Originally Posted by: JoeNoviceWhen playing a solo you should hear the melody in your head and play it simultaniously. It should not "sound" like C major because of the "pattern" you use. It should sound a certain way because of the notes you choose to use. I may want the solo to sound like Lydian and would therefore use the B-nat. note over the F chord. [/QUOTE]

Ah, yes yes yes. This is so important. I encourage my students to hum/sing/whistle what they want to play first, then discover it on the fretboard. Music is about what it sounds like, not how we describe it. Theory is a tool to help us understand how to make the sound we want.

Originally Posted by: JoeNovice
I think one of the reasons my comments draw such strong criticism from other members is due to our differing approach to playing guitar. I don't use patterns to create sounds (neither did C. Parker). Mostly I use specific chord tones to produce sounds. (like lydian example above)

I think this is much more musical than just learning to shred some pattern over a chord progression just because the notes "work". Developing technique for playing scales and arpeggios is NOT the same as learning to play music.

[QUOTE=JoeNovice]
How it sounds depends on which notes you stress from the scale. I agree that C major over Amin would sound modal..... like Aeolian. This is what I've been saying all along. Why would that be confused with a "minor tonality?" What is the difference between a "minor tonality," Aeolian mode, and C major scale over an A minor chord?

No... it has everything to do with playing chords on the guitar that have dual functionality.

Yes..... but this depends on function. Without context there is no difference between the two when played on the guitar. Hence C6 = Amin/C.....


I'm not fighting with people about this topic for conclusive right vs. wrong. I'm hoping people who read this will open their theoretical minds up to other ways of thinking about "theory" in relation to playing the guitar.


C major and all of it's spawned modes are in essence the SAME. It is only context and the postion of notes over chords that change the tonality of the melody/solo.