playing over chords

[raggety]

this has probaly been asked a 1000 times already, but how do ya know what to play over chords ?

 

My song is chorded C-F-G-Am- repeated, how do i pick the right key to play over it with?

 

mostly when i have recorded it, anything i try to play over the chords sounds way off key?

 

i know some simple Pentatonic scales..so where do i go from here ?

 

as the song is in C. could I use Am pent as its the relative minor of C ???????

 

what if the song is in Ab what do you do then ????

[Poparad]

First, if you're not familiar with the harmonized scale and how to use it to identify what key you're in, do a search in the Lesson Loft forum. There have been numerous threads covering it recently.

If the song is in the key of C, then use the C major scale for melodies and soloing. If it's in Ab major, then use the Ab major scale.

In any major key, there naturally exist three pentatonic scales. If you prefer to think of them as major pentatonics, then you can play a major pentatonic on the I, IV, and V scale degrees. In the key of C, that's C major pentatonic, F major pentatonic, and G major pentatonic. If you prefer to think of them as minor pentatonics, then just step down two scale degrees from each one. You'll end up with ii, iii, and vi. In C, that's Dm, Em, and Am pentatonics. Coincidentally, the three major pentatonics correlate with the three major chords in a key, and the three minor pentatonics correlate with the three minor chords in a key.


Now, not every note of the scale will sound good over every chord. Some chords have 'avoid notes' in the scale. For example, when playing a C major scale over a C major chord, the note F, which is the 4th scale degree, sounds really sound. Other chords in the key have different avoid notes, and some of the avoid notes sound bad, and others not so bad. Generally, it's best to target chord tones to end phrases or pause on, while using non chord tones (the notes of the scale that aren't part of the chord) as notes to connect the chord tones together.