Mile High Shred
  • Metal and Rock Guitar Lessons
    • Skype Lessons
    • Sign Up for Skype Guitar Lessons
    • Video Correspondence Lessons
    • Sign Up for Video Correspondence Lessons
    • Rates
    • Contact
    • Blog (LOTS of Free Lessons)
    • Student Testimonies
    • About John Taylor
  • Get TWO FREE eBooks
  • Instruction Courses
    • Speed/Tremolo Picking Course
    • Metal and Rock Guitar Rhythm Crash Course - Overview
    • Rhythm Work Sets
    • 666 Real Lessons
    • Free Four Week Rhythm Course
  • 100+ Video Guitar Lessons
    • Categorized List of Lessons
  • Gear Reviews
  • Store
  • Music Theory
    • Chord Theory >
      • What is a Chord?
      • Chord Formulas
  • Games and Quizzes
  • Online Metronome - FREE
  • Backing Tracks
  • Contest

Solo Over Power Chords Using the Major Scale

11/11/2015

1 Comment

 
I was asked recently, in a YouTube comment, why soloing with the Major scale over power chords does not sound good, but a minor pentatonic does sound good. A C Major scale and C minor pentatonic were being used by the person with the question.

Without knowing the exact chords being used to solo over, I can only make a guess. It sounds to me that the chords being used are not in the key of C. If the chords were in the key of C, playing a C Major scale on top of those chords would fit perfectly. Because the C Major scale does not fit over the chords being used, and the C minor pentatonic does, I would guess that the chords are closer to being in the key of C minor.

​The power chords that can be used when soloing with the C Major scale are C5, D5, E5, F5, G5, B5, and A5.
Picture
You can mix and match any of those chords and you will be playing in the key of C. This allows you to solo over the chords using the C Major scale. The C minor pentatonic would not work over some of these chords, but some of them would be fine.

The C minor pentatonic uses the notes C, Eb, F, G, and Bb. You can use a power chord with any of those 5 notes as root notes, but that doesn't mean those are the only chords that can be used.

A minor pentatonic can fit over a lot of different things. Because a pentatonic scale only has 5 notes, you can use the scale over a lot of things where a Major scale would not fit. Remember, a Major scale has 7 notes. 

The minor pentatonic can fit over so much in fact, you can find 3 different minor pentatonic scales within any Major/minor key. 
In the key of C you will find an A minor pentatonic, D minor pentatonic, and an E minor pentatonic.

Going over several possibilities of where the minor pentatonic can be used would be a big, long lesson. If you are interested in seeing this lesson get put together, please let me know!

​In conclusion, if you are soloing over a group of power chords and the Major scale sounds bad, but the minor pentatonic scale sounds good, you are probably not playing in key with the chords when using the Major scale. Also, maybe you just don't like the sound of the Major scale!
1 Comment
Jose Caseiro
8/25/2016 02:15:06 am

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Available Instruction Courses
    ​
    👇👇👇

    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture

    Categories

    All
    12/8 Time Signature
    16th Notes
    3/4 Time Signature
    5/4 Time Signature
    5th Chords
    6th Chords
    7th Chords
    8th Notes
    Alfred Potter
    Alternate Picking
    Animals As Leaders
    Arpeggios
    Augmented 5th Chords
    Barre Chords
    Bass Arpeggios
    Bass Chords
    Bass Guitar Techniques
    Bathory
    Beginner Guitar
    Bernth
    Blues Scale
    Buckethead
    CAFO
    Chord Progressions
    Chord Theory
    Christmas
    Chromatic
    Cracking The Code
    Dave Davidson
    Death Metal
    Diad Chords
    Diminished Scale
    Dotted 16th Notes
    Dotted 8th Notes
    Down Picking
    Down Strokes
    Endurance
    Etude
    Exploring Music Modes
    Finger Exercises
    Finger Tapping
    Finger-Tapping
    Gallop
    Gallop Rhythm
    Guitar Chords
    Guitar Contest Sumbissions
    Guitar Exercises
    Guitar Licks
    Guitar Riffs
    Guitar Scales
    Guitar Secrets
    Guitar Solos
    Guitar Techniques
    Guthrie Govan
    Half Whole Diminished Scale
    Half-whole Diminished Scale
    Halloween
    Hammer Ons
    Hammer-ons
    Happy Birthday
    Hirajoshi
    Hirojoshi
    Hungarian Minor
    Increase Speed
    Inversions
    Iron Maiden
    Japanese Scales
    Joel Hoekstra
    Joe Satriani
    John Petrucci
    Kumoi
    Lead Guitar
    Legato
    Live QnA Sesions
    Meshuggah
    Metronome
    Michael Angelo Batio
    Modes
    Music Theory
    Neo Classical
    Nubbing
    Odd Time Signatures
    Palm Mute
    Paradise Lost
    Paul Gilbert
    Pedal Point
    Phrygian
    Picking
    Pick Slanting
    Polymeters
    Polyrhythms
    Power Chords
    Practice Advice And Tips
    Pull Offs
    Pull-offs
    Quarter Notes
    Real Guitar Lessons
    Recording
    Reverse Gallop Rhythm
    Rhythm Guitar
    Rick Beato
    Ryan Leach
    Scale Runs
    Sextuplets
    Shred Guitar
    Simple Riffs
    Song Writing Tips
    Speed Picking
    Steve Vai
    String Bending
    String Changing
    String Skipping
    Sus2
    Sweep Picking
    Syncopation
    The Trooper
    Tied Notes
    Tosin Abasi
    Tremolo Picking
    Triads
    Triplets
    Troy Grady

    RSS Feed

SKYPE
LESSONS

learn more

TWO FREE
​E
BOOKS

Learn More

100+ VIDEO
​LESSONS

learn more

INSTRUCTION
​COURSES

LEARN MORE

SHIRTS, HOODIES, ETC.

learn more

John@MileHighShred.com

  • Metal and Rock Guitar Lessons
    • Skype Lessons
    • Sign Up for Skype Guitar Lessons
    • Video Correspondence Lessons
    • Sign Up for Video Correspondence Lessons
    • Rates
    • Contact
    • Blog (LOTS of Free Lessons)
    • Student Testimonies
    • About John Taylor
  • Get TWO FREE eBooks
  • Instruction Courses
    • Speed/Tremolo Picking Course
    • Metal and Rock Guitar Rhythm Crash Course - Overview
    • Rhythm Work Sets
    • 666 Real Lessons
    • Free Four Week Rhythm Course
  • 100+ Video Guitar Lessons
    • Categorized List of Lessons
  • Gear Reviews
  • Store
  • Music Theory
    • Chord Theory >
      • What is a Chord?
      • Chord Formulas
  • Games and Quizzes
  • Online Metronome - FREE
  • Backing Tracks
  • Contest