guitar soloing over chords
 

How do i know what scales to use over a certain chord progression? For example, if the chord progression is in the key of A, would i play a scale in the key of A? Would i change scales when the progression goes to a different chord?

You have to know your keys and scales by heart. Study your music theory and practice until knowing that the key of Bb is Bb, C, D, Eb, F, G, A, Bb is rudimentary.

I know my keys and my notes, I know some scales as well. I guess I still dont know enough. I dont know what you mean by rudimentary.

Rudimentary in music terms, means the basics. As in stuff that you need to know, practice, and memorize before you can move on to more complex things.

You can do either. If the progression is in A, you most likely can solo in that key. You could also follow the chords and solo in each key as it changes. I would suggest trying to follow it by ear though, because that will help you most in the long run.

Do what Jimi Hendrix did, and just ****ing play your instrument until you get something you like. I mean, guitar solos are intended to be a bit of freedom, and should be improvised.

None of that means jack **** unless you know what you're doing. Hendrix took an awful lot of **** from other places like motown and funk. If hendrix didn't know what he was doing specifically, the players whose licks he was modifying and using certainly did.

You gotta start somewhere, and blindly enthusing about the uselessness of theory is never going to be that place.

Simply understand if a chord is major, minor, or dominant and apply whatever scales you know over that.

He did know what he was doing, subconsciously. That's the art of the guitar solo, though. It's an accumulation of subconcious efforts. That is why you solo over the chords. If you want to follow theory 100% blatantly, don't solo at all. To do a prewritten solo destroys the spontaneous invention that makes a solo work. Hendrix, again, is a great example of this. There's a reason why his band would continue playing chords, and he'd go off into lala land playing randomly whatever worked for the time, and moment. The expression of spontaneous feeling.

Nah, his band was just a drummer, bass player, and him, so more just the bassline. I know a lot of people don't like Omar, but some of his solos during the songs he just goes to whatever note at random and goes with it. That gives his solos sort of an atonal and spontaneous feel. With Hendrix type solos I think you have to be a little conscious as to where your fingers are but once you know the scales and modes it's much easier to improvise and play around.

This is simple. If it sounds good then it works and there are no certain set of rules. Just go with it

here's something you can do. Figure out what key the song is in. Typically, its the last chord in the progression or the last chord of the song. It holds true for a lot of rock songs and will work mostly work for easier stuff that isn't overly complex. Next, learn the blues scale and play that scale corresponding to the key signature. The blues scale kicks ash because its a pattern that you can just shift up and down the fret board. So if it ends in the C chord, then find the C on the low E string and that will be the root for your solo. I do this when I improv ZZ Top and other rock based songs and it usually works pretty well once you've gotten used to the notes/patterns.

Here, read and practice this.

Solo Guitar - The Blues Scales - 12bar Blues Guitar

Go up and down the scale until you know that pattern then just play with it and you'll develop your skill as you go. Oh, and the difference between the major and minor scales are shown as the note in BLUE. This is the blue note which is a good way to put some feeling into that baby.

Thanks for all the help. Ive been working on my scales for a while. Ive got a few of them down. I was just having trouble with knowing what to play over a chord progression. But i think im starting to understand more. I guess you could say im working on the alphabet (scales) and im starting to make my way in to forming words (licks/phrases.) Ive found that jam tracks are very useful.

Ive got some questions for you all. What makes a good guitar player? Is the ability to play fast really important? For example, Is steve vai automatically a better guitarist than BB king just because he can play faster? Vai can play way faster, no doubt. But ill always enjoy listening to BB king more than i enjoy vai. I guess its just a matter of personal preference, but i want to know what you think. I guess what im trying to say is, the more technical a guitarist is, the better he is?

I'm going to go with a halfway answer.

Steve Vai and BB King are just as good as each other.

HOWEVER.

Its ****ing bull**** when people claim a fast player has no 'soul' or feeling. Or prog bands. Or any other sort of highly technical music. People who don't believe in what they're doing get nowhere in music. Those bands mean every note just as much as the bluesmen. The nobodies and bedroom shredders are the ones to level that accusation at.

Not every slow half step bend denotes feeling. Not every shred passage denotes the absence of feeling. Both have their place and the greatest players use that to their advantage, including Steve Vai.


Oh, and just to note - Any guitarist who is really good at playing slowly, can probably play pretty damned fast when they want to just by virtue of having a ****alod of practice.

Good answer. I think some people tend to believe that if someone doesnt play really fast, then they arent very good.

I have another question. Does anyone mix the minor pentatonic, the blues scale and the dorian mode? the blues scale contains all the same notes as the minor pentatonic, it just adds the 2 blue notes. Why use the minor pentatonic when you can use the blues scale? Also, the dorian mode contains all the notes of the minor pentatonic, it just adds some notes. So, when you combine the dorian mode and the minor pentatonic, all you are missing is the 2 blue notes. Just add the 2 blue notes to the dorain mode and you have a combination of the minor pentatonic, the blues scale and the dorian mode.

I just want to through out that most of those guitarists are all equally good in the whole scheme of things but that really doesn't matter. A great guitarist who has a firm handle on all the technical aspects of playing isn't worth his/her nail clippings if they can't play with emotion. Wether it be slow or fast, melodic or chaotic, emotion should go into everything. The absence of emotion makes everything seam flat and it feels and sounds like its missing something. Also, having technical skill does not mean they can write, which is more important in my eyes. Being a great guitar player is good, but they're are limitless amounts of those. The true legends, like Vai or Satriani, achieved their spot in the sun for being excellent MUSICIANS. Don't sacrifice musicianship for technical skill. They go hand in hand but musicianship and creativity is where the real magic happens.

My point is the exact opposite. People tend to assume that if someone plays fast they don't mean it.

Its the complete opposite for me. Most people I know think that its all about speed.

Speed is easy, to be honest. Especially if you play melodies that repeat a sequence of notes maybe 3-5 notes long. What's hard is long melodies, imo. Because, it requires more energy of precision, memory, and focus.

I agree. Its not that hard to play the same lick over and over at a high speed. But i guess people like vai and satriani dont do that. they seem to shred up and down the fretboard

Put it this way.

This is easy to do -

This is really ****ing hard to do -

can anyone give me some tips on soloing? Ive been learning some scales and i cant do much with them. I have some licks but im just not satisfied with my progress. I dont consider myself a beginner, I can play texas flood by stevie ray vaughan and other songs on that level of difficulty; just to give you an idea of my skill level. Im just having a hard time when it comes to coming up with my own stuff. It would be greatly appreciated if someone can offer some advice. I was listening to mark knopfler and i think he helped me realize my problem. My playing lacks melody.

Texas flood is one of the hardest songs of all time to play wtf are you talking about. Its a 10 minute fast blues solo....... Just try and sound a fifth as good as stevie.

i cant play the entire song. only parts of it. the parts i know really arent that hard. but i know it gets a lot harder. The technical/mechanical side of guitar playing is the easy part, well not really, its very hard; but the creative side is what is really hard.

I didnt mean to come off as a dick. I just meant that some of the song perceived as easy are not, and are all about your dynamics/feel not hitting hte correct notes.

Its not about the notes you play, its the way you play em.

I have to disagree with this a little. I would say its 100% about the notes you hit and 100% about the way its played. If you play the perfect notes without feeling, then its one dimensional and sounds lacking. Then if you play all the wrong notes with all feeling, well it just will sound mangled and awkward to most people for almost every genre of music. You gotta do both.

I don't worry about scales when playing, I just know which note to press and play to get the sound that I want and then I play from the gut. To get there, you need to have some musicality like an ability to come up with the melodies you want to play and then just a lot of practice so that you know by instinct how and where to find the sounds you want. If you're smart, read some theory, but I definetly think you can get far by just playing - a lot.

So, I'd say just pop on your favourite songs and try to solo on top of them. Have fun with it :)

edit :

And don't forget there are tons of instruction videos on youtubes! You can probably pick up a lot of stuff there, like how to shred, blues licks or gypsy jazz chords.

i spent years studying scales and boxes

these days i throw all caution to the wind, and play whatever note i feel like playing

Yes, this is the trademark sound of Carlos Santana. The Dorian mode has a very minor 7th/jazzy feel, while the minor VI is a bit darker, mixed with the blues scale you have that b5th blue tone thrown in . . . very effective.

** I should add that usually the VI is approached as a minor pentatonic

Lol...I dont think that there is anything easy about playing any Srv song myself. Of course you may have a god given talent that defy's most peoples capability. If so im jealous!!

Youre right, both are important. But it doesnt take much to learn the scales and learn the right notes to play, it just takes some practice. Putting the feeling into it is the hard part, at least for me.

The beginning of texas flood is just some fast licks in a little box. It looks harder than it is. i have been told that im a fast learner for someone who has been playing as short of a time as i have.

SRV's delivery is what was awesome, everyone knows the little blues boxes he used, that's not the trick, it's his tone, attitude and execution that was mind blowing.

Well, also the fact that every phrase oozed with emotion didn't hurt either.

I learned Texas Flood a few months back but cant play it like Stevie and wouldnt want to totally copy him. But its the violent bravado, extreme bends and just being a wizzard on the frettboard that makes Srv's music what it is. I think he put everything into his playing every time he played and thats how you should play.

im not trying to say he wasnt good. hes one of the greatest ever. who gives a **** if you copy him? Its not like you are recording it and trying to take credit for it. I just enjoy playing his music, for fun.

wouldnt want to be like led zeppelin

No im just saying personally its fun to put your own little twist on songs that you cover. Once you figure out your style and way of playing. If you want to play SRV or anyone else note for note be my guest man..idgaf. Now ill leave you with a S K"ish gift....:)

youre definitely right. but if you want to put your own style on it, you first have to learn how it is originally played. I got a question for you, why do your posts always have that quote, "hendrix didnt even play the blues that well?" Do you agree with that statement?


I agree. I definitely wouldnt want to be like zeppelin.

I haven't been playing very long myself, but from what I can tell, phrasing is the most difficult part to mimic. And people like Hendrix and Vaughan had boatloads of tricks.

It's not a measure of "can you get there?" It's how you do it that counts.

thats true. BB king was the king of phrasing. Memorizing your root notes will help with your phrasing. To me, its not the phrasing that is hard. Coming up with good sounding phrases is the hard part.