Quick Question Regarding 'key Of A Song' Options

[montecristo]

Hey helpful GMC dudes and gals :-),

Lets assume a song is in the key of A. Can I play lead with the A minor pentatonic or the A major pentatonic, or is one more 'correct and more pleasant' than the other?

Question 2: If the minor pentatonic sounds good in a progression, does that mean the the minor scale (all the 7 notes) will sound good also?

If you understand my questions :-) and can answer them, that would be very appreciated..

Thanks all!

You are at GuitarMasterClass.net

Don't miss today's free lick. Plus all our lessons are packed with free content!

Don't miss today's free blues, jazz & country licks. Plus all our lessons are packed with free content!

[kjutte]

Hey helpful GMC dudes and gals :-),

Lets assume a song is in the key of A. Can I play lead with the A minor pentatonic or the A major pentatonic, or is one more 'correct and more pleasant' than the other?

Question 2: If the minor pentatonic sounds good in a progression, does that mean the the minor scale (all the 7 notes) will sound good also?

If you understand my questions :-) and can answer them, that would be very appreciated..

Thanks all!

Well man ,you see, The key of A means only rootnote. you have to know if it's in Aminor, major, dorian, etc. The series of notes define if the key is minor, or major, or whatever.

Anyway, if you say you're in the key of A, I'd most likely think that as Amajor. That means you can play the Amajor pentatonic. You can also play Aionian (Anatural major)

If you're unsure of this, check out Andrew's lessons, and he'll show you a pattern that allows you to jam all over the guitarneck

And to question 2, the minor pentatonic pattern actually fits 4 places at the neck, lol, so no, not really. Because the penta(5)tonescale only has, well, 5 notes, it doesn't judge the same way as a diatonic (7tone) scale.

Anyway, my best advice is to download a song where you know which key it's in, and experiment.
For example a song in Eminor, you can play Eminor pentatonic, and it will sound very good. (Eminor=Enatural minor=Eaeolian)

You are at GuitarMasterClass.net

Don't miss today's free lick. Plus all our lessons are packed with free content!

Don't miss today's free blues, jazz & country licks. Plus all our lessons are packed with free content!

This post has been edited by kjutte: Aug 1 2008, 12:19 PM

[Matt23]

Answer 1. You can use both pentatonics in a A major song, but the minor pentatonic will sound more bluesy, while the major pentatonic won't. You can use them both though and one isn't better than the other it's a matter of preference.

Answer 2. The minor pentatonic is 5 selected notes out of the minor scale, so the answer is yes, however the chord progression will no longer sound minor pentatonic like.

You are at GuitarMasterClass.net

Don't miss today's free lick. Plus all our lessons are packed with free content!

Don't miss today's free blues, jazz & country licks. Plus all our lessons are packed with free content!

[kjutte]

Answer 1. You can use both pentatonics in a A major song, but the minor pentatonic will sound more bluesy, while the major pentatonic won't. You can use them both though and one isn't better than the other it's a matter of preference.

Answer 2. The minor pentatonic is 5 selected notes out of the minor scale, so the answer is yes, however the chord progression will no longer sound minor pentatonic like.

This isn't really correct. notes will clash when you hit major penta over minor songs. Also, the minor penta fits to many degrees of the minorscale, so you can't say if you're in the right one without having heard it many times.

You are at GuitarMasterClass.net

Don't miss today's free lick. Plus all our lessons are packed with free content!

Don't miss today's free blues, jazz & country licks. Plus all our lessons are packed with free content!

[Enucleation]

I'd say use all kinds of scales in that key, I'm not really great on music theory, (hopefully it won't be that way for long) but in the words of the great Marcus Lavendell "If it sounds good, it is good"

You are at GuitarMasterClass.net

Don't miss today's free lick. Plus all our lessons are packed with free content!

Don't miss today's free blues, jazz & country licks. Plus all our lessons are packed with free content!

[Ramiro Delforte]

Pentatonics are like a magic card, like the Joker. The thing with that scale in particular is that it has no half-steps. The major pentatonic you could think it like a major scale without the fourth and seventh degree (that means in C major you take out the F and the so you don't have the sensitive tones (the descending -the IV that goes to the III degree- and the ascending -the VII that goes to the I-). That caracteristic of the scale gives you a lot of posibilities. For example: over a Cmaj7 chord you can play four pentatonics: Bm, Am, Dm and Em. Now I give you the job to think the relations of this four pentatonics and the chord.
That is the way to know what scale you can play over a chord, you have to look the relations (the interval relations) of the scale regarding the chord.
I hope is usefull the information.


Sorry, where is the smile with the glasses on it was supposed to be a B -regarding the note- between parenthesis (is the second time I made the mistake :S )

You are at GuitarMasterClass.net

Don't miss today's free lick. Plus all our lessons are packed with free content!

Don't miss today's free blues, jazz & country licks. Plus all our lessons are packed with free content!

[Ivan Milenkovic]

Hey

A1: You got some terms mixed up mate, the song cannot be in the key of "A". The song can be in the key of A major. In that case A major pentatonic will sound logical, and A minor pentatonic bluesy. Think of a key as a collection of notes (and chords) that you can play over, it will be easier. I suggest reading Andrew's lessons about scales, and how chords are built, it wil lbe a lot clearer.

A:It doesn't necessary mean so, because A minor pentatonic can be a part of at three different modes: Aeolian, Dorian and Phrygian. All these modes have notes from A minor pentatonic.

If you have more questions, I'll be glad to answer mate. Cheers

Hey helpful GMC dudes and gals :-),

Lets assume a song is in the key of A. Can I play lead with the A minor pentatonic or the A major pentatonic, or is one more 'correct and more pleasant' than the other?

Question 2: If the minor pentatonic sounds good in a progression, does that mean the the minor scale (all the 7 notes) will sound good also?

If you understand my questions :-) and can answer them, that would be very appreciated..

Thanks all!

You are at GuitarMasterClass.net

Don't miss today's free lick. Plus all our lessons are packed with free content!

Don't miss today's free blues, jazz & country licks. Plus all our lessons are packed with free content!