Originally Posted by: Fret spideru sure jolly.


if like he only plays three notes, say c e and g. he could bein c ionion or c lydian or c mixolodian. therefore quite a few possibke notes for the lead line to choose from.

but if the basist played c d e f g b it would be obvious he was in c ionion therefore u could only theoretically play c ionion.

The Bass player won't be playing all those notes at the same time will he? Then you won't be limited to only that scale. Besides, mixture doesn't have to be in every instrument for it to appear in one.

See the pitch axis sticky.