4 replies to this topic

[paulg1630]

I ve been learning some scales ,now im wondering which scales can i play together .So should you play them in a progression like with chord progressions eg 1,3,5 ,can you mix major and minor,pentatonic etc together my book just shows the patterns nothing about which scales sound good together.

[mset3]

Paulg,

You should take a look at PlaneTalk which was developed by Kirk. You'll find it will answer a lot of your questions.

Mike

[lorsban]

Generally, once you know the "key" a song is in, you can simply apply the appropriate scale to it. For example, take your basic E blues progression, for this all you have to play is the E minor pentatonic scale. Some songs however have more than 1 key, so you have to figure out what the key is and which part of the song its in so you can make the transition.

Another approach is what mset3 mentioned, where you play a particular set of notes that suit the chords you're playing. This method is more naturally melodic because you're always playing notes that fit.

[scotty_b]

Hi there
learn some rules of harmony - how chords are constructed and how they relate to other chords - and then go back and look at scales in relation to the chords.
Scales are very useful but often taught in a very unproductive way; we tend to be just shown some shapes and told to go for it...and it sounds like someone running a pattern up and down. Once you start to see how scales overlay with their relative chords you can use them to much greater musical effect.

[GeoNjules]

scotty_b, on 09 January 2012 - 06:19 AM, said:

Scales are very useful but often taught in a very unproductive way; we tend to be just shown some shapes and told to go for it...and it sounds like someone running a pattern up and down. Once you start to see how scales overlay with their relative chords you can use them to much greater musical effect.

You hit that one right on the head Scotty.