| Soloing over guitar chords is easy when you | | | | |
| know how to use the minor pentatonic scale. | | | | 3. Dominant 7th Chords |
| Add spice and power to your solo's with | | | | |
| these simple but highly effective | | | | You have a couple of choices here. But |
| techniques. | | | | basically, you would use the relative minor |
| | | | pentatonic, or the minor pentatonic a tone |
| The humble minor pentatonic scale is what | | | | below the root of the dom7 chord. |
| most guitar players start with when | | | | |
| learning to solo. Trouble is, they don't | | | | For example, over G7, you could use either E |
| learn to use the scale to it's best | | | | minor pent (relative minor), or D min |
| potential. | | | | pentatonic. |
| | | | |
| Here, I'll show you an easy way to use the | | | | The reason you could use the D minor |
| pentatonic scale to solo over the three | | | | pentatonic over a G7 chord is because the |
| most common guitar chord types: Major, | | | | Dmi chord and G7 chord often go together in |
| minor and dominant 7th chords. | | | | chord progressions. Forcing a Dmi sound over |
| | | | a G7 chord gives a G7sus sound. |
| 1. Major Chords | | | | |
| | | | 4. Thinking From a 'KEY" Perspective |
| A Major chord always has a relative minor | | | | |
| chord. The easy way to find the 'relative' | | | | OK, what we have looked at is the KEY of C |
| minor of any major chord on a guitar is to | | | | Major. And basically you can use just the A |
| take the note three half-steps (3 frets) | | | | minor pentatonic alone for ALL the chords |
| below the root note of the major chord. | | | | in C, or you can also use the D and E minor |
| | | | pentatonics to add some color and more |
| For example: a C major chord - the root note | | | | conformity to the chords being used at the |
| is C. On a guitar, the note 3 frets below a | | | | time. |
| C note is A. Therefore, A minor is the | | | | |
| relative minor of C major. | | | | Remember, these principles apply to whatever |
| | | | chord you are playing at any time, but can |
| So to solo over a C major chord, use the A | | | | also be applied on a KEY basis,which is a |
| minor pentatonic scale and you can't go | | | | more encompassing picture. |
| wrong. | | | | |
| | | | The Key of C Major has these chords: |
| Another example: F major chord - three frets | | | | |
| below the root of F, you will find D. So | | | | C, Dm, Em, F, G7, Am, Bmin7b5. |
| you use a D minor pentatonic scale over an | | | | |
| F major chord. | | | | Ami pent can be used over them all, or just |
| | | | the C and Am chords. |
| Another example: G major chord - three frets | | | | |
| below the G root note you'll find E. So... | | | | D min pentatonic can be used over the F and |
| you use the E minor pentatonic to solo over | | | | Dm chords. |
| a G chord. | | | | |
| | | | E minor can be used over the Em and G7 |
| Now, you may have noticed that I listed C, F | | | | chords. |
| and G major chords there. Coincidentally, | | | | |
| They are the 1, 4 and 5 chords of the 'KEY' | | | | We didn't mention the 7 chord (Bmi7b5) |
| of C Major. This applies to all | | | | because it's not used very much. But a good |
| instruments, not just guitar. | | | | choice is the Dm pentatonic. In fact, |
| | | | though, you can use either of the three |
| More about this later... | | | | pentatonics from the C Major scale - Am, Dm |
| | | | or Em. Try them, see which you like best. |
| 2. Minor Chords | | | | |
| | | | I hope you enjoyed this article. You can find |
| These are easy... just use the minor | | | | more information about guitar chords at my |
| pentatonic of what ever the minor chord is. | | | | site: |
| E.g. Use D minor pentatonic for a D minor | | | | |
| chord, an E minor pentatonic for an E minor | | | | The idea of using pentatonics for different |
| chord, an A minor pentatonic for an A minor | | | | chords is a powerful one, don't overlook |
| Chord. | | | | the cool sounds you can create with such a |
| | | | simple device. |
| Now, did you notice I used D, E and A minor | | | | |
| chords as the example? Did you also notice | | | | Also, in a future article, I'll be discussing |
| that these chords are the 2, 3 and 6 chords | | | | 'Pentatonic Substitution' where I'll show |
| of the 'KEY' of C Major? | | | | you how to use substitute and altered |
| | | | pentatonics for even more sound choices. |
| More about that later, too... | | | | |