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working out a songs key and soloing


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Posted

so i was playing the chords Em7- A- Cmajadd9- C- G

 

and i was trying to find the key of the chords, which i would guess is C. but my question is what would sound good to solo over it?

 

like say if i wanted to use a Minor scale i wouldn't use a C minor scale since the tune is in C, as the key is C Major

 

or would it be some other minor scale that i would use? like for example the minor pentatonic. or maybe a dorian mode but which one to use ?

 

:confused: is there a way to work this out, other than playing up and down the neck until ya find some notes that sound OK ?

 

 

 

:)

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Those chords don't all fit into one key. You could think of the progression as E minor with the exception of the A chord. The A chord would fit in E dorian. That means over the A you are going to switch from the note C (the flat 6 in E minor) to C# (the major 6 in E dorian). E minor pentatonic will work over the whole progression, so that is a more simple approach.

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Posted

Originally posted by UnderTheGroove

Those chords don't all fit into one key. You could think of the progression as E minor with the exception of the A chord. The A chord would fit in E dorian. That means over the A you are going to switch from the note C (the flat 6 in E minor) to C# (the major 6 in E dorian). E minor pentatonic will work over the whole progression, so that is a more simple approach.

 

 

 

yeh, i worked out the A doesn't 'fit' but it sounds great after the Em7. maybe EM pentatonic would be easiest ?

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Posted
Originally posted by raggety

so i was playing the chords Em7- A- Cmajadd9- C- G


and i was trying to find the key of the chords, which i would guess is C. but my question is what would sound good to solo over it?



Em7-A is a ii-V in Dmajor.
C-G can be seen as a IV-I in G major (or a I-V in C major but that sounds a bit odd).

So, over Em7-A, use D major (E dorian & A mixolydian) and over Cadd9-C-G use G major (C lydian & G ionian).

D major has the notes D E F# G A B C#
G major has the notes G A B C D E F#

The difference is the C/C#, right? So E minor pentatonic (E G A B D) would work over the whole thing since it doesn't have a C or C#.

:confused:
is there a way to work this out, other than playing up and down the neck until ya find some notes that sound OK ?



Your ear is always a good guide, but I'd suggest to learn the theory behind different keys.

EDIT: Oh yeah, a reason why I-V in C major sounds 'odd' is that C major has no flat or sharp notes as D major has two sharps. G major is closer to D major so it's a more of a 'natural' modulation.

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Posted

raggety: I didn't mean to imply that it doesn't sound good. :) There are a lot of great songs out there that use chords that move outside the key. Take a look at the progression to Hotel California sometime. Dirtylobster gave you another option to cover the changes. We all agree that using E minor pentatonic is the easiest way to cover all the chords, but following the changes sounds very cool. Give it a try.

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Posted
Originally posted by UnderTheGroove

raggety: I didn't mean to imply that it doesn't sound good.
:)
There are a lot of great songs out there that use chords that move outside the key. Take a look at the progression to Hotel California sometime. Dirtylobster gave you another option to cover the changes. We all agree that using E minor pentatonic is the easiest way to cover all the chords, but following the changes sounds very cool. Give it a try.



its okay man i knew what you meant :) Following the changes is what i'm trying to learn/teach myself at the moment...its difficult but i aim to keep plugging at it :cool:

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Posted

Originally posted by UnderTheGroove
We all agree that using E minor pentatonic is the easiest way to cover all the chords, but following the changes sounds very cool.

 

 

Yeah, and you could extend the Em pentatonic with the 9th (F#), which is a cool sound over Em, and it's also the colorful #11 over C (which makes it lydian).

 

Experiment. Play only chord tones over the progression.

 

Play only thirds; G over Em7, C# over A, E over Cmajadd9 and C, B over G to get the sound of these notes. Try other chord tones. Roots are very neutral. Listen to how the sevenths sound.

 

Try passing tones. Play a C on Em7 that you resolve to a C# on A.

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