Soloing question

if I made a song in the key of D maj and did the simple three chord version (I-III-IV), what key would the solo be in? Would it be D as well? or could I go to any one I wanted for the solo?

If your in the key of D Major using a DMaj, F#Minor, GMajor (and I think you'll probably want the V - AMajor in there as well) then you'd be wise to solo using the DMajor scale or the Dmajor pentatonic or the BMinor Pentatonic. Why don't you try using a C Major scale over that progression just to see how "out of key" it sounds.

you could also use the Dm pentatonic. If you incorporate passing notes, it'll give it a bluesy sound. The minor pentatonic of the key you're in is probably the easiest way to build a solo.

yeah, I really dig parallel minors too,

try using A Mixolydian if you're gonna be moving into some of the dissonant bluesy ideas mentioned before. You can use the flattened 7th as a blue note while keeping the rest of the major scale as a segue

Well, I would start by recording the progression on a tape recorder or something, then try and figure out how you want it to sound :? . There are almost unlimited possibilities, because even if you are off key, it can still sound good. The easiest place to start I would think would be improvising over the progression with the Dm pentatonic scale(as said before) The solo I find in most cases almost writes itself.

youve got it wrong bstguitarist...
if I made a song in the key of

what key would the solo be in?

there is no answer to that, you get a deffinate answer and its wrong..

if a song is in a key there is absolutely nothing, no rules WHATSOEVER that say a solo should be in a key..

your solo can be in ANY key..

if there is one thing that needs to be taught here its that there are no "should's" in music... nowhere.
there are keys that people think sound good and are generally use.. but its not like maths equations..

dont ever ever go by rules or by what other people say, then all music will just turn into imitation of other peoples teachings..

there are no correct answers in music... there never were, all musical theory has been developed by what other people chose to do..

first composers didnt have any rules at all, and our "rules" or "guidelines" have adapted from what these first composers did..

sorry i stressed this point so much but its essential everyone understands that music is about creativity not rules.

But if you're improvising over the I IV V of D major, and only have one chance to play a good solo, it's not the best time to try to stretch the rules, because 5 out of the 12 notes are going to sound bad if used at the wrong time. This is where you really want the rules to follow. If you play the Bm pentatonic, the odds of hitting a "klunker" are a lot less. While the solo might not be something remembered for being unique and innovative, it also won't be remembered for being out of key.

You could switch off between the "D Major(B minor) pentatonic" and the D minor pentatonic.

Check out Hendrix's version of "Like A Rolling Stone"... I think it uses those very chords (I IV V in D) and uses both D Major and D minor pentatonics for the lead runs and solos.

rock 0n 8)

thats not what i was saying..

say you had a certain chord progression that meant you would only have one consonant note to use...

my point was you do not HAVE to use that note (even though its advisable too), its not as if that is the only road to go down and its physcially impossible to play any other note. that sometimes off notes give their music what the composer wants.

it's an example of risk, if all the jazz legends have shown us anything, it's that you can't accomplish a song without risk, there are different levels, but at one point you can try to break out of the accepted rules, and then you're risking more, noone knows if it will sound good or not, or if people will like it or not, but it makes music exciting

By playing notes out of a progression, no matter how they sound, it adds flavour to the music. There can't exactly be right and wrong, really, because what one person might think sounds sloppy and out of tune might sound melodic to another ear. There isn't a single way to play a melody right or wrong, so surely, there can't be any notes that 'have to be' used in any particular progression.?

Sound can't be right or wrong, but it can be tailored to suit a purpose. For each style of music, listeners come to expect certain things based on their past experience, and composers/improvisors usually try to accommodate by following 'common practice'. You could craft a beautiful melody using a whole-tone scale... if you happen to do that over a blues tune, it will sound odd (at the very least) because it's not common practice.

Every 50 years or so somebody comes along who's able to take the unconventional and make it a seamless part of the traditional, resulting in a unique sound. Beethoven did it with musical form, Stravinsky took chromaticism to the edge, Schoenberg disregarded tonal centers, Miles Davis used non-traditional harmony.... there haven't been too many folks who were able to completely disregard common practice.

Yes, you can use any note to create the 'flavor' Omega mentions - there are a few keys to making it work:

1. Make it sound deliberate. If you're tentative, it won't work.
2. Don't do it too often; you'll sound like you're wandering without a course
3. Know what it's going to sound like, and what you're going to do with it before you play it.

If you can stick to those guidelines, use whatever you want. If you haven't yet reached the point of knowing what it's going to sound like... well, then you are wandering when you improvise, and you're best off wandering on the beaten paths.

Remember the golden rule: If you play a wrong note once, it's a mistake. If you play it twice, it's jazz.

Badlands said that 5 out of the 12 notes are going to sound bad...I disagree. None of the notes sound bad, some are just more tense. The only note that might really jar someone is the minor second...and you can just slide that down. Or up. You are never more than a half step from a good resolution, or a more interesting tension. Have fun. On the III chord, switch from phrygian to dorian to minor to pentatonic. It's all the same. On the V chord, ANYTHING goes. Flat 9's, sharp 9's, tritones, colors and flavors everywhere! Music is amazing.

Ok, I'm quite done.

Badlands said that 5 out of the 12 notes are going to sound bad......

You missed the key part: "......if they are used at the wrong time." Actually, all 12 notes can be made to sound bad if used at the wrong time, I just think it's easier to do with out of key notes. But you can also make any note sound good if you use it correctly and resolve it, and this is also easier to do in key.
Say you're on the very last note of a solo and the ryhthm guitarist is playing a D chord, what would be a better choice to end on and sustain, a D or an Eb.

Say you're on the very last note of a solo and the ryhthm guitarist is playing a D chord, what would be a better choice to end on and sustain, a D or an Eb.

I'd pick the Eb. I'd slam the hell out of it, just to scare people, and after sustaining it for a long time, id grab the tuning peg and slowly tune that string down a half step.

THAT's the way to grab people's attention.