Ah, there is so much to know about these damn scales that it seems almost endless (there is ALWAYS more to know) Well i decieded to try and come up a way to expalin some "scale theory" as i'll call it.
Alright, i'm going to explain 2 different very common progressions your going to see the more you play. (if you don't know them already)
So for the first one i'll use a simple 12 bar blues in A
|A7 |A7 |
|A7 |A7 |
|D7 |D7 |
|A7 |A7 |
|E7 |D7 |
|A7 |E7 |
Ok, so you probably know about pentatonic scales if your reading this if not, this may be kinda confusing, well atleast it was for me when i first learned it.... but anyways:
You can play pentatonic scales over just about anything. It's the simplest form of a major and minor scales (not modes... just the natural major and minor, don't worry about modes for now) In this example we're going to use our 12 bar blues from above. We're going to start out simple here.... Blues has always been a style of music that has always been known for going back and forth between major and minor. So if your playing a solo and using the minor pentatonic scale over our 12 bar blues progression, because when playing blues the sound comes from playing minor scales over major chords, but since they are major chords it sounds really cool to start a lick out minor, then as you play end playing a lick in the major scale. If you were playing in A, as above, you can play a A minor pentatonic scale. BUT, you can also play an A major scale too. For those of you who don't know to get the major scale of if you know the minor pentatonic scale is to play the same scale 3 frets back, but remember that you need to end on notes that are in the chord you playing over. For examples of this, look at tabs or sheet music of blues songs, and rock songs because alot of rock guitar is based around blues, not so much anymmore it has been. See if you can identify which ones are minor scale notes and which are major, it will help you learn the scale and some good licks using both scales...
Ok, i know that was long, but now... if you are following me pretty good right know we're going to dive a little deeper into our abyss of scale theory.
If you start to play jazz your going to become awfully familiar with the II V I progression, it's everywhere in jazz songs. So i'm going to explain a progression that changes keys....
So for our progression that is the 2 5 1 in two keys:
|Amin7 |D7 |
|Gmaj7 |// |
|F#min7b5 |B7 |
|Emin7 |// |
Ok, so let's figure out which key each is in:
so you know it's a 2 5 1, so let's take a look. The third chord should be the root of the first key as the progression goes. So let's see, it's a G(you don't have to play the "colors" i wrote on the chords, but if your talking jazz that will look more familiar, but you can play just A, D, G, etc.) Yeah, so our third chord, the Gmaj7, that is the key the song is in, because it's 1 so we're in G major, get it? The Amin7 is the 2 becaue the D7 is the 5 and the Gmaj7 is the 1. If you don't know where i'm getting the notes from then we go to scales. A G major scale goes:
G A B C D E F# G
now, count em'
A is the next one after G, so it's 2, D is 5 down, each letter is a different number, which is called a scale degree. So that's where the chords come from. So since were going to try to play a solo over these chords, what type of scale would you want? Well how about a G major, the chords are all in that key, so you can play that scale without too many problems over those changes. If you want to try to sound kind of bluesy you can add your minor pentatonic scales over the chords, the G major pentatonic scale is the same as the G major scales without a couple notes (C, and F# to be specific, the 4 and 7) NOW, why would you want to play all these different scales when you only need one? WELL When you playing a G major scale your also playing alot of other scales two (in theory) This is where modes come in. I'm only going to talk about one...The 6th degree of the major scale is known as the natural minor, the same as a minor pentatonic with 2 extra notes. So try to find the 6th of G - well, as a matter of fact it is E, so the notes of a G major scale also makes up an E minor scale, how can this be? Well, If you want to play E minor, play your G major scale pattern, but start the scale on the E note and end on the E note and listen to how it sounds, it will sound minor.
So let's look above now....
Our progression goes from G major for the first 4 bars to E minor for the last 4. This is a key change, but you can play the same scale as long as you remember to play it sounding minor or major, how do you do this? Well, think about it like this... In G major, you have a melody that revolves around G, so play your scale but try to play a solo around the G note in the scale, you don't always have to start or end on it, but over those chords the G is going to sound very strong. Then, when the song changes key, you can play your same scale but revolve the melody around E, you can still play G, but the it won't get the minor sound you want over the E minor progression. What i do is make a recording of myself playing the chords, then solo over it, it's the best way to learn this type of stuff because unless your lucky you don't have someone to come over and play rhythm guitar every night. So play back your recording and play the scale over both parts, then when you hear the song change key, it's pretty obvious becaue your going from major to minor, try to make your solo fit the chords, it will make you a better soloist over all in any situation. For anyone who actully read this all the way through i hope it has helped you in some way.
I'm guessing this post is just a test of a lesson, so my response is I'm very confused, and I question some parts.
When you play a major pentatonic over twelve bar blues, that means you're playing a major pentatonic in the same key. so it would be an A major pentatonic on an A7 blues progression.
and you say "let's" a lot,i. e. "let's take a look", or, "let's dive a little deeper." This lost me since it's so repetetive
I don't follow my dreams, I just ask em' where they're going and catch up with them later.
-Mitch Hedburg
Did you see that!
Yes, well your right in saying your playing an A major pentatonic over an A blues progression. I was just trying to show how you don't have to learn an entire new scale pattern, just move the A minor patter back 3 frets to get a major pentatonic of whatever the minor you were just playing. It's hard to explain without good examples and it's hard to write out or explain good example over the internet.... i tried to make it as straight forward as possible but i guess it was still confusing, but if you tell me what exactly your confused about i might be able to sort some things out...
When you play a major pentatonic over twelve bar blues, that means you're playing a major pentatonic in the same key. so it would be an A major pentatonic on an A7 blues progression.
Ummm, Amaj pentatonic (A-B-C#-E-F#) over an A maj blues progression (A7-D7-E7) would not sound "bluesy". It could sound like country or maybe even like punk depending on bassline, tempo, sound and other factors, but not like blues at all.
What would sound "bluesy" would be an A minor pentatonic (A-C-D-E-G) over those same chords. You could even add the b5 (Eb) for an A blues scale.
Yes, there would be a "clash" of a sorts between the C (and D) of the soloing scale and the C# of the A7 chord, but it is this friction and dissonance that makes the blues sound like blues.
I hope this helps.
--
Helgi Briem
hbriem AT gmail DOT com
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Tim
Well we all shine on--like the moon and the stars and the sun.
-- John Lennon