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March 29, 2019 at 12:13 am #129031
Silly question from a newbie is it a common practice to stay within the notes of the chords that are in the key of a song ?? Example of progression 1-4-5. A-D-E would you stay mostly with A B c# D E F# G#. ? When improvising for more flavor.
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March 29, 2019 at 12:55 am #129032
Well, that’s a difficult question to answer. A good place to start is this: If you are playing 12 bar blues, just stick with the minor pentatonic scale, which can be played over any of the 3 chords. It’s true, you can’t hit a bad note if you stay within those 5 notes. When you use the major pentatonic scale, and the 4 chord comes up, you can hit some very bad notes. So when that 4 chord comes up, you have to switch to the pentatonic scale for that chord. And blah blah blah….
Sunjamr Steve
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March 29, 2019 at 1:53 am #129037
Yeah, that’s a good question Jack, and what Steve said is essentially right. Brian was asked this same question some weeks back in the comments to lesson EP293, and his answer provides further clarification:
“The general rule of thumb .. is that if the song is in a major key – you can play either minor OR major pentatonic scales and either will work, you can even blend the 2 scales together. So if it was a blues song in the key of G (G, C, D), you could use either scale. However, if it’s a minor key song, you can not use the major pentatonic scale, only the minor pentatonic scale (of those 2).”
Rick
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March 29, 2019 at 9:03 am #129052
Hi Jack, as the others have said, essentially yes. In a A-D-E or A7-D7-E7 the pentatonic scales major or minor will work making sure you pay attention with the Major as Steve Said when you switch to the 4 chord. I would venture that 80% of all the modern songs written stay within that framework for soloing. Having said that, some of the most beautiful solos go outside that framework using notes strategically from other scales or others solo within the notes of each individual chord as they change, very common in jazz.
Roberto
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March 29, 2019 at 12:13 pm #129061
Just thought I’d add one thing to the previous posts. You really don’t specify the genre of music you are referring to. The previous replies assumed soloing over a blues. But the I-IV-V progression is common to other forms of music, where a minor pentatonic scale would not sound right, and the major pentatonic (which is closer to the chord tones) would be more appropriate.
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March 29, 2019 at 2:24 pm #129068
And here’s something I’ve done before: Start playing a 1-4-5 progression, then play the first note of the scale over and over as it goes through the progression. Write down whether that first note sounds good with all chords. Then do the same thing for the second note of the scale, etc. If you’re in the key of C, for example, you will see that C can “resolve” (as Brian puts it) on 1 & 4, but not on 5. And the 2nd note of the scale can resolve on 4 & 5, but not on 1. And then there’s the issue of transitory notes: For any chord, you can temporarily land on a bad note as long as it resolves to a good note.
Sunjamr Steve
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March 29, 2019 at 7:16 pm #129091
The notes you reference are the same as the notes in an A major scale. You might be able to do this while improvising, but you may get some unpleasant results. If your 1 chord is A7, then you probably don’t want to land strongly on the G#, since it clashes with the G which is the 7. You will always be OK if you stay with the chord tones of the chord you are on, or resolve to them quickly. So on A7, you can’t go wrong by playing, for example C# E G A. That outlines the chord, starting on the third. And if you did that, you can also pass through the G to G# and then to A.
If you are looking for simple scales where you can’t go wrong, the the minor or the major pentatonic will fit the bill.
The main thing with “wrong” notes is to listen to their color carefully, and do your best to resolve them. A wrong note is always a half step away from a right note, and resolving to the right note, and then repeating the mistake and resolution will go a long way towards fooling people into thinking you knew what you were doing.
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March 29, 2019 at 7:35 pm #129092
just play around the notes of a chord, ,,a good ear and a bit of basic chord theory is all you need.. just play the notes that make the chord and experiment,, i recently was wondering how jazz players find all the stuff they do around chords,, last night went through every one of these tabs.. this is one of my things to do favorites! check this out!
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March 30, 2019 at 10:11 am #129119
wow, thats a great video to work with keeping that one…..thx
Roberto
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March 30, 2019 at 7:20 pm #129143
yes, I thought some here would like this link..me too going to be running those tabs between lessons too.. these classic famed signature licks are incredible and doable.. hopefully they help me if I keep doing them over and over lol
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March 29, 2019 at 7:46 pm #129094
What is a pedal lick?… Brian please help us with a pedal lick lesson if you would! lol
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March 29, 2019 at 8:18 pm #129097
I’ve seen several of that last guys videos, and I’ve decided that, for me, they are useless. He basically very quickly announces a chord/scale and then throws out an impressive flurry of notes — again and again. I hate that approach, and think it makes for some really impressive, but boring, soloing.
As for PEDALS, this might help. I think Beato is also a little too firmly sunk into the chord/scale approach to improvisation, but I think he’s much clearer and more accessible than the other guy.
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March 29, 2019 at 8:44 pm #129100
Tonight is the first time I watched any of this guy,, Duffy you got to watch this one ..amazing comping with chords..he is like soloing with chords! lol … it’s advanced stuff but I understand what he is saying.. not like I’ll be playing anything that fast or complicated though anytime soon lol
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March 29, 2019 at 9:08 pm #129102
I’ve seen several of that last guys videos, and I’ve decided that, for me, they are useless. He basically very quickly announces a chord/scale and then throws out an impressive flurry of notes — again and again. I hate that approach, and think it makes for some really impressive, but boring, soloing.
As for PEDALS, this might help. I think Beato is also a little too firmly sunk into the chord/scale approach to improvisation, but I think he’s much clearer and more accessible than the other guy.
<iframe src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/RTVaLYYTPFY?wmode=transparent&rel=0&feature=oembed” allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture” allowfullscreen=”” id=”fitvid0″ frameborder=”0″></iframe>All new to me , but read you,, it seems like modes.. i mean pedal tone .. is this the same thing as the modes..i’m still trying to understand if there is a difference between modes and pedal tones
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March 30, 2019 at 1:20 am #129106
A pedal tone is simply a drone that falls within one voice. Keep playing an open a string, but on the top three strings play d triad 5th fret, a triad fifth, g triad third, g minor third, d second, a open, back to d. This has a pedal a bass note. The G/A and Gmin/A sound odd on their own, but make perfect sense in context.
It has more to do with counterpoint than anything else. Two voices can move in three ways: parallel, contrary, or oblique. Oblique motion, when extended, creates a pedal point. It’s called that because it is what an organ pedal would do. Back in the day, changing the note on an organ was time consuming. Thus, composers would write polyphonic parts over a sustained organ note – a pedal point. Then, while they were changing the stop on the organ, the monks would do a chant. Then a new organ note sustained under polyphony. This style of music was called organum, and eventually the organ dropped out completely. This is my favorite example, without organ, but with really strong pedal harmonies, from a Christmas mass in about 1200:
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March 30, 2019 at 8:39 am #129116
Thanks Duffy, I think I got it now! so in general theory setting, the modes are the greeks way as pedal tones is the monks formula.. I enjoyed and understood listening for 2 -3 minutes those drones leading to the changing tonic. SIMILAR AS MODES I guess. anyway, I’m learning a bit from the term “pedal tone” enjoy!
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