than giving it a language to speak out what it knows!