Hey SlipinLizard -

That's great! It reinforces my decision to buckle down and start expanding my scale knowledge. I know all of the pentatonic shapes, but only 1 major scale shape.

I had a similar experience this weekend where I was jamming over an instrumental electronic track by Paul Lawler. I discovered a Cm pentatonic sounded good over it. It sounded cool. Then by branching out, I found some other notes that fit in and sounded really cool.

Then it started to sound familiar... I had a "hey, wait a minute!!" moment and just played the major scale in C up and down the neck in time with the music. It completely fit...it was just the major scale!!


This reminds me of discussions I've had over the years with friends that are musicians. They always talked about developing your ear. Sure, part of music is intellectual and there is a science behind it. And yes, it's important to understand the science. But ultimately, it's about emotion and a "feel". Watch any talented improvisational artist (SRV, Carlos Santana, Keith Jarret, Joe Bonamassa, etc.) perform - I doubt that they are thinking "OK, I'm playing in the key of A using a major scale in the pyrigian mode...". It all happens too fast to think that way in the moment. For me, a "musician" is somebody that loses themselves completely in the sounds they are producing. A "musician" becomes completely detached from the mechanics of making music and is focused on...the music.

So I'd say you are experiencing what it's like to be a real musician - pretty cool!

Rich