E G D A Help?

[pjackson92]

These are the chords to a instrumental song. It's nothing fancy i was just wondering what scale to use for this?

[TwoForFlinching]

All major chords (I doubt it)?

 

Mike

[rsadasiv]

If they are all major I would play in E major and finesse the G. If it is Em I would play in G major and raise the C# in the A to a D (this is by far the more common progression of the two). But, you know, whatever works. You don't need to touch every note in the scale.

 

I never hang out in the Lesson Loft - do they cover this kind of stuff there?

[blue2blue]

There are different ways you could look at it... I found that one way was to take the E chord as being in the key of A major (or F#m, if you will) and the rest of the chords as being in D major (or Bm) and that worked pretty well for me.

 

And you can pretty much sit on a blues Bm if you wanna sound, you know, baaad. So to speak.

[ProgRock11]

 

And you can pretty much sit on a blues Bm if you wanna sound, you know, baaad. So to speak.

 

 

Baaad to the bone!

[rsadasiv]

 

And you can pretty much sit on a blues Bm if you wanna sound, you know, baaad. So to speak.

 

 

Blues in Bm works over almost any chord progression. And if it doesn't sound quite right, just turn your amp up some more.

[blue2blue]

Baaad to the bone!

 

I knew the site of gramps gettin' down would set the youngsters off into a laughing jag...

 

[skuller]

gimme so blues voicings. spell em out.

[blue2blue]

 

gimme so blues voicings. spell em out.

 

 

Not sure what you mean...

[skuller]

i meant, gimme some blues voicings.

 

like in jazz, you can voice Cm on teh keyboard like this (low to high):

 

LH: Ab - Eb

RH: D - G - C

[blue2blue]

Did I mention I'm just a dumb punk rocker? And a guitar player, no less?

 

 

I'm not really a keyboardist. But I just uncovered my keyboard... that is a real nice chord voicing. I guess I see what you're getting at. But

I play by ear. So, if someone wants to know what I'm doing, I have to work backwards and analyze what I've done.

 

On guitar, I often have no idea what the name of the chord I'm playing is.

[rsadasiv]

 

i meant, gimme some blues voicings. like in jazz, you can voice Cm on teh keyboard like this (low to high): LH: Ab - Eb RH: D - G - C

 

 

That is a nice voicing, but it is not strictly a Cm, more of a Cm add9 aug5.

[blue2blue]

I plugged those note values (in that inversion) into (forum regular) Eddie Boston's very cool "Chord Designer" online service (part of his www.Chorderator.com suite of services) and it came up with these potential chord names: G#maj13, Cmadd2/G#

[skuller]

well, like i said, it's a jazz voicing.

 

piano doesn't play the root in jazz. the bass does. these voicings accent Cm without cluttering up what the bass is playing.

 

i'm looking for a quick sum up version like this, for blues, r&b, etc...

[skuller]

 

That is a nice voicing, but it is not strictly a Cm, more of a Cm add9 aug5.

 

 

also, i worded my statement specifically to not say "this is the way to play Cm in jazz". hence, you CAN voice it this way. there are other ways, too.

[skuller]

so i asked someone who likes the blues what voicings to stack to play the blues.

 

he said, it's all about the fifth, and the blue note.

 

and the blue note, is apparently a major sixth interval.

 

so then i was like, SWEET!

 

lots of bendies into the blue note, too, he said.

[Stratman Tigers]

One of my favorite songs of all time ever, "Alive" by Pearl Jam uses the same exact progression. If you're looking to play a scale, look no further than E Minor pentatonic. Its what McCready uses to solo on the song. It matches the progression perfectly too

[fetch-boy]

I love the solo on Alive, the simplicity of the scale fits beautifully with the song - just shows you don't have to over-egg the pudding to create a masterpiece, so to speak.

[rsadasiv]

 

so i asked someone who likes the blues what voicings to stack to play the blues. he said, it's all about the fifth, and the blue note. and the blue note, is apparently a major sixth interval. so then i was like, SWEET! lots of bendies into the blue note, too, he said.

 

 

In a nutshell, yes. Bending the 5 to the 6 is the basis for untold blues guitar solos. Throw in a minor 7th and you have 80% of all blues riffs covered.

[Stackabones]

Traditionally, the blue notes are b3, b5, and b7.

 

To my ears, bending the 5 to the 6 is much more country ... helps get that pedal steel sound.

 

But ... it's all about the ear. If it sounds bluesy, go for it.

[FeelTardy]

I don't know sh!$, but shifting between e minor pent (almost perfect/simple fit) and b minor pent (it's all about the V) seems like it would work pretty well.

 

e minor pent --> e g a b d

b minor pent --> b d e f# a

 

But I think it would be good to usually keep that f# away from the G chord (bend to g or omit).

[cadence440]

With these chords I might use:

 

E - E mixolydian (e f# g# a b c# d)

G - Gmajor (same notes as e mixolydian, but G# changes to G)

D - D major

A- A mixolydian (a b c# d e f# g, same notes as D major)

 

The characteristic sound between chords seems to be where to use G natural or G#, so melodies that exploit that would work well.

 

p.s. This is if you mean all chords are major

[Stratman Tigers]

 

I love the solo on Alive, the simplicity of the scale fits beautifully with the song - just shows you don't have to over-egg the pudding to create a masterpiece, so to speak.

 

 

Yeah, its just a simple minor pentatonic, but McCready does so much with just a simple scale.

[fetch-boy]

 

Yeah, its just a simple minor pentatonic, but McCready does so much with just a simple scale.

 

 

It's also one of my favourite backing tracks to improvise over, great tune.