favorite scale to solo with

I believe the Minor Pentatonic (1-b3-4-5-b7-1), is the most common.

I've been wrong before...........

For blues, Tracker, for blues!

Let us know if you are not interested in blues, voodoo.

There's no best skill. Minor pentatonic for blues/rock, major penta for country/rock, major minor in jazz, pop and metal. Oh, a request usually works better then a demand...

For blues, Tracker, for blues!

I thought that the minor was common for (yes) blues, but rock as well.......

You are correct -- I'm being too narrow. But it is blues-rock as opposed to country-rock, as Arjen points out. The major versus minor pentatonic application sort of splits the pop and rock genres in two. And of course blues usually includes that good ole flatted 5th, as well.

Does GN have a lesson on using the minor pentatonic for blues/rock solos?

Yes, the blues scale is the minor pentatonic, but with the flatted 5th.

I am familiar with blues and classic rock and they are common to me (even in some “grunge” music now that I think about it). So to me, the minors are common.

Sorry for me not clearing that up in the beginning. I don't know the others that Arjen pointed out, just the ones I come in contact with.

Sorry for the visual lack of thought.

So how about a genre there, voodoo?

The chromatic scale is the best. I can't think of a single solo in any genre that doesn't use notes found in it :)

For rock or funk, I use the pentatonic most often
For blues, the blues scale (pentatonic +1 as Greg and Tracker pointed out)
For jazz... the Dorian, Lydian, and Be-Bop most often. Sometimes the Gypsy minor or mixed minor (ascending melodic minor, descending harmonic)
For country and bluegrass, the major scale

I don't usually improvise in other styles besides those.

The chromatic scale is the best. I can't think of a single solo in any genre that doesn't use notes found in it :)

:D

I'm a big fan of the chromatic scale too. 8)

However, I usually favour a variation of the chromatic scale that I refer to as the Mundaring Mode. It does have areas of overlap with the chromatic scale but does feature frequently deviations, for reasons that I'm still coming to terms with. :wink:

For country and bluegrass, the major scale

So when those bluegrass players are picking through notes at lightning speed, do they usually just play right out of the major scale? Are there any special notes they frequently add in as well?

I've heard a bunch of rippin' blues scale runs in bluegrass, too.

whatever feels right....easiest and most common is prolly just your everyday minor pentatonic to get it count up 6 steps in the major scale take that note as your root note and play the pentatonic scale

bluegrass actually uses a lot of chromatic runs. Take any two scale tones a whole step apart, and odds are you can use the note in between if you play it fast enough :)

You're usually going up into a chord tone - and since most bluegrass is in major keys, the b3 and b5 get used a lot.

Well for a neo classical sound, check out the harmonic minor scale