Ibanez Guy
Rookie Solder Flinger
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Post by Ibanez Guy on Dec 20, 2007 14:24:35 GMT -5
OK. I understand major and minor scales and am starting to "feel" how modal scales sound. Here's my question related in real context.
You're sitting in with a band who's doing a weird kind of II, IV, V progression (A5 going to C and D5) so everything is pretty major sounding but this is not a standard I, IV, V blues progression.
How in God's name do I know what scale(s) to use to solo over the II, IV, V progression to sound in tune? This sort of thing constantly leaves me stymied because I don't know which scales will sound right over any given chordal structure.
If someone can answer this in a way I can understand it will complete my quest and I'll gladly thank you by giving you my first born son (if you'll pay for his college).
Any input greatly appreciated.
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Post by RJB on Dec 20, 2007 14:57:45 GMT -5
First course of Business --- Hello, and welcome aboard. [Hey everyone new guy's buying the next round ] I'm no expert, but here goes. What you're playing will sound very major due to 2 chords not having 3rds. The 3rd (or flat 3rd) determines the maj/min. By definition if A-C-D is II-IV-V then the key is G (I). Playing an A5 for the II is acceptable, because w/o a 3rd it's a bit androgynous. I believe (ok here we're getting fuzzy) but usually the progression should be ii-IV-V with the ii being an Am. As far as soloing? I would think either Gmaj or Gmin pentatonic would work. Especially if you target starting/ending chord changes on the root of the chord. (i.e. modal playing). I'm still getting a handle on this myself. A good resource to ask this question is here. Truefire does the online Guitar Player Mag lessons, and has a decent startup user forum.
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Ibanez Guy
Rookie Solder Flinger
Posts: 5
Likes: 0
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Post by Ibanez Guy on Dec 20, 2007 16:30:27 GMT -5
Sorry about being the newbie. I do appreciate the welcome aboard. Thanks. This already helps a lot. If the general progression is A to C to D as I outlined in my previous example then how do I know it is a II-IV-V (key of G) as opposed to a I-III-IV progression that would be in key of A? I guess my problem is that I'm not an intutive guitar player - I have to experiment to find what sounds right. They guys that just KNOW where to go make me green with envy. That's why I'm trying to find an arithmetic or theory based way to know what WILL sound right if I just start playing.
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Post by ashcatlt on Jan 10, 2008 2:12:28 GMT -5
I had a whole thing written, then I read your post again...
It could actually be any of these- C: vi I ii Am: i III IV F: iii V vi Dm: v VII i G: ii IV V Emin: iv VI VII
Frankly, if it just loops around like this and never resolves to some other chord, and nobody else in the band is supplying color tones, you get to decide what key it's actually in. Unless somebody specifically said "this is ii IV V" I'd probably instinctively play it in Amin because, you know, it starts on A.
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Post by warmstrat on Jan 10, 2008 15:18:34 GMT -5
Yeah, Ash... that sounds like what I'd do... Keep it simple!
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Post by ashcatlt on Jan 12, 2008 20:43:38 GMT -5
BTW - thought you might be interested to know (yeah, probably not) that if you play all of those chords at the same time you can call it Am11, C6add2, or Dm11sus2 (or is that Dm9sus4?)... And I think that would be cool!
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