Solo/Lead Theory

I posted this in General and decided it belongs here instead.

I have a question about note selection in guitar solos:

Example:

Key of Em has three basic chords being the 1,3 and 5.
Key of Cmaj has three basic chords 1, 4 and 5.
Each Chord has normally 3 notes which make up the base chord.

When soloing, do you select only notes within the scale for each of the 3 base chords.

For instance, when you switch from a C to an F in Cmaj, do you only play the notes in Fmaj scale (at least as a rule) while the rhythm part is being played in Fmaj?

Or....do you stick to the notes within the one scale that is the root chord for the song?

Or....do you throw out all the rules and just play something that doesn't clash with the chords and sounds musical?

Or...if not any of the above, how do you decide which notes are candidates for your guitar solo. Please explain how the scales, root notes, base chords, etc. combine to tell you which notes ARE candidates for a solo on a certain song. I can learn songs through the tedious process of picking out the notes, but if I know what the candidate notes are, it makes it easier to pick out melody.

Thanks in Advance,
Rob

I am currently working on creating a tutorial aimed at this issue. Right now I do not yet have the video/audio completed. But I just put up the text so you can read it and get the general idea of what is involved.

http://www.guitartricks.com/lesson.php?input=10942

Let me know if that starts to address what you are after. If you have more specific questions I can address those next.

That helps a ton. I look forward to seeing the final version! Let's see if I can summarize:

1. list the notes from all chords in the progression for the song
2. look for a scale that includes all those notes
3. If you can't find one, switch scales while playing solo over the part of the song with the odd chord to reflect the notes within the off chord
4. to emphasize notes for the currently playing chord by starting, finishing and taking downstrokes (the 1 and 3 in 4/4 time) on notes within that chord
5. pay attention to which chord is currently playing and try to add your improv so that it doesn't interupt the rhythm of a song. Runs and licks should start and stop within the flow of the song.

You've got the idea. :) Good summary.