How do I know what scale to use?

I have a Loop station (Phrase recorder) and I began be recording a 3 chord, chord progression (A Major, D Major, E Major) over and over. Then I was just trying to find a scale to go with it. I started playing different notes until I got it. The scale is (D, E, F#, G#, A, B, C#, D). Without having to just experiment and just hit notes at random, how do I know how to find that scale?

Thanks in advance!!!

That very progress IMHO is the best way to train your ear and to get into inprovising. Thats how i learned it - i never ever concerned myself with learning a bunch of scales and the theory that tells me which scale to use ver which chord progression. I know its pretty hard in the beginning and you just can't seem to find the right notes. But with time you will be able to just hear a song/chordprogression and instantly start soloing over it without wasting a thought on anything else. It is a very rewarding experience.

I´m not saying "don't waste your time on theory at all" - don't get me wrong. Some basic knowledge of about how chords are built and some basic scales DOES help. But i´m not a fan of the big theoretical way.

Let me end this post with a quote form a long lost Bruce Lee interview that summs it up very good i think. It was something along these lines:

"On the one hand there is instinct. On the other there is control. If you got one to the extreme you'll be very unscientific. If you got the other to the extreme you´ll become all of sudden a mechanical man. You have to combine the two in harmony. Be water, my friend."

:)

Thanks alot Azreal.

By the way, your dragon guitar is amazing. That is the coolest guitar I have ever seen.

Thanks again.

The scale as you spelled out is the A Major scale. Because you started on D, you are playing in Lydian Mode. You can essentially start with any of the notes, A and F# being the best choices for the chord progression you mentioned. However, when you change chords, you can start the scale on the root for whichever chord you are playing.

Example, when playing A major, you can start the scale on A or F#, which is the relative minor for A. When you change to D Major, you can stay on A, or move to D, which changes the mode to Lydian, or you can use B, which is the relative minor of D, which changes the mode to Dorian.

I would strongly recommend that you read up on using modes and scales in general.

Hello and thank you so much for responding to my thread. It helped open my eyes to a few things. If I can ask one more question. As you wrote when I'm on an "A" chord if can play an "A" Major scale of an "F#" (? Major or Minor) scale. Do I play an "F#" Major or an "F#" Minor to stay in key?

Thanks again:

Frank

A major and F# minor are the same scale. Just starting on different notes. Therefore, you should play the F# minor.

Thanks again!!!

Have a great day

See how pleasant some people can be? Do you see this? You're welcome, f_medina, and thank you for not being an ass like many others seem to be (I am no exception).

I am most definitely a novice, but my teacher knows his theory and some is starting to make sense. Here's my two cents...

Music wants to go in a circle. The whole E-A-B (1/4/5) progression has a buildup, and a return to the root (E).

So when people are throwing modes and stuff at you just break it down. Just to make it a bit less daunting, all the modes and their scary names are just ways to classify a pattern of notes.

So if you take an A major scale and start it on the second note, you're still playing the A major scale, but they'll call it another MODE, because you go from B to B instead of A to A. You still complete the CIRCLE, and follow the same NOTES that you play in the A major, just starting in a different place. Each of the modes is just a major scale starting from a different place. Exact same scales!

I could have take some liberties there, as my knowledge isn't all there, but I sure found that little simplification helpful. Feel free to correct me, as well!

Thank you very much. Very kind for your response.

Have a great day!!!


Frank