Soloing!! What key?

[TremolO]

When you play a chord progression how do you know what pentatonic blues or pentatonic to solo over it with?  I know you use the one that sounds right but is their theory?  Like one song is in F#m (or Amaj). The I chord s Amaj so I guess that means it is in Amajor??  But, I can solo in only A pentatonic or F#pentatonic blues.  I know it doesn't, but shouldn't Amaj Pentatonic Blues work because its in A?  Or is it in F#???!!!  Ahhh! Help me!

[aquariuswb]

When you play a chord progression how do you know what pentatonic blues or pentatonic to solo over it with?  I know you use the one that sounds right but is their theory?  Like one song is in F#m (or Amaj). The I chord s Amaj so I guess that means it is in Amajor??  But, I can solo in only A pentatonic or F#pentatonic blues.  I know it doesn't, but shouldn't Amaj Pentatonic Blues work because its in A?  Or is it in F#???!!!  Ahhh! Help me!

You need to provide more information -- what is the chord progression? In general, most blues is in I-IV-V-I form of some sort... if the I is A Major, the A Major pentatonic is probably appropriate, but don't get too bogged down in scales, especially scales as limiting as a pentatonic scale. I've played blues for a long, long time, and yes, Western theory can be applied to blues, but I don't think about theory at all when I'm soloing (I play more blues guitar than I do blues piano, by the way, not that it really makes a difference). You gotta just play a buttload until you get the feel for it. Blues is blues. Scales in blues are just skeletons or reference points, nothing more. Knowing your intervals is more important than knowing your scales, really (for blues, at least). Know your intervals and know your instrument.

With that aside...

If you know what the chord progression is, "safe" notes when soloing will always be any note in the chord. So if the chord progression is A - D - E - A (I-IV-V-I), then during the A chords, the "safe notes" will be A, C#, and E. During the D chord, the "safe notes" will be D, F#, and A. During the E chord, the "safe notes" will be E, G#, and B. Flat 7ths are often "safe notes" too (obviously -- this is blues). But you probably don't want to be too safe, anyway. Rules are meant to be broken in blues and rock.

Also, always know the MELODY of the piece you're playing. Some of the best solos are just embellishments on the song's melody -- and if you can play the melody, you always have something to fall back on if you get stuck in a rut or something.

This advice is just basic stuff. Just play a lot (as in every waking hour) and you'll figure out what sounds good. That's really what blues and rock soloing is about: using your ear. Basic knowledge of theory is obviously preferrable, but that basic knowledge should become second nature so that you're not thinking about it as you're playing. Play from the soul, broseph. THE SOUL, DAMMIT!

ROCK!!!

Peace,
     Mike

[TremolO]

Thank you!  Also,  I don't even think the song has a blues progression.  The progression is "A, E, F#m, D,   A, E, D".  Since the I chord is "A" than that makes it in Amajor.  Now, depending on what sound I want I can solo with "A Pentatonic" or for a bluesy sound I use "F# Pentatonic Blues".  I wanted to know the theory behind why I can't play "A Pent Blues".  Does it all depend on the progression or is there more?

[aquariuswb]

Thank you!  Also,  I don't even think the song has a blues progression.  The progression is "A, E, F#m, D,   A, E, D".  Since the I chord is "A" than that makes it in Amajor.  Now, depending on what sound I want I can solo with "A Pentatonic" or for a bluesy sound I use "F# Pentatonic Blues".  I wanted to know the theory behind why I can't play "A Pent Blues".  Does it all depend on the progression or is there more?

Because very loosely speaking, the A Blues scale is a variant of the A MINOR scale, not the A MAJOR scale. The progression you described is in A Major, and the A Major scale looks like this: A, B, C#, D, E, F#, G#, A... the A MINOR scale would look like this: A, B, C, D, E, F, G -- notice how these are the same notes as in the C MAJOR scale (C D E F G A B). This is because A minor is the "relative minor" of C Major. This is the same relationship between F# minor and A Major: F# minor is the "relative minor" of A Major, which means that the F# minor scale and the A Major scale use the same notes (A B C# D E F# G# A) but start on different notes (F# minor scale starts on F#, A Major scale starts on A). Since the F# blues scale is a variant of the F# minor scale, then, the F# blues scale has to also be a variant of the A Major scale. Does that makes sense? The A blues scale would be a variant of the A MINOR scale (or the C MAJOR scale), NOT the A MAJOR scale.

So, if the song were in A minor or C Major, the A Blues scale would probably work just fine. For F# minor or A Major, however, the F# blues will work better most likely.

Again, take all this with a grain of salt as I mentioned in my previous post. Good luck, and if this needs further explanation, do not hesitate to ask more questions.

-Mike

[aquariuswb]

To further show what I mean...

https://www.ocmusic.com/vpc.htm

Compare a C pentatonic Major scale with the A pentatonic blues scale. Then compare the A pentatonic major scale with the F# pentatonic blues scale. You should see what I mean.