Help with what scales to play over chords


William MG
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William MG
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09/20/2019 11:30 am

Hi all,

I struggle with what scale patterns I should play over particular chord patterns. Rather than type a long message a quick video works better.

Any help from our more experienced members would be appreciated.

Question


This year the diet is definitely gonna stick!

# 1
ChristopherSchlegel
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Joined: 08/09/05
Posts: 8,328
ChristopherSchlegel
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Posts: 8,328
09/20/2019 12:12 pm
Originally Posted by: William MG

I struggle with what scale patterns I should play over particular chord patterns. Rather than type a long message a quick video works better.

Soloing, or improvising involves 3 steps.

1. Find the key

2. Target chord tones.

3. Play melodies.

So, you are on step 1: how do you find the key signature of the chord progression you are playing over? In short, you write out all the notes of the chords you are using & see if you can make a scale with them.

In your example you are playing:

D major: d-f#-a

G major: g-b-d

A major: a-c#-e

In most music this is straight forward. Often, the first chord is the root chord & the name of the scale & key signature. So, let's put all those notes in musical alphabetical order starting on d.

d-e-f#-g-a-b-c#-d

The D major scale. :) So, that's the scale that forms the key signature of that group of chords. And this is specifically a 1-4-5 progression, due to the relationship of the notes:

D-1 (I)

G-4 (IV)

A-5 (V)

That's why the D minor scale is going to sound wrong; because your chords are from the D major scale. The easiest way to adjust this is simply move the D minor pattern down 3 frets & play as if you are in B minor. Because B minor is the relative major of D. This means they share the exact same notes. But B minor regards the B note as the root, while the D major regards the D note as the root.

And the result is that you can still use the pentatonic boxes, but play in D major!

That's the answer to this particular situation. But we've only solved step 1! There is still step 2 & 3! :) With that in mind, have a look at these tutorials that will teach you how to improvise.

https://www.guitartricks.com/collection/learning-to-improvise

Hope that helps! Please ask more if necessary & best of success!


Christopher Schlegel
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# 2
William MG
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William MG
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09/20/2019 3:46 pm

Thank you so much Christopher. You have given great detail here and I will begin my study.

Thanks again!


This year the diet is definitely gonna stick!

# 3
ChristopherSchlegel
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ChristopherSchlegel
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09/21/2019 3:42 pm
Originally Posted by: William MG

Thank you so much Christopher. You have given great detail here and I will begin my study.

You're welcome! I love discussing & helping with that stuff. :)


Christopher Schlegel
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# 4
William MG
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William MG
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09/24/2019 12:49 pm

Hello Christopher! I am probably more excited than a man my age should ever get! I think I just wrote my 1st piece of music thanks to your help!

Last night I explained to my son what I was working on and asked for his help by having him lay down a basic groove. He came up with a little 4 chord something and I did exactly as you instructed. I wrote out each note of the 4 chords, made a scale out of them and started noodling. They seemed to fit.

We then recorded his little jam and played it back through one of our montiors so that he could jump on the drum kit. I started to play my scale. It wasn't music but things did seem to fit and it was entirely awesome to be jamming with my son!

For this morning's practice I decided I should try to write some solo parts that would be "melodic" - fully admitting this is an extreme stretch of the word. This is what I have come up with so far. It still needs work, but I am pretty stoked to try it out tonight after work with my son.

This is the absolute best Christopher... to be jamming with my son. It doesnt get much better than this.

Thank you again for your help!


This year the diet is definitely gonna stick!

# 5
ChristopherSchlegel
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Joined: 08/09/05
Posts: 8,328
ChristopherSchlegel
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Joined: 08/09/05
Posts: 8,328
09/24/2019 1:12 pm
Originally Posted by: William MG

I am probably more excited than a man my age should ever get! I think I just wrote my 1st piece of music thanks to your help!

[p]Congrats! Thanks for posting your story. Making music with your kid is the best. Glad you are treasuring it. :)[br][br]


Christopher Schlegel
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Christopher Schlegel Lesson Directory
# 6
viratkhanna9999
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Joined: 12/19/19
Posts: 1
viratkhanna9999
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Joined: 12/19/19
Posts: 1
12/19/2019 9:43 am

I was working on and asked for his help by having him lay down a basic groove. He came up with a little 4 chord something and I did exactly as you instructed. I wrote out each note of the 4 chords, made a scale out of them and started noodling. They seemed to fit. TellDunkin

We then recorded his little jam and played it back through one of our montiors so that he could jump on the drum kit. I started to play my scale. It wasn't music but things did seem to fit and it was entirely awesome to be jamming with my son!


# 7
William MG
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William MG
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12/19/2019 10:53 am
Originally Posted by: viratkhanna9999

I was working on and asked for his help by having him lay down a basic groove. He came up with a little 4 chord something and I did exactly as you instructed. I wrote out each note of the 4 chords, made a scale out of them and started noodling. They seemed to fit. TellDunkin

We then recorded his little jam and played it back through one of our montiors so that he could jump on the drum kit. I started to play my scale. It wasn't music but things did seem to fit and it was entirely awesome to be jamming with my son!

Can an administrator remove this response? It's most likely something nobody should click on.

Thanks


This year the diet is definitely gonna stick!

# 8

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