Key of G solo in Gm pent? Why not Em pent?

I've read a couple of books and it seems rock solos would generally be a pentatonic minor based on the 6th degree. Yet I have another band mate who (I think) does good solos but always plays the minor of that key. If a song's in G he plays a Gm pentatonic, if in C a Cm pentatonic...

So in G I'd normally do Em pentatonic: E G A B D where he'e play G Bb C D F. Three of the notes he's playing don't match what I'd play. I'm confused.

But E minor pentatonic is the same as G major pentatonic. So really you're playing a G major pentatonic lead (G A B D E) while he's playing G minor pentatonic ( G Bb C D F)
His will sound bluesier than yours because he's playing a minor third (Bb) over the major chord as well as a minor seventh (F) = instant blues!!
Your notes are much more conventional than his as there are no clashes so you'd have to work harder to make them as interesting. And he has to be careful to avoid blues cliches.

Edit: Just an afterthought. If you were to allow yourself the luxury of an extra note such as by playing the E blues scale (E G A Bb B D), you would also have access to the bluesy minor third (Bb) but his new note, if he does the same, is the jazzy diminished 5th, (Db) from the G blues scale G Bb C Db D F - so he's still one step ahead.

[Edited because I am an idiot]

(G A B D E) isn't a normal G major pentatonic. At best it could be described as Ionian mode of Em? maybe?
But since the key is G, I'd be more inclined to say that it really an Aeolien mode pentatonic (Em pentatonic)
...

G major pentatonic is (G B C D F#)

Major pent formula is R - 2 - 3 - 5 - 6

So G major pent is G - A - B - D - E

Minor pent forumula is R - b3 - 4 - 5 - b7

So Em pent is E - G - A - B - D

Same notes. :)

Jerboa, you need to edit your post. There is a lot of misinformation in there. Fretsource is not wrong.

The reason you have a flattened seventh can't be because there are 'many dominant chords' in rock/blues, because that note is only the seventh in one chord, the tonic. Traditionally blues (and rock) has a backing with major (possibly dominant) chords, so let's look at a blues in A: A7, D7 and E7:

A C# E G
D F# A C
E G# B D

As you can see both the seventh and flattened seventh 'fit' in one chord and fit a bit awkwardly in the other two. So what's the cool thing about the flattened seventh? Well, apart from how it sounds melodically it also is the minor third of E7. As the C creates friction with the major third of the A7 chord the G will cause friction with the major third of the E7. And it's this friction that makes it sound like the blues, and why we use those unstable dominant chords in the first place.

Now A-major pentatonic (A - B - C# - E - F#) fits very well, you've got all the major thirds of the chords, two fifths, two root notes and you prevent all those tense sevenths: so nothing unusual at all, it's actually perfect for soloing over basic triads!

Jerboa, you need to edit your post. There is a lot of misinformation in there. Fretsource is not wrong.

That'll teach me to whip something out without thinking about it. I've removed the post in it's entirety.

Jerboa, you need to edit your post. There is a lot of misinformation in there. Fretsource is not wrong.

That'll teach me to whip something out without thinking about it. I've removed the post in it's entirety.

I wouldn't let it bother you. When it comes to theory (or anything related to guitar actually), there are several posters on this board who get my immediate attention, and Fretsource is centainly one of them.

So does anyone have suggestions for soloing? We play almost all classic rock (read 1-4-5-2-6). Should I use a minor pent or a major pent for solos? I know, I need to clarify more or add more info for you big dogs to give me a real answer. As such, ask questions and we'll refine this thing.

Slej, I got the idea that I was really playing a major pent over the progression but my head still hurts. I'm a MUSICAL IDIOT!!! I'm amazed at how much I've put into playing guitar and reading and I feel I'm less than a 5th grader's education in the whole thing. :evil:

Should I use a minor pent or a major pent for solos?

Only YOU can make that decision, Corbind. If the key is G major and you solo using notes of the G minor pentatonic, you'll get a certain sound. If you use the G major pentatonic, you'll get another sound. If you use G Lydian, you'll get yet another sound. What sound do you want? You're free to choose on a song-by-song basis and even change scale within a song. You don't even have to solo by referring to ANY scale.

Like Fretsource says, it's up to you, however..
So does anyone have suggestions for soloing? We play almost all classic rock (read 1-4-5-2-6). Should I use a minor pent or a major pent for solos?

.. generally speaking, if the 2 and 6 chords are in the progression and the style is classic rock then it's more likely to be major pentatonic.

Dennis, we haven't gotten together in a while... give me a call and I'll show you a few tricks :)

Dennis, we haven't gotten together in a while... give me a call and I'll show you a few tricks :)

Excellent! Likely tomorrow I'll have to take my mom to the hospital and she'll be there for 4-5 days. After that, I'm open any night. I'll try to call you sometime tomorrow night. You know I'm nocturnal! :roll:

And thanks everyone :) for coming here hand helping me on this subject. I get really frustrated when I cannot understand something that should not be that hard.