Originally Posted by: maggiorIf I were to attempt it though, I would start off with what appeals to me and forget what might appeal to others and what the current conventions are regarding song length and style. Being a fan of progressive rock and jazz, I like solos and longer songs. Any song I wrote would have to feature a kick ass guitar solo :-).[/QUOTE]
So in the end, it all comes down to whatever I want to make, even if the audience for that kind of music is limited in size.

Originally Posted by: maggiorDo you like power chords and the way they sound? Do they inspire you? If so, use them! Barre chords more your style? Use them instead. Think about the ballads that you like and what it is about them that you like...incoprate that.[/QUOTE]
I like Power Chords and Open Chords, because they're easy to play and they can sound amazing if used right. Barre Chords aren't so much my cup of tea, though. I always have trouble getting the strings to ring out clearly when I try to play them, so I'd rather not use too many yet. As for what it is I like in Rock Ballads, it's usually the epic Guitar-Solos, and obviously, I would incorporate that into my own music (no Rock-song is complete without the guitar solo!), and usually, there's a pretty cool variation of the chorus-riff leading up to the solo, which just adds to the overall awesomeness ("Don't Cry" is one of the best examples I can think of. The change in the second chorus is not big, but it's there. Basically, some distortion is added for the last 1 1/2 line of the chorus, before going into the solo.)

[QUOTE=maggior]As far as soloing - in my messing around, I find I can use minor pentatonics over just about any chord sequence. You can play notes from a different scale over each chord (Gilmour does this), but you don't have to.

That doesn't completely answer my question about what key or scale the progression is in. If I have, for example, the Chords A maj, E min and F5, how would I be able to tell which key that would be in? Does it depend on what scales the Chords' root-notes are all present in, or does it depend on something completely different?

[QUOTE=maggior]Muscians write songs without bands all of the time. Pete Townsend would put together demos in his home studio all of the time before presenting them to the rest of the band to be fleshed out. Some of these demos would just be him singing and strumming an acoustic guitar.

Yeah, I've read a while ago that James Hetfield just picked some open strings while he was on the phone with his wife (I think it was, anyway), and the first bars of "Nothing Else Matters" were created. It seems like a very simple way to begin writing what would later become one of the most famous songs in the world, but sometimes, simpler is better, it seems.

All in all, from what I gather, I should just start with what I have and then keep going until I have a decently sounding result, or am I wrong?