Originally Posted by: CSchlegelContext is everything. The only way to know what key (major or minor) you are in, is to identify the entire context.
Todd, this quote by Christopher is gold, its exactly right. I have a BOSS DR880 drum machine. I wish I could record this one example, but unfortunately I'm not setup for it right now. But, its a practical application of what Christopher is talking about. I won't go into too much detail, but its essentially this:
The DR880 provides both drum and bass sounds, which makes it great to jam along with. I had one pattern that was in Cmaj. I worked out a riff using the Cmaj scale. Its very melodic (you could hum it). I then put the pattern into a "song". I set the song up so that the bass line was in Cmaj for four bars, then it switches to Amin for four bars, then back to Cmaj, and just keeps looping like that. Now, if I played you the riff without the bass line, you might say "ah, you're in Cmaj" and you'd be right. But, you also might say "hey, that's Amin" and you'd be right again. The riff works in both keys. Like I said, I wish I could record the example for you, because its so obvious when I play the riff in the context of the song. When the backing bass line is in Cmaj, the riff sounds like Cmaj, very upbeat, happy, whatever you want to call it. Then, when only the bass line changes to Amin, it sounds like the riff changes too. You'd swear I'd changed the scale/notes, it just sounds so immediately "minor", but nope, the riff stays exactly the same, and as soon as the bass goes back to Cmaj, bing! it sounds like the riff is back to Cmaj too.
Even today, I was playing "E Minor Pentatonic" over a bass line that was C, G, D... found a few extra notes that sounded good, and the whole solo didn't sound like a minor pentatonic normally does... took only a moment to flesh out those "extra" notes that seemed to fit well, and yeah, I'm just playing a G Major scale.
As far as remembering the patterns, when I practicing them, I really try to visualize the pattern above and below the pattern I'm playing. So I'll noodle around, and then move up or down when I recognize the pattern above or below. I keep doing this, trying to minimize the amount of "noodle" time I spend in each pattern, and move around on the fretboard as much as possible without making a mistake. This is not an effort to "solo" or make something that sounds good. The whole idea is just to stay in one pattern, then move to another without making a mistake. You know you're getting it down when you can start moving up or down multiple times staying on one string.
Finally, just to be honest, I really separate the practice from play time. When I go to try and play something that actually sounds good, I might be conscious of the scale I'm in, but if I hit a note that I'm not sure what scale or key I'm using, and it still sounds good, I just do it and worry about the theory later. If I create a riff I really like, I might not bother to figure out what scale or scales I'm using. If I'm struggling to come up with ideas, then yeah, I may "reverse engineer" what I'm doing so far to see if that helps give me more ideas. I don't know if this method is good or bad, its just what I do. If I hear a solo in my head, and its coming out through my fingers, then I don't worry about the theory side of it at that point. So, like you, there are times when I may be playing something and I'm not really sure of what scale I'm in. I'm trying to rectify that. I would prefer to be aware of what scale/mode I'm utilizing at any given moment... but my "happy dog" brain just goes "oh, that sounds good!" and starts playing stuff without always giving me a chance to work out the theory behind it!
