Basic Question About Scale/Chord Harmony

[Sigel_TTD]

I just have a quick question..... How do I know what scale to stay in while soloing? I'm not talking about anything fancy just standard major/minor keys. For example if the rhythm chords being played are C and A. What key(s) would I stay in while soloing? I know there is one root key that I should solo in but how do I distinguish which to choose?

[steverayner]

Hi, I'll have a crack at this. I would play a solo in C. I was curious about how to answer this so i picked up my giutar and found that i started to play a very basic solo on C notes but included A notes as well, so I guess you can start on either notes and move between their scales.

I would also be listening hard to the chords being played and try to pick out the scale roots when and if i wanted to change scales. Sorry if you already knew this, i just start basic and get more complex before I resolve to a root.

I'd be interested on what other players think as well.

[wu ming]

I have found this programme very useful for working out what scale-what key to use. it's a free download too

http://www.guitaralchemist.com/index-free.html


Anyway for an answer to your question you could play the Cmajor{ionian} scale, or the Aminor(Aeolian) scale.

Or you could play the Aminor Pentatonic or The Cmajor Pentatonic.

IF you look at the scale in question, you will see that both the notes A & C are in the C major key....

'C'-D-E-F-G-'A'-B-C

C-Major scale = c d e f g a b c

A-minor scale= a b c d e f g a

So its depending on the mood you want to create with your music.

If you want 'happy' feel use a Major scale.
Or if you want a 'sadder' feel use a minor scale.

[simeon]

when deciding what scales to use when soloing, the simplest thing to do is look at the notes in the chords. if all the chords are in the same key then it's easy...

for example - C / G / Am / F

write out the notes in each chord...

C = C E G
G = G B D
Am = A C E
F = F A C

then write out all the notes, removing any duplicates...

C E G B D A F

then put them in order...

C D E F G A B = C major

chords and scales and melodies and basslines are all just different ways of playing the notes from a scale. so in a tune containing these particular chords, the bass player will use notes from c major, the singer will sing a melody from c major the guitarist will play several notes at once from c major (chords) and the soloist will take a solo using the notes from c major

when you've got less chords, you may not have 7 notes in total, in which case you'll need to use your ear to decide which notes you'll need to add to complete the scale

the example you gave of C and A - assuming you're talking about A major and not A minor - then you actually have two chords that are from different keys and require different scales. if it is A minor then both chords can be played over with C major or C lydian...

C = C E G
Am = A C E

so we've only got C E G A - you need another 3 notes to make a proper scale - you could add D and get C major pentatonic - C D E G A - then i would add the B (Bb sounds a bit naff to my ears) and either the F (C major) or the F# (C lydian) - giving you - either C D E F G A B or C D E F# G A B

hope that helps

sim

[jazzbo]

The chords C and A are not part of any one key, assuming you mean A major and C major.

For that kind of thing I would usually go between C major scale (over the C chord) and A mixolydian (mixolydian because of the flatted 7th G, which is also in the C major scale) over the A chord.

If you were to stick to one scale, an A minor pentatonic might work, with kind of a bluesy feel.

An A mixolydian has the same notes a a C major scale except for F# and C# instead of F and C.