solo/lead help plz!!!

[DannyMetal90]

Hail, Guitar gods of nextlevelguitar.com, i been playing guitar for a few years and i am decent with the whole, finding the key to solo in so my leads sound decent and stuff, its just now I'm at the point where I'm asking, "Is that it?" i know i don't know everything about mods and scales but i saw a video a few years ago and this guy played a chord progression, and then soloed over it in a totally different key. he was playing like e5 and an a5 i believe, yet i remember him saying he was soloing in the key of B. I guess my question is, for example, if my friend was playing e5 and just strumming it away...like metallica used to do...am i subjected to just play in the key of E or can i play in a totally different key? and plz explain in noob terms lol Any help would be GREATLY appreciated. i love playing but i can't afford any lessons so i come to you guys for help. TY \m/

[MadTaco]

I'll give you a quick rundown - please keep in mind this is just purely a crash course.

We'll just use the key of E as you stated in your post. Metallica seems to like this key :)

These are all of the notes in the key of E -

E F# G# A B C# D#

If you're uncertain as to why there are four sharps and three natural notes, don't worry about that quite yet. Once you begin studying theory, it'll be one of the first things you learn.

Anyway, we know that you can always use the E Major scale to jam over that with. That's just a given, because the E Major scale consists of all of the notes that make up the key of E Major. You can even try this out on the guitar for yourself, and it might help with fretboard memorization as well.

E Major scale - E F# G# A B C# D#

Here's a quick tab, but always keep in mind you can play this anywhere on the fretboard, as long as it's the same notes -

E -----------------------------------|
B -----------------------------------|
G -----------------------------------|
D ------------------11-13-14--------|
A --------11-12-14------------------|
E -12-14---------------------------- |

Anyway, that's probably not going to set the mood you're looking for when you want to grind some faces off.

So, it's useful to know of a concept called the relative minor.

Let's say we're playing in the key of E Major again, but you really don't want to use the major scale to play lead over the progression. You can then switch to E Major's relative minor. The relative minor to E is C#.

Here's how to figure this out for any key - start with the key itself, then go back three half-steps. It's easy to do this on the guitar; just go down three frets.

So, if we know that there's an E on the 12th fret, we know that three frets down is C#. Therefore, you can also play in C# Minor, C# Minor Pentatonic, etc. Give that a try and mix the E Major and C# Minor Pentatonic scales together. It works.

Just knowing the relative minor is a GREAT starting point. If you're tired of jamming in A Minor Pentatonic in a blues progression, then use its relative major and go UP three half-steps (three frets on the guitar). So, you'd go from A at the 5th fret, to C at the 8th fret. A Minor and C Major are one in the same, just arranged differently.

Also, if you know your modes, you can solo over any key in many different modes, but you need to know your key. Please make sure to distinguish modes from scales - they are indeed different, but in practical terms on the guitar, they can both be thought of as tools for building your lead playing, and should be.

We'll use D just to mix it up a bit.

Key of D -

D E F# G A B C#

This is the order of the modes. I'll explain this after I list them out -

1. Ionian
2. Dorian
3. Phrygian
4. Lydian
5. Mixolydian
6. Aeolian
7. Locrian

There's a very specific reason they're in this order. The first mode is the Ionian mode, which is the exact same thing as the major scale that I typed up above.

We'll use the key of D again. You can solo in D Ionian over the progression, and it will sound good. D Ionian IS the D Major scale.

The Dorian mode is the second mode you can use. In the key of D, you can use E Dorian to play a lead pattern over a progression, and it will sound awesome.

The Phyrgian mode is third mode. In the key of D, you can solo in F# Phyrgian.

In D, you'd play C# Locrian, or maybe B Aeolian, or G Lydian, etc. See the pattern? Just simply take a chosen degree of the key you're playing in and correspond that to the proper mode.

You might find it hard to believe that all of these modes actually use all of the same notes when you use them like this, but you utilize the entire fretboard. Don't be afraid to experiment and play around. Different modes given much different feelings, disregarding that they're still the same notes as what the D Major scale holds.

That was long and probably confusing. Please let me know if I can help you out any more or clarify any of that.

Rock on and make Mr. Hammett proud,

MadTaco

Edit: Good reference if you're not sure about how to play the modes -

http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/lessons/scales/modes_with_mode_dictionary.html?voted

[screamin eagle]

Listen to ZZ top's La Grange. It is in the key of A, when the first solo comes on it switches to C (the 3rd...yest I know that C# is the major third). This 'sends it into overdrive.' Then it goes back to A for the next verse and stays there throughout the rest of the song.

The reason why it works is cause if you look at the A minor pentatonic notes and the C major pentatonic notes, they are exactly the same.

A=A-C-D-E-G
C=C-D-E-G-A

It is called modulating and is a tool used for adding texture to music. The Beatles used this technique quite frequently, especially for second or third verses, or chorus or bridges. It is also used pretty frequently in country music.

While it is good to know this stuff, don't get to bogged down on it. It is all theory, and too much theory in too short a time can really drag you down. Learn a song that uses it--La Grange, and chew on it for a while, then do a Beatles song that uses it--Michelle, Penny Lane, A day in The Life.