need a scale for "sad" country lead

[MikerDougie]

My brother has written a song about the life and death of our mom. It's a country song and he wants me to put some lead into it. One problem, I don't really play lead and don't know theory/scales enough to know what to play. So I'm looking for suggestions, something kind of sad but country in the key of G.

[gennation]

G Minor would be sad I guess. But, you're talking G Major, right?

 

Give us some of the chords, we'll help. G being Major there's not a a whole lot of sadness going on.

 

Hook us up with the chords for the solo part, or even better a audio clip of where you have to play. I'm sure we can help.

[Dubb]

Sad songs are in major keys all the time... especially in country. It works well because you get a "bittersweet" sort of effect, where the music creates a sense of optimism which is countered by the tragic lyrics. The feeling of hopeless optimism makes the song that much more sad.

 

Do you play slide guitar at all? I recommend playing some slide in straight G major at a lethargic sort of pace. Slide is great for emotive leads because it more closely resembles a human voice, which "slides" into and out of notes. If you're not great at playing slide than at least make the leads bend-heavy, but I guess that's sort of a given for modern country.

[6mmSid]

Assuming you're in G Major, how about soloing in E Minor? My understanding (from reading - no actual experience :>)), is that the relative minor is often used to evoke melancholy feelings in country music.

[gennation]

Assuming you're in G Major, how about soloing in E Minor? My understanding (from reading - no actual experience :>)), is that the relative minor is often used to evoke melancholy feelings in country music.

 

 

If it G Major he's playing over, then the Em is still just G Major.

[335clone]

+1 on Open G slide. The microtones between notes are what you want.

No matter what the key or technique, you need to express feeling....
Listen to some Roy B for inspiration. If he doesn't bring a tear to your eye you don't have a soul.

[Knottyhed]

Try humming/singing over the melody... find something you like, and once you can hear it in your head transcribe it to the guitar. That way it'll come from your head and not your fingers.

[50wHead&2x12Cab]

Sorry for your loss. Try experimenting with the Dorian mode of the G Major scale.