Greetings fellow guitar players,
I'm constantly amazed by how much misinformation there is out there about the use of scales in guitar solos. I'm often disappointed by how the main stream guitar instruction magazines often promote and perpetuate these misconceptions in their guitar lessons, attempting to make soloing look easier than it actually is. Most online guitar lesson and music theory instruction programs also fail to provide their students with a clear understanding of this fascinating subject. This does guitar students a grave disservice and makes learning to play guitar much more confusing.
Here's the problem. Many guitar lesson venues will try to convince you that the guitar solo in any given song is based on ONE PARTICULAR SCALE. There are some (but only some) songs that CAN be viewed this way, but it is not a particularly useful or enlightened vision ... and there are other songs that totally defy this line of reasoning (chord progressions that contain a KEY CHANGE for example). Many of you have been disappointed by guitar solos that you tried to create using this line of reasoning.
The truth is there is a SEPARATE SCALE FOR EACH CHORD IN THE SOLO. If you think about it, how could it be any other way? If they tell you that the guitar solo is based on a MAJOR scale, how is this going to work when the chord progression contains a MINOR chord? Shouldn't we be playing a minor scale when that minor chord comes around? The answer is YES ... though many of you are going to have a hard time believing it. You might say "well I know there could be better guitar solos than the one I just played, but all-in-all I think I did pretty good using that one scale". The point is, to REALIZE those better solos, you might have to change your thinking and embrace this more enlightened understanding of the process of improvisation.
Here's the really funny thing. YOU'RE ALREADY PLAYING ALL THESE DIFFERENT SCALES. You just don't know it yet and so you're unable to control your guitar solo the way you might like. This is what the true understanding of MODES will help you see. The same set of notes actually IS SEVERAL DIFFERENT SCALES depending on which note in the set is working as the ROOT. The other notes in the set are FUNCTIONING differently depending on which chord you are playing them over! Understanding and controlling these shifting relationships is what can take you to the next level in your quest for better guitar solos.
Have you ever heard of the MIXOLYDIAN MODE? You might say "Yes ... but I don't know what it really is and I don't know how to use it". The funny thing is YOU ARE ALREADY PLAYING IT. In fact, you'll hardly ever play a song that doesn't have Mixolydian in it! It just might be the 2nd MOST COMMON SCALE IN ALL OF WESTERN MUSIC yet most of us don't really know about it. This is just one example.
Many of you might be surprised to find that the process of becoming a better guitar soloist is a bit more complicated than you thought. There is an extended list of guitar scales that you need to have a grasp of. In my video guitar lesson program, I have what I call the "MUST KNOW LIST" of scales and there are 17 scales on that list. If the chord progression you are soloing over contains 5 chords, you will be using 5 of those scales in that very song!
So there are more guitar scales to learn and ultimately we have to EAR TRAIN all of them ... but the results are very real. With this deeper understanding, there is no reason to believe that you couldn't solo as well or better than any of your great guitar heroes. I'm totally serious!
Once again I might humbly suggest our Absolutely Understand Guitar Video Home Study Program as a great way to learn this stuff. It's one of my specialties. I've been explaining this concept to guitar students for 25 years and have gotten it down to a science. Nobody has trouble understanding this stuff the way we present it. Check it out at http://www.AbsolutelyUnderstandGuitar.com/ ... and you can call or email me anytime if you need help. Our toll free number is 866-477-9900.
Continued good luck with your music! All the best, Scotty West
Hi,I think Myths About the Scales While Creating Guitar Solos should be known to every one.The information provided by you will be helpful to all.
Thanks!
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I believe they are just guide, but for me any key you are playing any note is applicable. That is why there is what they call chromatic playing.
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