How do i use scales as lead or solos over a certain rythmn/chord?
(for mainly metal and rock, specifically hard rock type leads [ac/dc, van halen], power metal/thrash/[classic]heavy metal leads)
1)Can it be done in such a way that one scale for one key?
Eg G major pentatonic for a G major key song
A)if so, what scales can we use for every indivudual major key?
A, B, C ,D ,E ,F ,G
Comment : here i assume that i can use pentatonic for each, but what other scales can i apply?
B)what scales can we use for every individual MINOR key?
Am, Bm, Cm, Dm, Em, Fm, Gm
Comment : I heard that we can't apply Eg. Am pentatonic for Am key songs, is that true? what other scales can we apply for each?
2)If applying one scale for one key songs are not tasteful enough
a)What can we do ?
Ai)Assuming changing scales (this hard), for each set of chords, how do i do it? Eg G, Em, C, D, G, Am, Bm, C D7
thanks.
anyone?
1A. Yes, you can use one scale for one key. Yes, the minor pentatonic will work. Other scales you can use: major pentatonic, major scale, mixolydian mode (the major scale with a b7), lydian mode (the major scale with a #4), and perhaps the harmonic minor - a lot of metal will use power chords (no 3rd) so you can get away with altering the 3rd in the scale.
1B. You heard it wrong (or the person saying it was wrong). Minor pentatonics are often used over minor progressions. So are the minor scales - natural, harmonic, and melodic.
2A. You can use more than one scale over the progression
2B. You can do a lot of things... the most complex would be using a different scale for each chord in the progression. Simpler approaches would group chords together, and you'd change scales when you need to.
Spell out the chords in your progression (I'll ignore repeated chords):
G=G-B-D
Em=E-G-B
C=C-E-G
D=D-F#-A
Am=A-C-E
Bm=B-D-F#
D7=D-F#-A-C
Since those chords have the notes G-A-B-C-D-E-F# (the G major scale) and no others, you could use that. Let's get trickier, and say that the C was C7 (C-E-G-Bb), followed by F (F-A-C), followed by Dm (D-F-A), then the D major. Now you've got clashing notes... the B in the G scale doesn't work well with C7, and the F# doesn't work well with F or Dm. You could split the progression up into parts:
G-Em.... play in G major
C7-F-Dm... play in F major
D-Am-Bm-D7... back to G major
Does that help?
Guitar teacher offering lessons in Plainfield IL
1A. Yes, you can use one scale for one key. Yes, the minor pentatonic will work. Other scales you can use: major pentatonic, major scale, mixolydian mode (the major scale with a b7), lydian mode (the major scale with a #4), and perhaps the harmonic minor - a lot of metal will use power chords (no 3rd) so you can get away with altering the 3rd in the scale.
Let X be a key (eg. G major, or A major)
Q : so if the song is in X Major i can use X pentatonic, X major scale,
X mixolydian mode, X lydian mode and X harmonic minor?
1B. You heard it wrong (or the person saying it was wrong). Minor pentatonics are often used over minor progressions. So are the minor scales - natural, harmonic, and melodic.
Q : Same as above. Song is in X minor, i can use X minor scale, X minor pentatonic, X natural, X harmonic, X melodic ?
2A. You can use more than one scale over the progression
Q : that'd be hard to combine?
2B. You can do a lot of things... the most complex would be using a different scale for each chord in the progression. Simpler approaches would group chords together, and you'd change scales when you need to.
Spell out the chords in your progression (I'll ignore repeated chords):
G=G-B-D
Em=E-G-B
C=C-E-G
D=D-F#-A
Am=A-C-E
Bm=B-D-F#
D7=D-F#-A-C
Since those chords have the notes G-A-B-C-D-E-F# (the G major scale) and no others, you could use that. Let's get trickier, and say that the C was C7 (C-E-G-Bb), followed by F (F-A-C), followed by Dm (D-F-A), then the D major. Now you've got clashing notes... the B in the G scale doesn't work well with C7, and the F# doesn't work well with F or Dm. You could split the progression up into parts:
G-Em.... play in G major
C7-F-Dm... play in F major
D-Am-Bm-D7... back to G major
Q : Ok, that's good, but is it hard to figure out which scales to change?
Does that help?
thanks alot, it helps
what about
| Am | Gm G | C | E |
can i just use an Am scale? how do i figure out?
It'll be very helpful for you to learn the spellings of the scales, and the formulas for the chords. In your latest progression, E (E-G#-B) has a G#; G and G minor have G natural. The A melodic minor scale uses both of these notes - G# going up, and G going down - so that's a possibility... but the Gm chord (G-Bb-D) has a Bb, and both G and E have B natural.
There are too many scale possibilities to outline - one possibility is:
Am-Gm... G minor scale
G-C... G major scale
E... E major scale
Plenty of others work too, though - the E major chord fits well with A major, B major, C# minor, E major, F# minor and G# minor
Guitar teacher offering lessons in Plainfield IL
I'd call Bb an accidental and say it's in the key of A minor.
As with most minor key compositions it will used notes and chord from all 3 minor scales and maybe the odd accidental as well. That is the nature of real music.
--
Helgi Briem
hbriem AT gmail DOT com
It'll be very helpful for you to learn the spellings of the scales, and the formulas for the chords. In your latest progression, E (E-G#-B) has a G#; G and G minor have G natural. The A melodic minor scale uses both of these notes - G# going up, and G going down - so that's a possibility... but the Gm chord (G-Bb-D) has a Bb, and both G and E have B natural.
There are too many scale possibilities to outline - one possibility is:
Am-Gm... G minor scale
G-C... G major scale
E... E major scale
Plenty of others work too, though - the E major chord fits well with A major, B major, C# minor, E major, F# minor and G# minor
i need to learn how to apply the scales, how to identify the "many possibilites"..so that i can apply the scales to rythmn for the lead..how can i?
It may help you to learn the basic formula of major key formation, this can help you quickly see what key you are in
(i.e. I-w-ii-w-ii-h-IV-w-V(7)-w-vi-w-VII(dim)-h-):
e.g. if you see the chords
G Am Bm C D Em F#
used in a song, you should recognize, or be able to sit down and figure out, that that is probably in the key of G (or Em), not C, because C (or Am) would have
C Dm Em F G Am B
If the song had no D or Dm, F or F#, B or Bm, it would be more difficult to figure which of the 2 keys it might be in. That is because all the notes being used to make those chords are present in both keys, since the chords used are in both keys. Chances are you could get away with playing either scale (G, Em, C, or Am) over that progression, as long as your bass player didn't decide it was in the other key. It will depend on the song and your note choices whether it will actually sound good.
...And I dropped the whole issue of dimVII's and flatted VII's 'because I don't really understand it, but it could confuse things around the F's.
It may help you to learn the basic formula of major key formation, this can help you quickly see what key you are in
(i.e. I-w-ii-w-ii-h-IV-w-V(7)-w-vi-w-VII(dim)-h-):
e.g. if you see the chords
G Am Bm C D Em F#
used in a song, you should recognize, or be able to sit down and figure out, that that is probably in the key of G (or Em), not C, because C (or Am) would have
C Dm Em F G Am B
If the song had no D or Dm, F or F#, B or Bm, it would be more difficult to figure which of the 2 keys it might be in. That is because all the notes being used to make those chords are present in both keys, since the chords used are in both keys. Chances are you could get away with playing either scale (G, Em, C, or Am) over that progression, as long as your bass player didn't decide it was in the other key. It will depend on the song and your note choices whether it will actually sound good.
...And I dropped the whole issue of dimVII's and flatted VII's 'because I don't really understand it, but it could confuse things around the F's.
thanks, i can identify the keys of the songs pretty well, just the applying of scales to the key/chord
